Education minister maintains changes can still be made to immersion replacement

In the first of several public consultation sessions about New Brunswick's new approach to teaching French to anglophone students, Education Minister Bill Hogan said Monday night that he's eager for parents to participate and share their thoughts.

But he was called out by one participant who called the whole exercise a "con job."

Through Twitter, someone named Chris asked, "How can you possibly call this a consultation when you have cancelled [French immersion] registration and announced the plan before you consult?"

Hogan announced the changes to the way French is taught last month. The changes mean more French for non-immersion students, but less than immersion students currently receive.

Hogan said he appreciated the "candour" of questioner Chris during the livestream on the government's YouTube channel.

But he said the department has been consulting various groups and individuals over the past year.

"We've also benefited from the findings of the outstanding consultation work that was done through the Official Languages [Act] review and the report on second-language learning," Hogan said. "We used all this information to develop a proposal."

And Hogan promised that "changes are coming."

"Let me be clear," he said. "There's still a chance for New Brunswickers to have their say."

Hogan reminded the audience about a number of public consultation sessions that will be held around the province, starting Tuesday:

• Jan. 17 at the Gowan Brae Golf Club in Bathurst.

• Jan. 19 at the Delta Beauséjour in Moncton.

• Jan. 24 at the Delta Saint John.

• Jan. 25 at the Delta Fredericton.

Each will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

There will also be two virtual sessions — one on Jan. 31 and the other on Feb. 2.

And online survey will continue to be available until Feb. 3. As of Monday morning, Hogan said, the department had received 6,500 responses.

Less French by middle school

With the new program, the percentage of instruction students will get in French will drop from 50 to 40 per cent when they reach grades 6 to 8 in middle school.

Under the existing immersion program, students receive 80 to 90 per cent of their instruction in French.

Students entering grades 2 to 12 in September who were already enrolled in French immersion can continue in that program through to high school graduation.

The changes will take place at the start of the 2023 school year, with final details of the plan to be announced this spring, following the public consultations.

Questions vetted in advance

The questions for last night's session with Hogan were submitted by people through social media and vetted by education officials in advance. Hogan's answers appeared to be scripted.

One of the questions came from someone who identified themselves as a New Brunswick teacher and, according to the moderator Tiffany Baskin, "[seems] to be a French immersion teacher."

The person wrote, "I don't want to teach oral French all day. I want to teach reading, writing, math, art, science, social studies and health. You will probably end up losing teachers with this new program."

In response, Hogan said there's been some confusion about "what an average day will look like."

He said students need "reading and writing experiences" in order to develop language skills.

"These skills will be developed through French-language arts and exploratory learning."

Students will be exposed to French in a variety of subjects "in fun and engaging ways," Hogan said. "This includes lots of play and learning activities."

Will all teachers have to be bilingual?

Another participant wanted to know who's going to teach all this in primary grades. She asked, "Are you now going to require all teachers to be bilingual?"

Hogan said no.

"We will continue to need English-speaking teachers for the portion of the day that students are learning in English."

But he acknowledged that "there will continue to be challenges when it comes to recruitment, retention and training of French second-language teachers."

He said more "professional development opportunities" will be created for existing teachers and the department will be "ramping up" recruitment efforts.

He said the department is already "working on an aggressive recruitment campaign over the past few months."

Officials are also trying to remove barriers for international recruitment, he said.

Hogan was also asked whether the department consulted the teachers' association, and he said the group had been involved since "early on in discussions."

"We've always asked them to be part of the process because we know how valuable their input is — particularly when it comes to issues of staffing. We very much want teachers and the teachers' associations to come to the table and to talk to us about what we're proposing."

Those with unique needs

Several parent expressed concerns about children who are already struggling with some basic concepts in English and worry the new model will just make it more difficult for them to succeed.

Hogan acknowledged there is "plenty of data that shows children with additional social, emotional or behavioural needs are currently disproportionately placed into the English prime program."

"This has been creating imbalances between classrooms, behavioural challenges and increased pressure regarding inclusive education practices for years."

Hogan said students who currently have personalized learning plans, known as PLPs, will continue to do so.

He was also asked what models were used to develop the proposed program.

Program tried out in 1990s

One of the prototypes was a program that was used in the anglophone north school district in the late 1990s and early 2000s that used a 50-50 split between English and French, Hogan said. The Grade 12 oral proficiency assessment results were among the highest in the province, with 97 per cent reaching the conversational level.

Hogan said students "even outperformed last year's graduating cohort of early immersion students."

At least two participants worried about how newcomers, especially those who speak anything other than French or English will be integrated into the new program.

Hogan said individual plans will be created "that address the specific needs of students," but he didn't offer any specifics.