Pedagogical Research in French Second Language...

Since becoming an FSL (French Second Language) teacher I felt that some of my work needs to be analyzed with a finer lens. I had been feeling like I needed to further investigate the learning that was taking place in my classroom as well as have some documentation surface in regards to the activities and pedagogy that I was using.

Alas! The thought was born and I decided to complete a pedagogical research project with the help of my students. This project is just the beginning of what could be something big! I mean once I began to work on this and bring up all the learning tools that my students had been focusing on while they worked on their projects from years of learning French the outcome was breath taking!

As a core French teacher bringing a unique perspective to the classroom is an integral part of my program. I feel that students from all divisions could benefit from working together and that success comes by experience and challenges in our daily learning. One of the changes that I had made this year in my teaching practice was to have my intermediate students engage more with the primary division at our school. I felt it was necessary to have the primary students (they began learning a second langauge in grade 4) exposed to the learning that is taking place in my classroom everyday. Also, I believe that the intermediate students have a capacity for leadership that can be exposed once they are put in a position of supervision and leadership among the youngest members of our school.

Since we had been working on projects all year at various cycles in the school year and the students were already accustomed to working independently, I created a project that required the students to be creative in return. This project allowed the students to work in groups and create a project where they will teach a group of primary students from grades 1-4 basic French. The students were given the opportunity to teach them any topic of their choice ranging from Les Salutations, Le Transport, Les Couleurs and even La Mer. The students were very very creative while completing the components of this project! Not only did this project intrigue my students however it began to intrigue other members of my education circle. This joint learning project began as simple project to involve all the students that I teach however it transcended into the minds of my colleagues.

When beginning to complete pedagogical research it is important to be aware that it is not of a time sensitive nature yet it allows for a long range of thought process and creativity in the specific matter being studied. Many projects will take time to complete and follow-up. This project has allowed me to enrich my thinking as an educator and has given me the opportunity to work with other colleagues in creating this pedagogical research project. Once I began to further explore this model of documentation I began to understand how my students are thinking and learning. I wanted to asses their learning and perhaps change the strategies that I am using to teach them more effectively. Through pedagogical documentation an educator is able to effectively asses the students needs based on many criteria's.

Here are 5 criteria's to consider: 1) Create shared understanding 2) Celebrate rights of individual learners 3) Recognize student ownership of knowledge 4) Actualize shared learning 5) Provide voice in learning for everyone as well as engaging in careful and systematic documentation of student learning yields many benefits.

On the one hand, pedagogical documentation indicates to students that their teacher values what they are thinking and what they are doing (YU, 2008); it engages them in authentic learning partnership. In any culturally diverse environment, student voice is always in close consideration as the students are new members and important the learning environment. All perspectives need to be considered in order to effectively create a harmonious environment where your documentation can be precise and strengthened by all.