Our findings represent clear calls for advocacy, innovation and collaboration in the domain of FSL teacher education.
In terms of advocacy, we see these findings as raising awareness about unique needs of future FSL teachers and the context of FSL teacher preparation in Ontario, particularly as it pertains to responding to the shortage of FSL teachers in the province. Building awareness is a necessary precursor to advocating for action, specifically for those who might not be familiar with the intricacies of FSL teacher education. We hope these findings build awareness that leads to further advocacy for innovation on this front.
Our findings also represent a clear call for more innovation. We see our pilot projects as having developed into “scenarios of possibility” (Heath, 2000) for others to consider implementing in their contexts to respond to the needs of future FSL teachers. It is our hope that these project findings are both informative and inspiring for all FSL stakeholders and advocates generally, and for Faculty of Education representatives specifically (i.e., professors and administrators).
In order to move from inspiration to action, we draw on these findings to make an explicit call for collaboration. Our findings point to the potential for collaborative professionalism (Hargreaves & O'Connor, 2018) to produce change in Ontario FSL teacher preparation programs. Such change cannot be sustained without institutional interest and investment in FSL across all institutions, including Faculties of Education.
Instead of formulating a list of prescribed recommendations, we hope that these findings provoke the building of community and conversation around investing in FSL teacher preparation over the long-term. Our findings show that such community-building and collaboration is possible in the short-term (i.e., three years) and can respond concretely to the articulated needs of future FSL teachers in Ontario and beyond.
References
Heath, S. B. 2000. “Seeing Our Way into Learning.” Cambridge Journal of Education 30 (1): 121–132. doi:10.1080/03057640050005816)
Hargreaves, A., & O'Connor, M. T. (2018). Collaborative professionalism: When teaching together means learning for all. Corwin Press.