Language Culture and Curriculum
Editor and Book Reviews Editor: Eoghan Mac Aogain (St Patrick's College)
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Volume: 14 Number: 2 Page: 130–141
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Promoting Ethnocultural Equity Education in Franco-Ontarian Schools
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Marie Josée Berger and Monica Heller
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The Franco-Ontarian community has always been made up of people whose language and culture were similar. Over the past 20 years, important changes have taken place, particularly in urban centres where the
French-speaking immigrants came from all parts of the world. A veritable micro cosmos has resulted, reflecting the growth of the world community of francophones (Ministry of Education and Training, 1993).
Ontario is a large province with regional differences which are reflected in the concentration and composition of the population. In a number of towns, French is the language of the majority but francophones
can be found across the province. A large number of newly arrived immigrants from other French-speaking environments, have settled in Ontario, especially in urban regions, where they are now actively engaged
in maintaining and promoting the use of French within their respective ethnocultural communities. Given the historical context of the evolution of French schools in Ontario, the arrival of new francophones
can be beneficial. This is the basis from which one must examine the position of French-language schools in Ontario when redefining their role and the changes that must be made to include these new groups
of francophones.
© Multilingual Matters 2001
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