Forget about the old and staid; ignore the calls for a return to the past; it’s time for something completely different.
While others focus on one issue in their response to New Brunswick’s call for submissions on its Early French Immersion programme, AIMS looks at the big picture.
Based on a submission to the Minister’s consultation on the future of Early French Immersion, this Commentary points out that one programme does not fit all schools or communities.
Co-authors Charles Cirtwill and Bobby O’Keefe explain there is though one solution that fits all programmes in all schools and communities. That solution is choice.
In One size fits none, they move beyond the current dilemma in New Brunswick’s education system and propose changes for the whole system that put children first.
They say that the evidence is overwhelming that fundamental choice in the province’s education system is exactly what New Brunswick needs if it wants to provide the very best education for future generations. However, that choice cannot be limited to choosing between early and late immersion, between core and intensive French.
Cirtwill says, “It has to be real choice, across the full spectrum of educational opportunities and approaches. It must be available to all and reflective not of the needs of the system, and the adults who run the system, but of the kids whom the system is intended to serve.”
To read the complete Commentary, click here.
