Shortage of French Teachers in Toronto, Ontario: A Threat to French Language and Culture

This research project analyzes the issue of French teacher shortage in Toronto, Ontario region of Canada by analyzing three major articles related to this issue along with other secondary resources. The research question is whether the shortage of French teacher is harming the existence of French population or the French culture in Toronto, Ontario region. The study indicates that French immersion program can create more of a negative impact rather than positive on French language and culture in this region. All the three articles supported by other evidence studied in this research, provide clear evidence that the shortage of French teacher is a serious issue not only in Toronto, Ontario but also other provinces of Canada.

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RESEARCH PROJECT
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Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................ 3
Research rationale............................................................................................................ 3
Research question............................................................................................................. 3
Article summaries............................................................................................................. 3
Article -1...................................................................................................................................... 3
Article -2...................................................................................................................................... 4
Article -3...................................................................................................................................... 4
Article discussion.............................................................................................................. 5
Analysis of the issue......................................................................................................... 7
Conclusion........................................................................................................................... 8
References......................................................................................................................... 10
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Introduction
Irrespective of being the minority in major Canadian region, French colony
still holds its importance in Canada since the times of republic United States (Craig,
2016). Overcoming all the conditions of assimilation with English Canadian, French
Canadian still lives under the French flag in Canada. However, still, there are
limitations that risk the French identity in Canada, these limitations change from one
province to another (Clark & Dervin, 2014). The research project focuses on one
contemporary issue faced by the French population endangering French language and
culture in Toronto, Ontario province of Canada. The issue is the shortage of French
teacher in the education system of Toronto, Ontario.
Research rationale
The research focuses on analyzing the issue of French teacher shortage in
Toronto, Ontario region of Canada by analysis three major articles related to this issue
along with other secondary resources.
Research question
Is the shortage of French teacher harming the existence of French population
or the French culture in Toronto, Ontario region?
Article summaries
Article -1
This article written by Meagan Fitzpatrick published in CBC Canada
elaborates the issue of French teacher shortage as a stressful and chronic problem in
Canada involving the Toronto region. The writer explains the complicated situations
faced by school boards to overcome the growing demand for French immersion
programs increasing the tension of unavailable French teaching staff. In various
regions of Canada involving Toronto (as described in the article) parents of young
children are demanding French language educations in school creating pressure on
school boards.
Article also demonstrates that the idea of using Google translator replacing French
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educator became a failure. Further, the article mentions that schools are looking
forward to cross-country recruitment to get immigrant French teacher meeting the
demand. The French immersion program is a thumbs-up by Canadian population but
the growing shortage of French educator highlights a risk to transmission of the
French language in coming Canadian generation (Meagan, 2018).
Article -2
This article was written by Andrea Gordon published in The Star detail about
the growing demand of French teachers in Canada involving details of the same
situation in Toronto, Ontario region. The article highlights the experience of French
graduate teachers in their ‘growing demand’ followed by statistics highlighting the
‘growing gap’ between supply and demand of French educator in Canada. There are
detailed statistics of FSL Labour Market report by Ontario Public School Boards in
this article. These statistics explain the reason for this shortage of French teachers in
Canada.
Further, the article involves details on action taken by Toronto District School and
Toronto Catholic District Board to meet the demand of French educators in their area.
Lastly, the article also highlights the fear in parents of French community about their
children not able to learn French properly (Gordon, 2018).
Article -3
This article provided by CTVNews staff involves a video recording
demonstrating the eager need for various School Boards across Canada to hire French
teachers. The article highlights that French immersion student number has jumped
above 60,000 in the last five years in Canada. Various schools boards like McGill,
Halifax, Toronto and Southern Ontario are implementing different strategies to enroll
French teachers as much as possible are described with details in this article. Further,
as per detailed statistics, Toronto being one amongst the most populated regions of
Ontario demands the highest number of French educator in Ontario region when
compared to other regions.
This shortage of French teachers, in contrast, is creating a situation of French
immersion program failure in Canada. The shortage of good French teachers in
Canada is leading a long-term loss for French language highlighting a risk of younger
generation not able to speak their language. This can lead to the extinction of
Francophone in Ontario region and other provinces of Canada in future (School
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boards scramble to find French teachers amid surging demand, 2018).
Article discussion
The French immersion program develops to safeguard French language and
culture in Canada in 1970s forms the root cause of this French educator shortage issue
in Canadian province including Toronto, Ontario (Schnurr, 2018). A study done by
Ontario College of teachers at Toronto 1 out of 2 French teachers will retire till 2008
and a great scarcity of French teachers will increase till 2012. Further, growing
demand for French immersion by Toronto public will work as the fuel to accelerate
this issue (Alphonso, 2018).
The first article by CBC referred to researches indicated shortage of French
immersion teacher as a stressful and chronic problem in Canada. This shortage of
French education providers has to lead to a risk to terminate the French immersion
program in Toronto as per this article. The article highlights the struggle of state
boards to overcome the issue of French teacher shortage in almost all regions of
Canada. There is specifically mentioned in the article about one persistent challenge
in Toronto region school where parents are pleading to the school board for saving the
French immersion program. However, school board indicates “French teacher
staffing crisis” as reason risking the functioning of the program. However, at last, the
board trustees accepted parent’s request and decided to maintain French immersion
program in school of Toronto (Meagan, 2018).
Further, the article highlights a similar situation of French teacher shortage in
various other regions of Canada. The school boards are moving the step forward for
cross-country recruitment, hiring exceptional French experts and many more to
overcome this issue but still lack of French teacher supply remains a threat to the
stability of French immersion program in Ontario including Toronto as per this article
(Meagan, 2018). In a quantitative research described by Cummins (2014) 45% of
Toronto French population fear a danger of their language extinction in coming
future, 10% population is uncertain whereas 30% reject any such condition.
The second article published in The Star highlights about the issue of French
teacher shortage in various regions of Ontario. The issue is highlighted in an indirect
manner in the article by elaborating the growing demand of French teachers as the
popularity of French immersion program increases with time (Gordon, 2018). This
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article by Andrea Gordon clearly demonstrates the growing demand of French
teachers and growing gap in the supply-demand chain of French educators in Canada.
The article involves statistical data from FSL Labour Market report indicating
issues like finding French teacher is an issue for English school boards in last five
years, lacking job applications for French teacher and lacking student application in
teachers college. The article demonstrates details about Toronto District School Board
decision of reviewing French education programs to meet the demand of French
educator involving public consultation. Further, Toronto Catholic District School
Board has started French teacher recruitment from Quebec to overcome the growing
demand of French immersion program. This indicates that the extinction of French
educator is emerging as a crisis for the French language in coming generations of
Canada (Gordon, 2018). Fernet et al. (2016) studied the FSL report provided by
Ontario Public School Boards at Toronto. As per the report the number of FSL
teacher graduate application has fallen from 8000 to 4000 from 2015 to 2018. Further,
as per this report, the FSL (French Second Language) teacher required by various
Boards in Ontario as of September 2017 (New Report Identifies Key Factors in FSL
Teacher Shortages, 2018).
FSL teachers needed Mandatory FSL programs Discretionary FSL program
Elementary 3560 6463
Secondary 1032 922
(Source: New Report Identifies Key Factors in FSL Teacher Shortages, 2018)
Further, the third article by CTVNews also supports the details of the above-
mentioned information in form of interviews of French teachers elaborating the need
of French educators in Canada. There are interviews of parents and teachers in this
news article describing need for children to learn and thing in their native language
that is French. The Ontario Universities are offering various facilities like
accommodation, allowance etc. to immigrant French teachers fulfilling their demand
in French immersion program establishment in the country (School boards scramble
to find French teachers amid surging demand, 2018). Lastly, the lack of candidates is
leading to disturbance in the supply-demand chain of French educators in Toronto as
per studies by University of Toronto (French-language teachers in Ontario, 2018).
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Analysis of the issue
Canada being a multicultural state manages, celebrates and acknowledges its
vibrant ethnic cultures and languages of different communities. The rich and vibrant
socio-political structure of Canada brings along different risks and challenges to the
structure of its sociolinguistic organisational and educational system (Bhatia, 2014).
One such identified contemporary challenge faced by the French community is the
shortage of French education providers in major Ontario region especially Toronto
(Trifonas & Aravossitas, 2014). There is news highlight that informs about this issue
in different regions of Canada including Ontario especially Toronto. Ten years ago,
French immersion program shared contradictory views, where some Canadians
considered it as “master plan” to Franchize Canada whereas other thought it as a
measure to make untied Canada supported by English Canadian’s willing to admit
their children in French immersion program at school (Dornyei, 2014).
In contrast, Kutsyuruba & Treguna (2014) indicates that issue of missing
guidance in French immersion program has created uncertainty in mind of French
Canadian about the establishment and importance of the French language in Canada.
According to one survey studied by Swanson & Mason (2018), most of the French
parents consider this issue of lacking French educator in Ontario as a signal of extinct
in French Canadian population.
Mason & Matas (2016) opine that the education system should be kept away
from any social or political opinion to ensure development. The French immersion
program is an accepted phenomenon both by English Canadian and French Canadian
population. In Toronto, 800 students competed for 500 French Kindergarten spots and
400 students applied for 240 spaces. Whereas, roughly around 590 teachers are
enrolled every year, making up to one-fifth of the French teacher demand in Toronto.
This indicates that issue of lacking French educator in Toronto is due to lacking
candidates irrespective of any political or social framing of the issue (Hennig, 2018).
Further, studies highlight that the Government is making every possible effort
to overcome this French educator crisis all over Canada (How to woo French teachers
to stay in Canada's schools, 2018). Svalberg (2016) indicate that professional learning
communities (PLCs) established in Toronto is one measure to overcome issues faced
by FSL teachers in the workplace environment. In these PLCs, teachers get motivated,
inspired and helped by one another supporting to enhance their French teacher’s
network. Further, Kosnik, Beck & Goodwin (2016) indicates that the Canadian
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Government establishes professional learning models for French teachers all-over
Canada including Toronto. These learning models help in possession of their learning
and develop rank as bilinguals in Canada. Such initiates by Government would help to
empower the French teachers overcoming the issue of their shortage in the country.
The Ontario Government looks forward to hiring French teachers from areas
outside their functionality that is other provinces (Quebec) to overcome the demand-
supply gap in their region. The funds are been raised to employee more and more
French teachers in the Toronto region as well (Schmidt & Gagne, 2015). However,
Gross (2014) indicates that shortage of French teacher has now become a National
issue in Canada involving shortage in almost all provinces, therefore, Government is
making effort to hire teachers from Europe.
According to Biro (2017) studies, University of Toronto has performed
detailed analysis of this issue in their research where the attitude of stakeholders
(parents, society) is analyzed regarding their attitude towards core French language.
As per research findings, experienced French teachers consider initiation of French
learning from very beginning grade basically grade 4 because children confronting
French learning in higher grades like 9 fail to develop an interest in learning core
French. Hence, it is critically required to meet the shortage of French teacher. Parents
and society favor this opportunity for their children to learn another language (French)
except English. Further, Zaimi (2015) study findings indicate that French immersion
program can be considered a huge success only if the requirement of French educator
shortage is been met other else people in coming generations may not be able to write
and speak properly in French creating a threat to this important French language and
culture in Toronto (Teacher Shortage Coming All Across Ontario, Says College of
Teachers | Ontario College of Teachers, 2018).
Conclusion
The study about issue Shortage of French teacher’s in Toronto region of
Ontario indicates that French immersion program can create more of a negative
impact rather than positive on French language and culture in this region. This issue is
developing a fear in French people of Toronto that Francophone will extinct in future
if the younger generation is not able to learn the language in school. All the three
articles supported by other evidence studied in this research, provide clear evidence
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that the shortage of French teacher is a serious issue not only in Toronto, Ontario but
also other provinces of Canada. Although, measures are taken to overcome this
shortage yet this issue persist potential to remain a major concern for existence and
importance of the French language in Canada.
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References
Books
Bhatia, V. K. (2014). Analysing genre: Language use in professional settings.
Routledge.
Clark, J. S. B., & Dervin, F. (Eds.). (2014). Reflexivity in language and intercultural
education: Rethinking multilingualism and interculturality. Routledge.
Craig, C. J. (2016). Structure of teacher education. In International Handbook of
Teacher Education (pp. 69-135). Springer, Singapore.
Dornyei, Z. (2014). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in
second language acquisition. Routledge.
Trifonas, P. P., & Aravossitas, T. (Eds.). (2014). Rethinking heritage language
education. Cambridge University Press.
Journals
Biro, S. (2017). French as a Second Language Teacher Influence on Grade 9 Student
Attitudes of French in Ontario. University of Toronto.
Cummins, J. (2014). Rethinking pedagogical assumptions in Canadian French
immersion programs. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language
Education, 2(1), 3-22.
Fernet, C., Trepanier, S. G., Austin, S., & Levesque-Cote, J. (2016). Committed,
inspiring, and healthy teachers: How do school environment and motivational
factors facilitate optimal functioning at career start?. Teaching and Teacher
Education, 59, 481-491.
Gross, D. M. (2014). Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada: Are They Really Filling
Labour Shortages?.
Kosnik, C., Beck, C., & Goodwin, A. L. (2016). Reform efforts in teacher education.
In International handbook of teacher education (pp. 267-308). Springer,
Singapore.
Kutsyuruba, B., & Treguna, L. (2014). Curbing early-career teacher attrition: A pan-
Canadian document analysis of teacher induction and mentorship
programs. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, (161).
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Mason, S., & Matas, C. P. (2016). Language teacher supply: A content analysis of
newspaper coverage across the'Anglobubble'. Issues in Educational
Research, 26(3), 446.
Schmidt, C., & Gagne, A. (2015). Internationally educated teacher candidates in
Canadian Faculties of Education: When diversity≠ equity. Handbook of Canadian
reseach in initial teacher education, 295-311.
Svalberg, A. M. (2016). Language awareness research: Where we are now. Language
Awareness, 25(1-2), 4-16.
Swanson, P., & Mason, S. (2018). The world language teacher shortage: Taking a
new direction. Foreign Language Annals, 51(1), 251-262.
Zaimi, Z. (2015). Teachers’ Perspectives on How Stakeholders Can Ameliorate
Students’ Attitudes towards Core French. University of Toronto.
Websites
Alphonso, C. (2018). Federal government commits funds to address shortage of
French immersion teachers. Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/school-board-to-offer-
moving-allowance-to-lure-french-immersion-teachers/article38160331/
French-language teachers in Ontario. (2018). Retrieved from
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/fls_teachers.html
Gordon, A. (2018). French teachers in high demand as popularity of immersion
programs soars | The Star. Retrieved from
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/05/18/french-teachers-in-high-demand-as-
popularity-of-immersion-programs-soars.html
Hennig, C. (2018). B.C. government looks to Europe to recruit French-speaking
teachers | CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-
columbia/b-c-recruits-french-teachers-from-europe-1.4599380
How to woo French teachers to stay in Canada's schools. (2018). Retrieved from
http://theconversation.com/how-to-woo-french-teachers-to-stay-in-canadas-
schools-78722
Meagan, M. (2018). 'We're doing the best we can': French immersion teacher shortage
in Canada a chronic and stressful problem | CBC News. Retrieved from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-french-immersion-teacher-shortage-
1.4423050
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New Report Identifies Key Factors in FSL Teacher Shortages. (2018). Retrieved from
http://www.opsba.org/Media%20and%20Resources/new-report-identifies-key-
factors-in-french-as-a-second-language-(fsl)-teacher-shortages-in-ontario
Schnurr, J. (2018). Hundreds of jobs for French teachers up for grabs at job fair.
Retrieved from https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/hundreds-of-jobs-for-french-teachers-up-
for-grabs-at-job-fair-1.3800384
School boards scramble to find French teachers amid surging demand. (2018).
Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/school-boards-scramble-to-find-
french-teachers-amid-surging-demand-1.3838548
Teacher Shortage Coming All Across Ontario, Says College of Teachers | Ontario
College of Teachers. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.oct.ca/public/media/press-releases/1998/19981120
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