Pilot Projects

Schooling and Society FSL course

The Schooling and Society course is mandatory for first year teacher candidates at the University of Ottawa. As a pilot project, two RAs delivered this course (once in Fall 2021 and once in Winter 2022) to a group of FSL teacher candidates. This course focused on implicit language learning (to address the persistent linguistic insecurity teacher candidates express in relation to their French capacities), anti-racist and inclusive education, as well as implications for FSL-specific pedagogy. Following both of the semesters of this course, interviews were conducted with some of the teacher candidates (Fall 2021 n=7, Winter 2022 n=3) to collect data on the experience of taking the FSL-specific course. The interview focused on reflecting upon the activities and assignments in the class and how these affected the teacher candidates' linguistic insecurity, their language development, their intercultural knowledge, their feelings of collaborative professionalism, and their own teacher identity.  

FSL Working Group

The pilot project responded to the need for the establishment of a shared vision of FSL Teacher Education across all stakeholders in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. The nine members of the FSL Working Group consisted of program directors and administrative staff from different sectors (i.e., practicum, marketing, academic secretariat), and professors. The group was led by one of the members of the research team and met every month for the 2021-2022 academic year. Follow-up interviews (n=6) were conducted to collect data on the impact of the Working Group on key areas such as the strengths and weaknesses of the group, the development of a learning community, the shared vision of FSL at the University of Ottawa and things to consider moving forward with the Working Group. 

Professor Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings

This pilot project consisted of Professional Learning Community meetings with seconded professors at uOttawa’s Faculty of Education in order to address planning, expectations and experiences with FSL teacher candidates in the program. The meetings were led by a member of the research team and were held multiple times throughout both semesters of the 2021-2022 academic year. During the meetings, the members participated in an open dialogue surrounding a variety of topics such as teacher candidates' language proficiency, how to teach intercultural competence, types of pedagogical knowledge and skills taught in the program, and developing a common vision amongst the faculty and teacher candidates. Interviews were conducted afterward (n=2) to collect data on the strengths and weaknesses of the PLC meetings as well as the overall experience of seconded professors in the Faculty of Education. 

#AMA Sessions

In this pilot project, four Ask Me Anything sessions were offered for both York University (Glendon and Keele) and University of Ottawa teacher candidates. The events had a question-answer format between teacher candidates and experts invited to speak about the following topics: Disrupting colonial ideologies and practices in FSL, teaching core French, teaching French immersion, and finally using technology in FSL. The goal of this series was to give teacher candidates an opportunity to ask questions they may not have otherwise been able to pose within their Bachelor of Education program, to give them resources and new ideas, and to foster collaborative professionalism between the experts and teacher candidates. Data collection was carried out through interviews with participants (n=2) which focused on the impact of the AMA sessions on their linguistic proficiency, intercultural competence, pedagogical knowledge, and collaborative professionalism. 

Online FSL Lesson/Unit Planning Modules

This pilot project was created by members of our research team at York University (Glendon and Keele). They created two online modules: one for lesson planning and one for unit planning. These modules provided step-by-step lessons on how to create both plans. By the end of these modules, teacher candidates have a lesson and unit plan they can use in their classroom. The goal of these modules was to give teacher candidates a tangible and practical walkthrough to help bridge the gap between learning theory and actual practice. 

French Conversation Club

The conversation club pilot project consisted of five 1-hour sessions facilitated by members of our research team from York University (Glendon and Keele) in which teacher candidates have the opportunity to speak in French. Teach candidates played games, participated in debates, and chatted about their lives, school and being a teacher. Each session tried to focus on one of the language elements the participants chose, but the main goal was to simply converse in French with peers. Most of the activities were adaptable to their future classrooms and they discussed how they could execute them.