French immersion fury

Has French immersion become a bastion of elitism within the public system?

That's what a group of Oakville parents suggests has happened in the Halton board in a story we have today.

In response to demand, according to the board, Oakville has some French-only schools, forcing some families to look outside their area for an English program. These parents say the French immersion bias means there's not enough room for boys, ESL and special-needs students in this system, or those from less-privileged backgrounds.

This is an issue I think we all have to look at honestly. We have our boy in his first year of French immersion (see my post "Stumbling toward bilingual"), and we're yet to know whether it will work out for him beyond senior kindergarten or grade one. But I've heard from parents with much more experience in the school system than me that a sort of pseudo-private system was beginning to exist with French Immersion. Some parents select the program, she explained, not because of any sort of love of the language, but because it meant there would be fewer high-needs kids in their child's class.

See, people don't tend to add French into the mix when they're just worrying about their child grasping English, or learning to manage dyslexia. If they are less affluent and don't have the money for extra tutoring, they are less likely to choose French immersion. They're even less likely to opt for - or stick with - a French program if they have boys, who - arguably - may be more likely than girls to have issues sitting quietly during carpet time or just generally paying attention to the program. 

What do you think? Has this happened in your neighbourhood? Be sure to check out the story and the rigorous debate going on in the comments.

Comments

[Tania]

I have my two boys in French Immersion. One is in Grade 2 and one is in JK.

So far they are both thriving in the program and are rapidly becoming bilingual.

I chose to put them in the program because I speak English, German,and French and felt it was very important for my children to be exposed to more than one language.

All over Europe children are often taught more than one language. It seems to be just here in North America that the idea of a child learning more than one language is supposed to be so taxing on them.

Kids pick up on languages well if they are exposed to them at an early age.

Looking at the older grades in my child's school, I do see far more girls than boys. I don't know why the boys are dropping out.

In our house, leaving the program will not be a quick or easy option for them. We will do our best to work through any academic difficulties that will come up. The value of being bilingual in this marketplace is too great to turn down.

[Inclusion]

I listened to the broadcast of The Agenda with Steve Paiken, held March 11, 2009 and was very impressed when the Minister of Educationstated that she wanted a young family who moves into a neighbourhood to be able to assume that their first child will be able to attend their neighbourhood, locally funded, public school. This is not happening in Oakville, Ontario and we could use your help to make this a reality. Not only are our neighbourhood children being bussed out of their neighbourhood, but they are finding themselves segregated (from their neighbours, friends and even siblings), and excluded from programs on the basis of sex, ability and ethnic origin.

According to enrolment data provided by the HDSB and data provided by EQAO, the Partial Optional French Immersion Program, as currently structured and housed in schools in the Halton District School Board is having a significant and detrimental discriminatory effect on English Language
Learners ("ELL") , boys and special needs children. This is in violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code and the HDSB's own policy on Discrimination.
Children are being excluded or have restricted access to this optional French Immersion program on the basis of ability (very few special needs children), sex (fewer boys) and ethnic origin (almost no ELL students). The HDSB has created, with its promotion of the French Immersion program, a two tier public education system; one track for the vulnerable, the ELL students, special education students and the majority of boys, and the second track (French Immersion) for the more adept, capable, English speaking students, mostly girls.

11 out of the 13 Elementary/Primary Dual Track Schools in HDSB (outside of Oakville) have Grade 1 classes wherein between 62% - 91% of the total students enrolled, are enrolled in the Optional French Immersion program. The remaining 9% to 38% of the Grade 1 children are enrolled in the regular Grade 1 English Track class. In 4 of the DTS there are only 6-8 students in the regular Grade 1 English Track class, which then results in a split Grade1/2 class. Unfortunately, there is nothing "regular" about these regular classes. They are primarily filled with boys, special needs students and ELL students; students who for a variety of reasons, have been
discouraged from entering into the French Immersion program and in Grades 1-8, students that have been "naturally streamed" out of the French Immersion Program often because they were struggling in the program. Further, as a result of changes made to the HDSB Special Education Policy, and due to scare resources, many of these students in these Regular English
Track classes are not provided with sufficient resources (Education Assistants, technology, neuro-psychological testing, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists) to ensure that these students have the opportunity to be successful.

The situation is compounded in Single Track French Immersion Schools as ELL, special education students and the majority of boys are bussed out of their neighbourhood to attend a regular English Track School elsewhere, away from their neighbours, friends and even siblings so that French Immersion
students can be bussed into the neighbourhood to attend the optional French Immersion Program. This situation is getting worse in HDSB with every passing year.

We are all stakeholders in Education. French does not belong to one program, one school or even to one Board. It belongs to everyone, anyone who would like the opportunity to take it simply as a subject or as a second language wherein they become functionally bilingual. It is not a program for the chosen few. In the HDSB French is only available in a Partial French
Immersion program (50% daily instruction in French) which has a Grade 1 and a Grade 7 entry point, and only at specific locations. Despite being offered for over 20 years, no research has been conducted to determine if any children graduating from this program achieve functional bilingualism, or on methods to make the program more inclusive and less discriminatory, despite requests from the public to do so.

Everyone that is discouraged from entering the optional French Immersion program, streamed out or simply missed the entry point must wait until Grade 4 to take Core French, a program hat hasn't been upgraded in over 20 years. With new innovations in teaching Core French, such as AIM, being available,
(which if implemented in JK has proven proficiency rates equivalent to a full French Immersion Program (100% daily French Instruction) by Grade 4), there is no reason why every child shouldn't have the opportunity to learn and enjoy French, at their neighbourhood school in the regular English track
without segregation. We believe that the HDSB and the Minister should restructure the Core French program utilizing AIM and have the program start in Grade JK. This will eliminate the discrimination effect of the French Immersion program and prevent any streaming until Grade 5 and will provide
all students with exposure to French, regardless of sex, ability or ethnic origin.

It concerns us greatly that children are being sorted like eggs, and their future decided in Grade 1 and in the years following. Sometimes all it takes is a good friend, someone who is smarter or funnier or needier or who has different abilities or personalities to change the path a student is on,
for the good of both students. What happens when these children never meet, never have the opportunity to form lasting friendships? Sometimes children flounder or are wayward souls, needing the right type of encouragement or perhaps some self confidence or are in need of other assistance (Education
Assistant, occupational therapist, speech therapist, technological aids) to become successful students. What happens when they don't acquire the self confidence or aren't provided with the help they need, when they need it?
What happens when these children are told they can't be successful in the optional French Immersion program, can't be in classes with their friends and neighbours or have to attend a different school from their friends and neighbours, and don't have as bright a future because they aren't as capable FROM GRADE 1?

The HDSB has a legal duty to ensure that all children are treated equitably, and with respect and dignity and that they are not discriminated against. They are mandated to ensure that every child receives a quality education and has the opportunity to be successful, including the vulnerable, the ELL
students, the special education students and boys. Every child should feel that they belong at their school, with their peers, their friends and their neighbours, in their class and in their neighbourhood. This is not what is happening for these classes of children in HDSB. Their future shouldn't be being decided in Grade 1. We feel that entry into the French Immersion program should be restricted to Grade 5 and that once in the program, the student must remain in the program up to and including Grade 8 in a Dual Track School. All students should take a French Language proficiency test in Grade 4, (similar to the Gifted testing) and based on this test of French language , and French alone, enter into a French Immersion Program for
Grades 5-8 with the French Immersion Students joining the regular English Track Students in all classes taught in English. This will delay and substantially reduce (possibly eliminate) the segregation of students and will allow all students who have acquired proficiency in French, whether
they be ELL, special education or boys, equal opportunity to enter this optional program based on independent test data, and to remain in this optional program.

Please ask the Minister of Education to intervene on behalf of these children in Oakville and the rest of Halton by making policy on the lines set out above.

[nathan]

I have a daughter in the Oakville French Immersion program, in grade 2. It was an easy choice for us - if anything, her mother was rather jealous, as she didn't get a chance to start her second language until grade 7 or so.

We (both her parents) have been closely involved with both her kindergarten (English-track) school, and her two French Immersion schools so far.

From our perspective, there was a much greater perception of "elitism" in the French Immersion program from the English-track school than actually existed at either FI school. Many in the English-track schools seem to take this for granted as omnipresent.

Those actually in the French Immersion schools do seem, from my experience, to believe this elitism is present, but always in "someone else". They all claim to have heard of someone with opinions that support such elitism, but themselves not to subscribe to it - and their actions seem to support this assertion (that they don't ascribe to it). No one I've yet met actually knows any "elitists" - though everyone thinks they exist.

In other words, as far as I can tell, this supposed elitism is simply apocryphal.

I have repeatedly asked the HDSB for information regarding the educational merits of single-track vs. double-track schools. The best answer they have been able to give me so far has been some vague research that implies greater elitism in double-track schools than in single-track schools (though they acknowledge that the very few dual-track schools they have - they claimed to me a single dual-track primary school, in Burlington - work very well). But, from my reading of their information, it hasn't been terribly well supported, and they too are relying mostly on anecdotal and apocryphal evidence.

[Dianna K. Goneau Inkster]

In March of 1983, I was the mother of a 6 mo old baby and just over 2 year old very active toddler. I assumed that my children would be going into Early French Immersion as my niece and nephew in Guelph had. No sweat! After all, Canada was officially bilingual, we had access to English CBC and French Radio-Canada, and to profit from our bilingual heritage, my children should be able to learn French and English in our local schools which happened to be in Kingston, Ontario. What a shock it was, then, that cold, grey March day, 26 years ago to begin crumbling up a chunk of the Whig Standard in an attempt to get the wood fire going to see a small headline in the letters section, "No Kindergarten Immersion in Frontenac County". What? That can't be! Every school board has to have French Immersion in a bilingual country. A 3-year struggle, then, ensued. Did I get much support from the local FSL superintendents, consultants and, even, French teachers or other parents who had their children enrolled in the French first language school here? I did get some, but not as intelligent, or committed a response as I might have expected. Finally, Bill 75 which gave the francophones the right to manage their own school system came down and lo and behold! all opposition to everyone having, at least, the chance to enroll in EFI vanished. Suddenly, we had EFI and French first language schools. . . Fast forward 26 years. My children are graduates of our local schools They both speak French and English. My son is in Navy Communications with the Navy reserves--writing down English messages every day so clearly his English is good. My daughter is doing a doctorate in sociology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and scored at the 98th percentile in the English portion of the GRE so clearly her English is excellent. Could my adult children's French be better? Of course, it could be. Could they know more about the great French authors such as Belzac, Moliere, or Simone de Beauvoir. Certainly. The great artists such as Renoir, Rodin, Cezanne, et al.? Bien sur! The fabulous life of the Sun King and Marie Antoinette? Yes, they could. Should they spend more time in Quebec and Montreal and in travelling around la Belle Province? Yes! In the meantime, I think we should encourage people to send their children to a programme that will educate them and benefit in many unexpcted ways.

[Carolyn Clement]

French immersion is not discrimminatory. It makes sense that if a child has a learning disabliltiy then parents will choose not to add a layer of complexity to that child's learning profile by enrolling him or her in french immersion. The key here is choice, which thankfully in Halton we have. Any program introduced that would see to a lottery system, or capping numbers...now that would be discrimminatory based on one's luck.

[Terry]

My daughter was enrolled in Early French Immersion in Ottawa from SK through grade 3. Although her grades were good, she was very stressed and frustrated, so we had her assessed by a child psychologist and she was found to have some (minor) learning disabilities related to oral memory that made French Immersion quite frustrating for her. When we brought the assessment to the school to see if any accommodations or help was available we were quite firmly directed to the core English program. We were told that there were no resources available for the French Immersion program and that if a student needed any help, the student had to change to the core English program. It was also interesting that, before the meeting with the school, my daughter was getting all A's and B's, but after the meeting her grades suddenly dropped to low C's (apparently justifying her "inability" to continue in the French Immersion program). I definitely believe that French Immersion is being used as a defacto streaming method in schools in Ontario. In our area, the French Immersion schools are in the "nice middle class" neighbourhoods and the core English schools are in the "poorer lower class" neighbourhoods. Many parents choose French Immersion to keep their children out of certain schools to which they would otherwise be directed. I believe that learning French is an essential part of being a Canadian, but the way that it is being delivered in Ontario leaves much to be desired.

[Kenneth Moyle]

Well, yes, it's been obvious to me for years that this is the case: French immersion is a chance to get your kids into a class or school where special needs kids aren't a drag on teacher time and school resources. I'm glad that such a choice exists for any parent who doesn't have the money for private schooling.

[Dawn]

Elitism by postal code.

In an Ontario where many neighbourhoods no longer have their own school because of declining enrolments, community takes on a new meaning. Many children must be bussed to their community school. Their neighbourhood, which has no school of its own, is as much a member of the school community as the one with homes backing onto the school yard.

In affluent communities like Oakville, there is no such thing as a walk-to school. Every parent of a "walk-to" student living further than 400m from the school drives their child. More bussed kids reach their school on a bus than walk-to kids reach their school on foot.

Neighbourhoodism is the new elitism.

[Dianna K. Goneau Inkster]

Just say no! Tell the staff you won't withdraw your child from the French Immersion programme. I was asked by the Special Education resource teacher to withdraw my son from Immersion. I refused. He has some significant learning disabilities that he has not dealt with. I have no idea whether with a better attitude he could cope or not. However, he does speak French and as the Navy Reserve training facility is in Lower Town Quebec (in the heart of the tourist district) he finds his ability to speak French very useful indeed. I'm glad I said, "No!" I don't think he would have done better in the English language with core French stream.
My daughter wasn't really asked by the French school to leave, but the teacher was keeping her in every recess to complete work. My daughter hadn't had an assessment so I had no idea what was wrong or what we could do to accommodate her difficulties. I removed her from the Roman Catholic French school even though I speak French and read it very well because I didn't think the staff would want to access the English only services outside of the school. I'm not even Roman Catholic so I saw very little reason for staying in a Roman Catholic environment with teachers selected from among only Roman Catholic adherants. I think the atmosphere in the French (first language school) would have increased my children's knowledge of French and French-Canadian culture, but I do not think my daughter would have received the special education help she did in the public school system. Besides, while I speak French, I really speak English. (I certainly know what mothers who are second language speakers of English go through when dealing with our Canadian society because I went through the same issues with our local French school system.J) I, too, think streaming and creaming is wrong. The issue should be "Does the child want to stay in the programme or not? Is he and the family happy there or not?" Also, fair is fair and students in immersion should not have huge classes. The same student teacher ratio should be used in both English and Immersion streams. Also, in the French systerm, there is Applied and Academic courses. Immersion does not have thtat luxury. Why the difference?

[bessela]

I started French in Grade 4 and took it until 2nd year university. Then I picked it up again in night school about 10 years after I quit taking it in school. In my classes, I run into people who took French immersion. My French is at about the same level or a little better. If your child truly wants to become bilingual, they will do it whether in the regular system or not. Many people I've met who took French immersion in school say they regret it because they are not confident in either French or English. So few people have the necessary skills in English these days that I think adding French into the mix doesn't really help. And rural students (like I was) simply don't have access to immersion, so it is somewhat elitist. If your kid doesn't want to do immersion, don't panic. You're not shortchanging them. I work with a gentleman who became fully bilingual after a year's intensive French training and he's in his 50s. There's lots of time if you have a passion for it.

[Dan]

One write says

"It seems to be just here in North America that the idea of a child learning more than one language is supposed to be so taxing on them."

Everyone I know from the US school system in the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. took either German or Spanish, or in some cases French. Most people I know from the Canadian system took French. Where does this idea that language is not taught in North America come from? Guesses?

[Christy]

I do believe there is an underlying attitude or feeling of elitism by some (not all) parents whose children attend French Immersion schools. I see it in my own community in Burlington. I have heard some call French Immersion a poor man's private school. Some feel it's a better level of education than public English schools and clearly less costly than private schools. I think French is a great choice but it is sad that is does seem exclusionary and is dividing neighbourhoods. What happened to teaching French in every public school.

[Emmett Keough]

French Immersion as an elitist concept? Are you kidding? Here in Ottawa, immersion schools are viewed as being no different than English-only schools. It's simply a matter of parental choice and student adaptability.

Why don't we get to the heart of the matter which from what I have read has nothing to do with the educational development of children. Instead the debate reads more like cranky parents inconvenienced at having to ship their kids to an English-only school environment in the next ward.

EM
Ottawa

[Andrea]

I have friends who teach in the same city but one in a FI school and one in an english school. I think FI has great value but if you don't think that it attracts elitists you're kidding yourself. The FI schools have higher test scores, higher average family incomes and fewer IEP'd students. S
imply put, only parents who want to be involved in their kids' education will bother putting them in FI and if there's a problem with a student's learning, be it due to learning difficulties or behavioural issues, the first step will almost always be to pull them out of FI (whether or not that's the right answer is another story). Many parents know that teachers in english schools must devote a greater portion of their time to higher needs kids in their class and it stands to reason that if there are fewer higher needs kids, the teacher will be able to go further with a class.
Some schools in my community are now planning to offer more split classes (in an english school) meaning that our local school will have 3 grade 4/5 classes for example. It sounds dumb when you first think about it but then you realize that it will allow those three teachers to work more closely together to plan their program more efficiently AND will give them the opportunity to group students by ability level for some subjects to more adequately tailor their teaching to a more homogeneous group i.e., split the 3 classes up with level 3 & 4 math students in one group, level 2's in another and level 1s in the other - this will allow the teachers to each take a group and focus on skill building with the lowest group, concept strengthening with the middle group and application strategies with the higher group - Awesome! All the kids finally get what they need rather than having one teacher with 25 completely heterogeneous kids that they feel like they're only reaching half of adequately.

[Sean P'Grady]

The only solution to THIS issue is to make all schools French Immersion from JK on and provide the necessary help for kids who struggle with French.
This probably means spending more money in poorer or rougher neighbourhoods to help counter the challenges that kids from higher income neighbourhoods don't have.

[Paul]

i am a french immersion grad, who is fully tri-lingual in spanish, english, and french, and i now possess a journalism degree.

i am proud to have had my education in french and feel very privileged and dammit, i'll say it -- elitist.

the french, with a quebec exception, are far more sophisticated in terms of style, grammar and literary culture than North Americans can ever aspire to be, and i'm honoured to have read some of the greatest pieces by Moilere and Voltaire in their original incarnations.

parents: do your child a favour and enroll them in a bilingual education, not just one [mandatory] class a year.

and yes, i am aware of my lack of capitalization.

[miz g]

This situation makes me really angry. Our society is in big trouble if excellence in education equals elitism. Why are we constantly battling for the needs of spoiled, unruly children over the needs of well-behaved bright ones? I understand that some children have learning disabilities- fine. Get them the extra help they need outside of school, just like the parents of gifted children who pay out of pocket for music lessons or further language classes. The truth is children who have been brought up to behave and excel in school are being held back by kids whose disruptive behaviour is sanctioned and excused by their helicopter parents. Who is fighting for the gifted children who get no attention because the teacher is overwhelmed with naughty, spoiled, sugar-addicted brats? If French immersion is considered elitist because the children behave and do well, so be it. We should be proud.

[Oakville parent]

When my three children were in grades 3, 5 and 6 the Halton District School Board presented our Oakville community with the option to remove everyone of our children from their school, which was 93% full, split them up and bus them to surrounding schools so that they could change our school to a Single Track French Immersion center. Sound insane??? I thought so to. Imagine my surprise when I realized they were serious. That is what is happening in Oakville and has been for years. Children are being evicted from their school, bussed to others schools and students enrolled in an Optional French Immersion program are being bussed in. The reasoning for this is that although Dual Track schools (French Immersion and English Program) provide a good enough education for all other school boards and all other towns within the Halton District School Board, it is not good enough for Oakville. Some Oakville families do not want their French Immersion program diminished by having to share space and resources with the core English students.

There is nothing wrong with the French Immersion program. It is a wonderful option to offer challenges and opportunities to higher achieving students. There is a great deal wrong with the delivery method adopted by the Halton District School Board, Single Track Program dedicated schools. It displaces the highest number of English students and is the most expensive method to offer an OPTIONAL program. The current cost for bussing out the English students who live directly across the street from the newest Single Track French Immersion school is $93,000/per year. The cost for bussing the French Immersion students in is about double. (Approx. 4 busses out and 9 busses in every morning and afternoon. Multply that by the 5 Single Track French Immersion schools in Oakville. Thank you taxpayers of Ontario for footing the bill. As some of our Trustees will tell you Oakville is special and our needs are different from the rest you.

There is also a high emotional cost. Hundreds of families in Oakville have had no idea where their children will be attending school from year to year for the past 5 years. Children are being removed from schools they have attended since Kindergarten and seperated from friends to make way for students who have chosen an OPTIONAL program. How would you like to live that way? How would you explain to your children that they have to move because other kids are moving into their school and they are not longer welcome? That is what is happening here in Oakville. Why do I have to fight year after year to keep my children in their school in the Core English program?

[Linda Castelino]

My two daughters graduated from the Peel Board French Immersion Program. The program is successful but needs constructive input, both from parents and innovation by the teachers of the program.
Bilingual students, French and English, are vital to a successful Canadian Society. The program is essential for successful integration of our children as achieving Canadians. A second language creates a investigative mind.
I am a retired science teacher of East Indian origin.

[Sailor Girl]

My 3 children are all high achievers. It became evident very early in their education that in order to sustain a lasting interest in school they all needed a greater challenge than the average classroom had to offer. FI has filled that gap. The fact that the FI program attracts the best and brightest is certainly a selling feature. There are no behavior problems in their FI classes and that alone is a tremendous feature. This "separation/segregation" of students based on ability is not unlike the streaming that occurs in high school. These are our future doctors, engineers and scientists....we should promote their abilities. Mediocrity is not good enough for some students, or parents.

[Liz C]

As many have pointed out, this is a bilingual country, so my question is why do we have 2 streams? Why can't all kids receive a good quality education in a second language? Immersion is an extreme method and not the only one. In Sweden all children study English along side their other studies presented in Swedish. And they graduate bilingual. Immersion is not necessary. Why is our only choice French immersion, which is too extreme for many students, or a poor quality French program within the English program? This makes no sense to me, am I crazy?

[Ioanna]

My daughter is in grade 2 FI and having some difficulty with the program. Both her French and English teacher are campaigning with me to move her to English only. She doesn't have the best marks, but she's ok in the other subjects. She wants to stay and both my husband and I truly appreciate the value of learning a second language, infect she's also learning a third language and music (the 4th language). She's developing consistently in all areas. The English teacher seems to have a personal opinion that early French immersion has no value except for only the very few that are gifted. I strongly disagree, and am very distressed that she makes discouraging comments to the children that she is campaigning to have removed. I am giving my daughter extra tutoring and had her assessed by 2 separate and qualified French teachers (both familiar with the grade 2 FI curriculum, they both said she was ok and had good potential to meet the requirements by the end of school year. So I'm drawing my own conclusion that certain children are being pressured out by grade 3 so that the schools scores stay up. I plan to not let my child be pushed out of this opportunity to enrich her life with French, because when my 10 yr old went through the exact same situation, we kept her in the program despite the pressure we received from the same teacher (!) and now she's doing great! Her French is beautiful, along with her 3rd language and her music rcm exams. We don't need them to be top of the class, it's about their quality of life. I've never met anyone who regretted learning additional languages, that's all the stats I need. Not speaking the most fluent French is still better than not knowing any.