The FSE (Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement) brings together most teachers’ unions from Quebec’s school boards. Its mission is to promote, develop and defend the professional, social and financial interests of its 65,000 members.
At the heart of negotiations meant to improve working conditions for teachers lie four main demands:
- A classroom composition that provides conditions for quality teaching and learning;
- A humanly bearable task;
- Recognition of their profession at its true and full value;
- A reduction in the level of job insecurity.
The goal
The goal was to raise the general public’s awareness of the four issues at stake for the FSE and of the crucial role that teachers play in our society.
The mandate
The FSE tasked Archipel with developing a TV campaign consisting of three 15-second spots. These were aimed at instilling a sense of pride in teachers and supporting the FSE’s current negotiation efforts with the government.
The insight
The mandate’s insight? The fact that good working conditions for teachers directly benefit the education of youth, whereas the current gaps in the system have the opposite effect.
The idea
The two first spots bank on the above fact by concretely invoking the movement’s main claims and expressing how teachers and students alike are running out of steam. Teaching is positioned as a fascinating profession that carries its share of burdens, which need to be alleviated. The tone is direct and determined, and the final statement calls for action via the signature, “In education, things have to change now!”
Using a key symbol for education, the illustration demonstrates that current conditions are on the verge of a breakdown. It also serves to soften the message and set itself apart in the advertising world.
The third spot relies instead on upgrading the teaching profession’s profile by demonstrating how teachers’ involvement can impact the evolution of a pupil. This is expressed via a piece of wood taking shape in a 15-second ad that provides a platform for discourse, once again in a direct fashion, yet in a positive, forward-looking way.