A wealth of information on teacher training initiatives in Francophone countries around the world
With some 700 pages and more than 60 articles from Francophone countries around the world, the French-language publication Mieux former les enseignants dans la Francophonie, a result of the 6th International Colloquium of the International Network of Francophone Teacher Training Institutions, offers rich information and ideas on a wide range of aspects related to improving teacher training. Topics covered include digital education, distance training and MOOCs, governance of institutions for the training of trainers, effectiveness of pedagogical innovations, cultural and linguistic issues, and sustainable development issues in teacher training.
Many articles are of particular interest to education planners striving to improve the quality of pre-service and in-service teacher training—here we highlight a few of these studies.
One growing tendency in teacher training is the use of distance training modalities and new forms such as massive open online courses (MOOCs). Depover and Maynier (p. 136) provide an overview of IFADEM, the Francophone Initiative for Teacher Distance Training, which aims to address the teacher shortage and the need for improvement in teacher quality. Abdelkader (p. 146) examines the experience of the IFADEM model in Niger, while St-Germain & LaBillois (p. 200) move to the question of how to effectively accompany teachers who are being trained through distance modalities.
A section on the management of teacher training institutions includes a study by Diouf & Gueye (p. 282) identifying the principal training needs for administrators, based on a sample of 36 institutions in Senegal. Runtz-Christan et al (p. 308) discuss the professional identity of teacher trainers and how to prepare them for their role, focusing on the context of Switzerland.
For those interested in digital education and empowering teachers to use information and communications technologies, Mian (p. 6) demonstrates an approach for evaluating personal competence and use of ICT among teacher candidates in Ivory Coast. Joris & Parlascino (p. 77) offer a case study of an effort to integrate interactive white board technology into pre-service teacher training in Belgium, while Rasmy & Karsenti (p. 32) investigate in Montréal what affects teachers’ intrinsic motivation to engage in continuing professional development to integrate the use of ICT in their work, underlining the importance of supporting teachers’ sense of autonomy and competence.
Digital technologies blend with other new developments in a further section on pedagogical innovations. Attenoukon (p. 346) investigates the usage of mobile phones for learning among university students in Benin, with a particular focus on women’s mobile learning practices. Several other chapters discuss innovations in teaching French as a foreign language, such as that by Bouchkioua of Morocco (p. 386) which investigated the pairing of an in-person component focusing on oral language skills, with a distance component to correct phonetic issues. Other chapters discuss how teachers receive pedagogical innovations, with Do (p. 464) writing about how nursing instructors have adapted to a new system of alternating professional practice experiences for their students in France, and Hahas (p. 504) discussing case studies of the reception of pedagogical innovations in three Lebanese schools.
The publication concludes with sections on cultural and linguistic issues, and on the significance of sustainable development in teacher training. Of particular interest is a chapter by Gravelle, Duchesne, & Gagnon (p. 563) on the integration into the teaching profession of teachers from other countries who have immigrated to Canada—an issue that is sure to arise for other countries in a context of increased global migration trends. Finally, Fauguet of France (p. 669) orients the reader towards a future of new questions in teacher training, calling for discussion on what it would mean to train teachers on “socio-ecological transition” and “desirable development” rather than the current focus on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Karsenti, Thierry, Ed. 2016. Mieux former les enseignants dans la Francophonie : Principaux enjeux actuels et futurs. Montreal, Quebec : Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie.