“French Teachers Can Figure It Out”: Understanding French as a Second Language (FSL) Teachers’ Work in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced teachers in Ontario to move online. Since then, teaching online or in hybrid models has been common across the province. To understand how French as a Second Language (FSL) teachers navigated these spaces, four Ontario French teachers were interviewed about their experience using educational technology and teaching online. Findings were analyzed in light of Hargreaves and Fullan’s (2020) reframing of classic understandings of teachers’ work in the context of the global pandemic. Findings show that factors influencing these teachers’ professional capital reflect common concerns among Canadian educators, alongside those specific to the FSL context. Participants' professional marginalization and seclusion demonstrates the importance of both the psychic rewards of teaching and cultures of collaboration. Ongoing efforts to capture ways in which teaching FSL has been shaped by the pandemic experience, therefore, require looking beyond individual classrooms to connected systems and systematic efforts of reform.

A Course or a Pathway? Addressing French as a Second Language Teacher Recruitment and Retention in Canadian BEd Programs

“…Although we acknowledge that sessional instructors can bring professional expertise and experience into the programs, stakeholders reported this has also limited opportunities for advocacy, stability, and consistency of the FSL specialization, and has diminished its perception within the larger ITE program. Such feelings of being overlooked are well-established in FSL literature (e.g., Knouzi & Mady, 2014;Smith & Arnott, 2021).…”

The use of digital tools in French as a Second Language teacher education in Ontario

“…Arnott et al indicated at the time that "more research is needed to understand how the shift toward Web 2.0 technologies (that allow for interactivity and user creativity and communicative agency on the Web) have [sic] altered [or not] teachers' FLI [French language instruction]" (p. 74). In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith and Arnott (2022) confirm that "there are not yet studies exploring the delivery of FSL K-12 programming in an online or hybrid format resembling the virtual schooling situation of the .…”

“…Although not representative of language teachers specifically, this study emphasized that students look to their teachers to help guide their uses of technology in the classroom, concluding that "teachers play a critical role in supporting self-regulated learning using technology and promoting positive impacts of technology for learning" (p. 86). A recent Ontario study carried out by Smith and Arnott (2022) highlighted FSL teachers' ongoing professional marginalization and seclusion, and their feelings of being disconnected from schools and boards. Indeed, study participants indicated that their technological competencies did not alleviate persistent challenges faced in the COVID-19 context.…”