Pondering Priorities: Reflections on the Careers of Three Francophone Women Teachers in Ontario
Year:
2006
Author :
Volume and number:
, 31
Collection:
, 3-4
Journal:
, Resources for Feminist Research
Pages :
, 67-86
Abstract
Before turning to the stories of Ariette, [Anne-Marie] and [Claudette], it is helpful to put into context the teaching of French in elementary schools in Ontario. Ontario has the largest Francophone population of all the Canadian provinces outside Quebec, although only about 5% of Ontario students are Francophones. The Ontario Francophone population tends to cluster along the border with Quebec, across the central northern area of the province, and in a few pockets in the South West around Windsor, Midland, Welland and St. Catharines. Since 1910, there has been an association, L'association canadienne-française de l'Ontario (ACFO) dedicated to the promotion of French language interests in Ontario. A major concern has been to secure the right of Francophone Ontarians to receive their education in French. The English majority has not been particularly sympathetic to these aspirations, and both Protestant and Catholic English-speaking groups demanded English-only education. In 1912, the then Conservative government of Ontario passed Regulation 17 which limited the use of French as the language of instruction to the first 2 years in elementary schools (Barber, 1988; Ontario Royal Commission on Learning, Vol. 1, 1994; Gidney, 1999). An amendment in 1913 permitted French as a subject of study for one hour per day only. Clearly, this regulation was aimed at assimilating Francophones into the English speaking population. The harsh ruling was furiously opposed by Ontario Francophones and the ACFO, and resulted in the celebrated Desloges case of 1915. The sisters, Béatrice and Diane Desloges, had been hired to teach in a bilingual school in the French-speaking area of Ottawa. They made it known that they were prepared to defy Regulation 17 and would teach in French. It appears that the school board was inclined to look the other way, but the provincial government sent in a small committee of three Anglophones to overrule the local school board, and to oust the sisters Desloges from their classrooms, replacing them with other teachers who would teach the young Francophones in English. The sisters were threatened with prison if they resisted, but not ready to give up, they decided to hold classes in French in a nearby parish hall. All their students followed them. The local president of the French Canadian Education Association declared to the local French language newspaper: All three speak of the lack of materials for their pupils and how they had to develop materials themselves. Of course, that gave them excellent experience for their subsequent positions teaching Anglophones French as a Second Language. All three switched from the bilingual schools to work in teaching French as a Second language with Anglophone students. In the 60s after the Canadian Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was created (1963) resulting in the Official Languages Act of 1969, some areas in Ontario began to offer French second Language courses in elementary schools. Board administrators sought out French-speaking teachers to set up the programs and Ariette, Anne-Marie, and Claudette were three who took up the challenge. However, as their teaching qualifications were for French language (so-called bilingual) schools, their certificates were not recognized in the English school system even though their tasks only involved the teaching of French. That meant that all three had to requalify for the English language teaching certificate. Anne-Marie had to go to another centre in Ontario to write the examinations; Claudette took two summer courses and at the same time received qualifications to teach in the secondary schools. For [Ariette], it was the most difficult since her original qualifications were from Quebec. She had to get her Ontario secondary school diploma, and then after teaching for two years, the Ontario Ministry of Education decided to grant her equivalency. As mentioned above, she thought that she was badly advised and should have proceeded directly into university studies. She notes that an inspector told her, "Now you've got all your qualifications, but if you want to get ahead you should get your Baccalaureate....! had three young children, but I said, 'Well, I can take one course at a time', so I started that, and it took me ten years to do it, but I've done it!"
Theme :
EducationWomenFrancophonesFrancophones Outside QuebecAssociationsLinguistic minoritiesOntarioLabour
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