Thank you.
It's my pleasure to speak to you today in my capacity as an instructor of French pre-service teachers in the Bachelor of Education program at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. I teach the French specialization courses for teacher candidates who are pursuing their Bachelor of Education degree specializing in teaching French immersion and French as a second language, and in francophone context.
In addition, for several years I've been involved in the practicum placements of the French candidates and have supervised them during their first year in practicum.
I will be happy to speak to issues regarding the training of FSL and French immersion educators and to the programs available in the Calgary context.
The Bachelor of Education program at the Werklund School of Education is an award-winning B.Ed. program. We offer various pathways for students to obtain their teaching credentials including a two-year B.Ed. after degree.
In the French specialization courses, we focus on research-based pedagogy to provide solid training and professional development to our future teachers of French. At the Werklund School we graduate approximately 20 teachers of French each year. Of those, approximately 90% are hired immediately following graduation. Most teach in the Calgary area for the Calgary Board of Education, the Calgary Separate School District, Rocky View Schools division, Foothills School Division, private schools in the area, and the Conseil scolaire FrancoSud.
About half of our teacher candidates this year are native speakers of French coming to us from France, Quebec, francophone communities elsewhere in Canada, and other countries in the Francophonie. The remaining candidates who come to our program are themselves second language learners of French either from French immersion or from a French as a second language program. Because of the configuration of our program, the French pre-service teachers remain together as a cohort for several courses over the two years, which allows them to develop a strong professional community.
The Werklund School of Education maintains close and frequent contact with schools and school divisions in our area, and we endeavour to be aware of school needs and to respond to them to ensure that the teacher preparation we provide is responsive to current classroom realities.
It is crucial to create and maintain strong links between university teacher education programs and the schools that welcome our pre-service teachers as practicum students. We foster these relationships so that what we teach to our French pre-service teachers is what they will need in French as a second language and French immersion classrooms.
The need for highly trained French immersion and French as a second language teachers is growing in the Calgary area, and we continue to actively recruit new candidates.
I do have several observations about the state of French language education in the Calgary context, again in my capacity as a university instructor of pre-service teachers.
First, schools in Calgary and area offer French immersion programs, both early entry—that is, preschool, kindergarten, or grade 1—and late French immersion, which has grade 7 entry. We offer French as a second language in various configurations, and programs for francophone students. In addition, there are currently three schools in the Calgary Board of Education that offer intensive French as their approach for the delivery of FSL.
Second, research partnerships between the University of Calgary and our local school boards have resulted in productive relationships and useful insights about the delivery of French language instruction to the benefit of the university teacher preparation program and of practising teachers in the classroom.
For example, I've been involved since 2012 in a longitudinal study with the Calgary Board of Education investigating strategies for developing oral language and academic language in FSL and French immersion classrooms. I've worked with the CBE to provide a week-long professional learning opportunity for up to 80 FSL and French immersion teachers each summer for the past five years.
Next, it is highly desirable to offer French as a second language programs and French immersion to young children. We know from the considerable body of research in this area that young children are particularly responsive to second language instruction. Given the opportunity, students can continue in French throughout their school career and be successful language learners.
The Alberta government is a strong supporter of French language education, and French immersion programs in Calgary continue to be very popular. However, not all schools within the Calgary Board of Education offer the French as a second language option. To my knowledge, the decision to offer FSL in any school in the Calgary Board of Education is made by the school administration in consultation with and in response to demand by the parent community.
In addition, it can be challenging for children to continue their FSL or French immersion studies in some neighbourhoods where students might complete elementary school French and not have access to a junior high program in their area. A recent situation has been distressing for French immersion educators and administrators in Calgary. French immersion and other programs have been designated as alternative programs by the Calgary Board of Education due to the high cost of providing transportation to children who have chosen a program outside of their neighbourhood.
As a result, busing is not available to French immersion students in that board, forcing parents to put their children on public transit or to arrange alternate transportation if they wish their children to receive French immersion education. I'm aware that there has been some attrition in the French immersion program at the Calgary Board of Education as a result of this decision. It is distressing that financial constraints cause schools to relegate French programming to alternate status or to dispense with it altogether.
In my work with reservist teachers and with teachers of French as a second language and French immersion, in both practicum and research contexts, I've had the opportunity to talk with teachers on the front lines and to learn about their challenges. One of the predominant themes that has emerged is the lack of educational materials and resources available for French immersion teachers. Many of the teachers create their own resources or use resources created for francophones.
It is crucial that we recognize that French immersion or FSL pedagogical approaches differ greatly from the francophone first language context, and it's important that teachers of both French as a second language and French immersion have the means to access specialized materials and resources to support their programs. It is also incumbent upon us to ensure that pedagogical materials are being developed for the Canadian context.