Session Information
March 23, 2023
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. EDT
Bilingual
CASLT Event Description
The Languages Without Borders (LWB) pre-conference is an opportunity to network and discuss current challenges and potential solutions in language education. The 2023 pre-conference will take place in person and will be recorded.
Language teacher retention has been a longstanding challenge in Canada. Administrators and leaders feel a collective responsibility to take care of language teachers, but how can they do so in a way that fosters a sense of collective resilience? Research consistently recognizes the importance of mentorship and communities of practice as vehicles to support language teacher retention, but ongoing efforts to support and engage teachers require that our communities of practice also function as “communities of care.” What does this mean? How does one establish a community of care, and what does it feel like to be part of one? This interactive panel session will address these questions and consider possibilities for collective resilience in language education. Our panelists bring together a wealth of knowledge and experience in language teacher identity, communities of practice, and mentorship. They will guide participants through the creation of a community of care while discussing ideas and strategies for supporting and engaging language teachers. Participants will leave the session with practical ideas and takeaways for building and supporting communities of care within their own contexts.
Location
Westin Harbour Castle
1 Harbour Square
Toronto Ontario
M5J 1A6
Panelists
Associate Professor
Julie Sue Esmé Byrd
Julie Sue Esmé Byrd is an internationally recognized applied linguist and pedagogue, currently a professor and faculty member of Indigenous Education at Western University, Canada. Her scholarship comprises expertise in critical sociolinguistics, bi/multilingual education, didactique du français, language planning/policy, discourse analysis, and transdisciplinary approaches. Recently, she has focused on Indigenous methodologies for the study of language, communication, teaching, and learning. Prior to coming to Western, Byrd worked for fifteen years as a language teacher (English as a Second Language, French, Spanish) and curriculum writer in both K–12 and adult education in diverse international contexts.
Assistant Professor
Mimi Masson
Mimi Masson is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Sherbrooke. She works with future French and English as a Second Language teachers and teaches course in second language education and pedagogy. Her research interests include second language teacher identities, equity-oriented approaches to teaching and learning, and arts-based research and teaching practices.
Assistant Professor
Philippa Parks
Philippa Parks is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Sherbrooke. Her research investigates how language teachers form their professional identity during teacher education and how they build self-efficacy and resilience. She is CASLT’s National Council representative for Quebec and is active in several other professional associations. Philippa facilitates workshops several times a year on topics including L2 literacy, teacher identity, and resilience strategies for new teachers.
Coordinator - French L2 Identity Framework
Monica Tang
Monica Tang has been teaching French Immersion for almost 20 years. She is currently the Coordinator of L2 French Identity projects at the Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Through her doctoral research on the bilingual identity of French teachers in British Columbia, she created a new course for future and pre-service teachers at SFU that offers them linguistic and identity support. From kindergarten to graduate school, she seeks to help plurilingual teachers and students thrive and find joy in language learning. Monica was also interviewed by CASLT as part of the Languages Build video series.
Moderator
Associate Professor
Stephanie Arnott
Stephanie Arnott is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa. She is a core member of the Education and Languages Research Group (EducLang) and coordinator of the Second Language Education Cohort (cL2c). Her research focuses on student motivation, the knowledge base of L2 teachers and innovation in Canadian FSL education.
