Allophone students: even in reception classes, the quality is not always there

Not only are francization services insufficient in the regions, but they are also sometimes of poor quality because the teacher is not trained or was recruited at the last minute. And this, even in reception classes.

“I should have kept her in my class. She would have been better with me than in the reception class,” says a teacher who preferred to remain anonymous to avoid reprisals from her employer.

The student she is talking about is a little allophone whose needs she struggled to meet in her regular class. She therefore recommended that the little girl be enrolled in a reception class… only to finally learn that the person who taught there was even less equipped than she was in French.

The newspaper published an article yesterday on the lack of francization services in schools located in areas where immigration is a recent phenomenon.

For example, students who need intensive francization are only entitled to one hour of linguistic support per week.

Need coaching

Several school service centers (CSS) have to date not opened any reception classes to integrate students who do not speak French, even if their number is constantly increasing.

However, even in reception classes, students sometimes find themselves with non-legally qualified teachers who have never been trained for this and who would need coaching, explains Christina Schimek, who was an educational advisor and francization teacher before to return to the floor as a 2nd year class teacher.

Know the program

The same shortcomings exist among certain francization teachers who will help students integrated into regular classes on an ad hoc basis, if we rely on the responses to an internal survey carried out by the Vaudreuil Region Education Union (SERV -CSQ) that The newspaper was able to consult.

“The person in charge of francization does not seem to have a good grasp of his program. She relies a lot on regular teachers to direct her in her tasks,” writes one of the approximately 80 primary school teachers who responded to the survey.

“Francization teachers are hired last when that should be the priority,” explains Véronique Lefebvre, president of SERV-CSQ.

Hybrid models

In fact, opening reception classes is not the only solution. For example, in the La Prairie area, we have adopted a hybrid model where high school students alternate between the regular class and the francization class.

“And it seems to meet their needs,” notes Martine Provost, president of the Lignery Teachers’ Association (APL-CSQ).

“In the current state of knowledge, we cannot say that there is one model better than the other […] Everyone has their blind spots,” explains Corina Borri-Anadon, professor of educational sciences at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières.

For example, bringing together the few allophone students from a vast area can be a headache if it means requiring them to travel long distances on the school bus to get to the reception class, she explains.

The reception class also has the drawback of isolating young allophones if they are kept away from regular students for too long.

For some young people, integration and hybrid immersion can work just as well. “It’s perhaps even better,” says Christina Schimek… Provided that the support is there.

The Federation of School Service Centers of Quebec indicates that it is working to create a reference framework with best practices for welcoming students from immigrant backgrounds.

Negotiated gains that will not be enough to meet needs

Although teachers may have applauded the gains made during their last negotiation with the government to better accommodate allophone students, the amounts added are only “scraps”, according to several unions.

In total, more than 10 million dollars will soon be allocated to the opening of reception classes and other models to Frenchize allophone students in preschool, primary and secondary schools.

This amount is arrived at by adding the envelopes provided for this purpose in the agreement in principle negotiated by the Federation of Education Unions (FSE) and that of the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE).

But after some calculations, several local unions come to the conclusion that the portion of this amount that will reach them will not be enough to make a difference on the ground.

“These are shots,” summarizes Véronique Lefebvre, who represents primary school teachers in the Vaudreuil region.

“Here, what will it look like? Maybe one more resource? she supposes.

At the Lignery Teachers’ Association, in La Prairie, it is estimated that the improvement will make it possible to hire 2 or 3 more full-time people.

“It’s not a lot […] There is such a big gap between student needs and what is currently offered. It would take a lot more than that,” says president Martine Provost.

When the secretary does the evaluation

At least, the CSS will now have the obligation to adopt a reception protocol and to evaluate allophone students before they enter class, both on their language abilities and their level in mathematics.

Because even in Montreal, this process is still uneven from one place to another, notes Mélanie Hubert, president of the FAE.

“Sometimes it was the school secretary who did a little evaluation of the student,” she illustrates.

This mandatory assessment of the real abilities of these students could eventually lead the government to realize the extent of the needs and to increase the amounts allocated to francization, hopes Ms.^me Hubert.

“It’s still a little crazy to say that it’s the teachers, through their collective agreement, who have to negotiate to provide for this,” she adds.