jobs with french?

[Oliver]

Hi, I have had a good uk education - I've completed school with 6 GCSE's, three A levels and have a second honours degree in French. I'm considering moving to BC with my wife and 18 month old daughter and want to make sure thaht I can get a good job to support them.

What jobs could I get (particually in the education sector) using French? I'm not a native level french speaker so could I teach french?? Any one have any ideas.

Many thanks.

[kdixon]

If you have studied French at the post secondary level you should be able to teach core French or French Second Language in most places. High schools, or French immersion may be more picky. I teach in Alberta, but have also taught in Manitoba. I taught and continue to teach French in both places, I do have a minor in French from university, but anywhere I've taught they need just about anyone they can find to teach French. I was even offered a job teaching immersion, and I am NOT fluent.

[Oliver]

Hi, its really good to get a reply after so long.

Whats it like teaching French in schools in your opinion - are you in primary or secondary? I am personally interested in primary but all the tips you can give me would be helpful (for example in the small towns do you find that the behaviour of the kids is better? Here in England we're finding that the behaviour of school kids seems to be getting worse and very ill disciplined and in places dangerous - but only in big cities.

What is your regime like as a teacher coz in England theres now lots of paper work red tape and targets etc compared with say 10 years ago - is it like that in your part of Canada?

I'd appreciate your thoughts

Oliver.

Originally Posted by kdixon

If you have studied French at the post secondary level you should be able to teach core French or French Second Language in most places. High schools, or French immersion may be more picky. I teach in Alberta, but have also taught in Manitoba. I taught and continue to teach French in both places, I do have a minor in French from university, but anywhere I've taught they need just about anyone they can find to teach French. I was even offered a job teaching immersion, and I am NOT fluent.

[kdixon]

I teach at the middle years level (grade 5-7) For the most part Grade 6. In the past I have taught French to a couple classes, this year just my home room. Most schools will want you to teach all core subjects, very few specialists at this level. I don't mind teaching French to my own class, but not so much other classes. Even though rench is an official language, the attitude around it isn't great. Keep in mind I live in Alberta - a LONG way from Quebec. I using a new program this year that is helping. It gets the students very involved, and forces participation. Both the students and I are enjoying it more.

As far as behaviour, I would definitly say it is better in smaller towns - as a general rule (I suppose there are always exceptions) I work in a town with a pop. of approx. 6500. Our school, grade5-7, has approx. 375 students. 5 classes at each grade level with about 25 students per class. I love this school! We have great support from our admin, and the community in general.

We are fortunately not tied down with a pile of paper work. I spent a year in the US and it was not the case there. We are going through some BIG changes in assessment. The whole assessment FOR learning vs OF learning. I know this has also been big in the UK. However, at this point it is impacting our practices (hopefully improving them) rather than causing us addition work. Reporting is also changing, but slowly , as we try to figure out what works best. The trend is to report on outcomes/objectives vs assignments. ( I am a team leader for these changes within our school and district, so it is a bit of a passion of mine)

Hope this helps and that I answered your questions.

Bonne chance!

[N1k100]

Hello

An "involved" school parent here from Ontario. I live in rural town too about 4,000 population. Here it greatly depends on the school board, I have a child in both the public school board and in the catholic school board. In public there is a teacher who is there 3/4 of school time and teaches only French. In the catholic school board there is one French teacher who visits all the schools in the area, probably 4 or 5 schools.

The big difference I find from a teaching point is that here in Ontario the parents are well aware throughout the year on what level their child is at. In Scotland my children went to school at the start of term, I had a 5min parent evening 2months into the year and heard nothing till the end of the year when I received a report card.

In Canada I receive 2 parents evenings to include both the French teacher and the home room teacher (class teacher) and I receive three report cards which show if there has been an improvement or decline from previous card.

I also receive phone calls when my child has achieved on a certain test, although I told them they dont need to call me any more because he is clever and I was getting a call every day!

Canada "tests" frequently and these have to be signed by parents which I think is great. There are so many assignments too before the tests so the child/parent/teacher can see whether the subject is being grasped.

In Scotland the attitude was that "the child needs to work at their own level and not feel as if they are in competition or being tested to fail"

The down side of education here in Canada is that their is too much focus on literacy. To the extent that the kids have so much homework they have no time for family. If you had any extra curricular activities on then the kids are totally exhausted. Unlike some studies that were done in the uk that showed too many extra curricular wasnt good for the kids, Canada is still pushing.

Finally - the weight of the childrens back packs due to the homework is disgusting. My child was carrying 32lbs on his back two weeks ago, he is only 11 years old.

Ok just my opinions, love Canada though :-)

Take care

[DTHOMAS]

Sir:
I think you need to clear up one or two items before you pack your bags.

Firstly, from the look of things, you have x3 A levels and an honours level degree in French (I'm assuming this is an undergraduate university degree, right?). For all teaching posts in any Canadian province (elementary and high school), one needs either (a) a BEd in a teacheable subject or (b) a BA in a teacheable subject and a certified teaching certificate. I know this because I've been teaching HS for 11 years in Quebec, having finished my studies in the UK.

If everything is kosher, then you should chew on a few things; French language teachers (and French-subject teachers, comme histoire en francais secondaire, ou, biologie en francais secondaire, que vous-voulez, mais dependent de votre region educatif) are in HUGE demand in all Canadain provinces, and this is clearly in your favour (I can not emphasise the emphasis upon the huge demand factor). Even in Quebec, where 80% of the population are French first language speakers, there is a terrible shortage of French-speaking teachers.

Some schools allow non-certified teachers to work (i.e. teach) in the school - but there is a catch; you are always given a one-year contract, reduced benefits, no job security, each year does not accumulate experience for seniority (very important in competative regions) and if you wish to continue working after one year, a promissary to obtain a teaching certificate, or diploma, within a set period of time - usually five years.

Regarding the behaviour of the kids - this issue is overblown and exploited by media. The kids are a relatively simple part of the job (yes, it is JUST A JOB, not your real life, which is you and your family) - you have to look closer to home to see who the problem(s) is/are (hint: parents -or- lack of parenting). Teaching is a very tough job - kids being the easiesier part of the job; they constantly reward you with thanks, appreciation and respect (I teach high school grades 7, 10 and 11 in a suburban school of 1300 pupils). There are some bad/dangerous kids, but you learn ways to deal with them (It is amazing how a child reacts to your ignoring them, in every way or manner, especially emotionally, for two or three weeks!) The hard part is provincial government red-tape eshewed by the ministry of education, bureaucratic administrators who like to meddle and make FUBAR decisions, poorly informed/educated parents and the disrespect given teachers by media. Depending on the subject, prep work and corrections take up 40-60% of the workload - all of this is done outside of school hours; be ready to work like a SOB for the first 3-5 years if you take up the cause. I have to mention some universal statistics that show that the average life-span for a new teacher in Canada is 3-7 years - not very encouraging. Looking at kdixon's comments show some of the regional differences (Quebec vs. Alberta) evident in teaching levels and regions. This leads to the next point . . .

Every single province in Canada is different, and this includes education. Each provincial education ministry is responsible for their own education system; they are not exactly interchangeable on a national scale, and this is obviously complicated. Certification for BC does not mean instant certification in ONT. For example, if certified to teach in BC (or anywhere else, for that matter) you can't teach in Ontario without taking extra certification, set tests, etc. I could teach in BC, but would have to take 6+ credits in "BC Teaching Systems/Law", etc., in a recognised BC university. Unlike the UK, which has a universal recognition of UK trained teachers (called NQT's), regardless of region, all Canadian provinces are exclusive in regard to education qualifications. Look, I'm not an expert in this subject, but because I studied in the UK I had to find out before I studied there if the qualifications obtained would be admissible to most Canadian (and provincial) school boards.

My advice: nose about and get informed - speak to people in the know, and keep a positive outlook. Good luck.