) 5]
eige INFO-PARENTS pot anmieramaiist oe

THE DIALOGUE
COOPERATION BEGINS

BETWEEN

PARENTS,
TEACHERS
AND COMMUNITY

From August 21 to
August 25, fifty
Francophones shared
their knowledge,
experiences, and
opinions on multiple
levels teaching and
the new French
curriculum.

governance.

gain Whistler has
A been proclaimed

the number one ski
station resort in the world.
This town has also been host
of a special event: a training
session for education pro-

gram inFrenchas first language (Programme
cadre de frangais) which gathered teachers,
parents and members of the community.
From August 21 to August 25, fifty
Francophones shared their knowledge, ex-
periences and opinions on multiple levels
teaching and the new French curriculum.
They gave their opinions on the elaboration
ofanannual planning forteachers. They also
talked about the participation of the commu-
nity inside the school as well as school

The participants came from all over the
place in British Columbia :

from Prince

George and Summerland, to Vancouver and
Chilliwack not to forget Vancouver Island.
Three members from the Ministry of Educa-
tion - French Programs Branch-, Raymond
Ouimet, Yushi Wallace et Thora Bajard
have joined the training session and repre-
sentatives from BC teachers Federation.
The goal of this training session was to
provide the teachers with tools to develop
students' autonomy. A section on the inte-
gration of the subjects and the apprentice-
ship was also included. Both of these sub-
jects will contribute to facilitate the appren-
ticeship in multiple level classes: a reality for
Programme cadre de frangais. Last year,

tion.

many teachers had more than two different
levels in the same class. Nanaimo, Comox,
Summerland, Prince Rupert, Kelowna,
Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Coquitlam, Saanich
and Delta are some examples of this situa-

The child’s evaluation is of great impor-

to improve. A short activity consisting of
building a bridge has allowed participants ta
realize the complexity of evaluation. Teams
of three people, two builders and supervisor,
constructed a bridge with or without direc-
tives. The results varied because the groups
did not receive the same instructions at first.
Later, the participants shared their opinions
regarding the evaluation and the contribu-
tion of the student in the evaluation’s pro-
cess.

During the first two days, parents, teach-
ers and members of the community inter-
acted in small groups and in a plenary ses-
sion. The commitment of the participants to
a common cause (a better quality of educa-
tion for children in Programme cadre de
francais) help reduce conflicts and has also
enhanced a more active dialogue.

Thenew French curriculum which should
be ready in January 1996 has also been
submitted to the teachers. After reviewing
the preliminary version of the document, the
participants have noticed a major addition:
the section on language and culture. Even if
the new curriculum is not official yet, the
period of awareness to teachers, parents and
members of the community has been
launched and will probably continue through-
out the province during the whole year.

For three days, many participants devel-
oped a pedagogical (educational) planning
for the different taught subjects while others
looked into the relationship between the
school and the community taking into ac-
count the new reality of Francophone school
governance.

The discussions are just beginning. The
dialogue will be going on throughout the
school year between all these different part-
ners to enhance the quality of education for
children registered in French as a first lan-

guage.

tance because parents want to know where
their children succeed and where they need

‘3!