New Brunswick’s Department of Education has released its proposal for the Innovative Immersion Program for young students, in what’s been a controversial reform.
Education Minister Bill Hogan said in a Thursday release the “goal of this new program is to have all students graduate with a conversational level of French, at minimum.”
Hogan said it includes opportunities for advanced studies of French at the high school level.
Under the new plan, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, kindergarten and Grade 1 students will spend 50 per cent of the school day “engaged in exploratory learning in French” to foster literacy skills, read the release. The other half of the day, students will be taught subjects like math, reading and writing in English.
“We want students to practice their French through authentic learning activities and be part of an engaging and fun French language learning environment,” Hogan said in the release.
The minister said this approach is also consistent with “earlier the better” research findings.
Grades 6, 7 and 8 students will spend 40 per cent of their day being taught subjects in French and the rest — including math, reading, writing — in English.
Under the current program, students get between 85 and 90 per cent of their learning in French in Grade 1, and about 70 per cent in middle school.
Hogan said in the release the province will also work with partners on opportunities for high school students, which could include access to university courses, online learning and co-ops.
Consultation for this framework began in March 2021, and involved discussions with experts, teachers and students, along with report reviews and other research, the province said.
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In its final stage, public consultations are set to begin through an online survey, which will be followed by in-person consultations throughout January in four cities. The release states in-person consultations will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the following cities:
- Bathurst, on Jan. 17
- Moncton, on Jan. 19
- Saint John, on Jan. 24
- Fredericton, on Jan. 25.
Virtual consultations will take place on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2.
The program will begin introducing students to French, primarily oral skills in early years, but also literacy, early sciences and other subjects. Goal is to make it thematic, fun and exciting for the kids.
This will involve a large recruitment effort to find more French-capable teachers, and opportunities for teachers who want to improve their French skills will be made available, according to the province. Staffing will be a challenge, but the province expects all Grade 1 students will get the target amount of French instruction. Officials could only say they expect the majority of kindergarten students will see that level of instruction.
Schools in areas that don’t have the necessary teachers will have some leeway on hitting the targets for the program, but will have to file a plan showing how they can fulfill it within two years.
Students who are currently in the Language Learning Opportunity programs, or the pilots that helped test approaches for the universal system, will remain in those programs until the universal program expands into those grade levels.
The government’s decision to reform French-language education has been controversial and was a main reason behind the resignation of education minister Dominic Cardy in October.
Hogan has said reform is necessary because less than half of high school graduates in the anglophone sector are able to speak French at a conversational level.
In his October resignation letter, former education minister Dominic Cardy accused Premier Blaine Higgs of moving too quickly to reform the French immersion program, adding that the premier had disregarded data showing that the program was working.
More to come.
— With files from the Canadian Press.
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