Patricia LamarreFaculté des Sciences de l’ÉducationCentre d’études ethniques des universités montréalaises

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWmv35iJglMgo

Go publique video – Annakin Slayd

English-speaking communities in transition since post-révolution tranquille Québec

English-language schools, their role in supporting English-speaking communities now and into the future

3

From majority group to official language minority

Coming to terms with a changing language dynamic

Time for some rethinking? Or even a paradigm shift (Bourhis et Foucher, 2012)?

4

A changing demographic : multiracial, multicultural, multilingual, multifaith, immigrant and aboriginal, often in « mixed » English-French mariages

High rate of bilingualism

Living in very diverse contexts – from suburban West Island to remote Lower North Shore to urban immigrant neighborhoods

Economic status: poverty and disadvantage within English speaking population on the increase – « getting over the image of enfiroupé »

In the regions, an ageing and often isolated population

High rate of outmigration of young adults

At the community level, only recently are different assocations and stakeholders learning how to pull together to meet common goals

5

An important trait of the Anglophone community today is its high degree of ethnic and religious diversity, with over 30% born outside of Canada and almost 21% declaring that they belong to a visible minority (Floch, 2006).

Explanation: A multicultural AngloQuebec andhistory of immigration to Quebec pre Charte de la langue française (Norris,1999; Floch, 2005).

Almost 10% of Anglophones provide multiple answers when asked to identify mother tongue. Furthermore, roughly 40% report mixed language practices in the home (English and French, English and other).

Schools are the only constitutionally protected institution under community management in the province

In some cases the only local public institution devoted to providing services to the English-speaking community

English schools increasingly perceived as critical sites in ensuring community vitality (QESBA, 2002). In some cases, the key remaining link to the community (QESBA, 2008).

Since the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1968), schools in minority contexts perceived as the basic agency for maintaining language and culture. A role further strengthened by the Official Languages Acts and through the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982).

7

Schools and school boards are under management of community

Governance strengthened by creation of linguistic school boards in 1998. Nine school boards covering, in some cases, large geographic territories and multiple administrative regions. Plus one special status school board – the Littoral (English andFrench schooling).

Schools and school boards are administered under a common educational program and Quebec’s Education Act

At the Ministry level, an Assistant Deputy Minister in consultation with an Advisory Board on English Education oversees English education sector (Services à la communauté anglophone et affaires autochtones). Manages funding provided through the Canada-Quebec Agreement for Minority Language Education and Second Language Instruction

8

English schools are found in a wide range of realities from urban poor, to suburban middle class on the island of Montreal to remote isolated schools in the Lower North Shore.

A number of schools with less than 200 students or even 100 students (QESBA, 2002). Requires creative solutions if quality education is to be provided.

Growing number of schools considered disadvantaged (1 in 10 schools)

Student population decline (a number of factors including « crossover » to French sector) much more important than the decline experienced in French sector

Students’ need for bilingualism and biliteracy

Increasing linguistic, cultural, religious diversity in student population

Urban challenges (such as racial discrimination), regional challenges (such as lack of local ressources), vast territories to cover within school boards, very varied sociolingistuic contexts

Countering poverty and disadvantage in urban, rural and remote settings

10

School closures

Reduced funding/resources to meet educational needs

Increased need to ensure bilingualism and biliteracy through school programs to keep English language schools attractive to families, countering crossover to French shools, continuing to draw « ayants droit »

11

« In many English schools today (…) French is now considered a core subject on a plane with English Arts and Mathematics. » (ABEE, 1995: 8)

« Of all the factors that differentiate English and French Education in Quebec, the imperative for biliteracy for Anglophone high school graduates is the most important. Anglophone parents expect proficiency in both languages and they will demand it more and more » (ABEE, 1995: 6)

12

French immersion no longer considered sufficient by some Anglophone parents to meet language needs in Quebec’s workworld (Laperrière and Lamarre, 2007; Lamarre, 1997)

Roughly 10,000 Anglophone ayants-droit students currently in French schools by choice (Béland, 2006) – mostly at the primary level (McAndrew and Eid, 2003)

In past, most of these students would choose English sector at high school level. Question currently raised: These students leave French sector with the language skills of grade six students. Is this enough for workworld? Does this trend persist?

What level of French is needed for Quebec’s workworld? (GM Community Development Initiative, 2007)

• Francophone mother tongue students (ayants-droit) represent more than 20% of population in English schools. This number represents only 2.5% of total Francophone student population (Béland, 2006).

• A different set of language needs/complexifing the provision of bilingualism and biliteracy in English sector.

• Their presence challenges traditional role of minority schooling - the reproduction of a linguistic community. (Jedwab, 2004). It also, however, has helped counter decline.

Over the 1990s, enrollment of Francophone mother tongue students increased by about 35% in English schools in Montreal, while in the regions it increased by about 115% (Jedwab, 2004).

“The path to a vibrant and strengthened English public school system, and thus, to greater English-speaking community vitality, will best be set through the active pursuit of new and mutually productive partnerships with the francophone majority community.” (QAC to QESBA, 2006, p.8)

“this is HOME, this isn’t like (…) not passing through, this is it.”

How to feel an integral part of Quebec society? How to feel a sense of belonging and commitment to Quebec? (QCGN, 2006)

In the past, parents hoped that French skills would make this possible. But is language learning enough?

Proposal for outreach to Francophone sector (QAC tp QESBA, 2006)

The myth of AngloQuebec as Wasp and as a fake  minority.

School’s mandate of « savoir vivre ensemble » and countering representations on both side of the educational fence.

New initiatives partnering English and French schools

And what does English sector have to offer French sector ? Opportunities to learn English (QAC to QESBA, 2006)

« No one-size, one curriculum, one model will fit all… Issues have to be resolved in different ways for different schools. »

Quebec Advisory Council for Quebec English School Boards Association, 2006

Community Learning Centers – a new and potentially viable solution launched in 2006

CLCs are to serve as « hubs » for education and community development in their respective communities

37 CLCs actually in English sector, roughly one in ten. Located in a wide range of contexts and built on a model or framework with the flexibility to meet local needs and find local solutions.

What place for the Anglophone « other » in the Quebec de demain?

What place for youth with a « double/multiple appartenance » in the traditional politics of language in Canada and Quebec? Going au-delà des « cases » anglophone, francophone, allophone….

And yes, maybe we are talking time for a paradigm shift ….

getting over the mindset of une francophone menacée

21