Shortage of French teachers acute across B.C., report finds
Instructors are ‘in demand and they know it’
There is a shortage of qualified French-language teachers across the province, according to a new report from Canadian Parents for French.
French immersion is an increasingly popular choice for parents, with overnight lineups, school lotteries and waiting lists being common throughout B.C. as new students register for school. In Vancouver this year, 799 students vied for 529 French immersion kindergarten spots. In Surrey, 403 students applied for 280 spaces.
In all, 49,451 students in B.C. are in French immersion, a number that has grown by 38.8 per cent in the past 10 years, while overall enrolment has fallen nearly eight per cent. Nearly 8.8 per cent of the total public school population is in French immersion, with another 5,000 students in francophone schools and 180,000 students taking French as a subject, CPF says.
While B.C. certifies a total of roughly 2,700 teachers per year — many of whom will not be able to find work in B.C. — it produces only about one-fifth of the French immersion teachers needed, according to the report Falling Behind: 2012 Report on the Shortage of French Immersion and Core French Teachers in B.C. and Yukon, which was commissioned by Canadian Parents for French B.C. and Yukon.
There are two separate but linked issues, the report found. The first is that many teachers teaching French as a subject in English schools don’t feel comfortable speaking French, and the second is a shortage of French immersion teachers.
“French immersion teachers are in red-hot demand,” said Patti Holm, president of CPF BC. “In many cases, students training to become French immersion teachers are being approached and recruited before they graduate. The shortage is acute, widespread, and is progressively getting worse.”
A vast majority of school districts say it is very challenging to fill French immersion teaching positions, the report found.
Teachers studying in the French specialist teacher training program at UBC are in demand. The program graduates about 60 qualified French teachers each year, said Wendy Carr, director of the teacher education program at the University of B.C.
“It’s a ticket to ride,” Carr said. “They’re getting job offers while they’re doing their practicums. They’re in demand and they know it. They can get jobs in Ontario, they can get jobs in other countries, because they’ve got the French.”
However, when Carr researched the shortage, she found out that many French immersion teachers start out in French, but leave to teach English because of challenges like parent scrutiny and a lack of resources.
“It’s a program that has quite a spotlight shining on it, and for some teachers that is pressure,” Carr said.
In a survey by CPF, school districts cite lack of space as the No. 1 reason for not expanding French immersion programs, despite the high demand. Second is a shortage of qualified teachers.
The discomfort of those who teach French as a subject to English students can be addressed by hiring specialists to teach those French classes.
Some school districts, like Surrey, have addressed this by hiring specialist French teachers to teach French to students in grades 5 to 8, Carr said.
There are options for already certified teachers to upgrade their French skills to be more comfortable teaching French as a subject and even to become capable enough to teach in French immersion, Carr said.
“I think there are a lot of opportunities for young teachers if they’re generalists who like language,” she said.
“If they’re willing to go and work on their language for a year, they can come back and have quite a future in this job market.”