Abstract

This qualitative study focuses on the need for teachers to foster inclusive learning environments in Quebec’s “Classes d’Accueil”- literally ‘welcome classes’- for new immigrants to Canada who arrive in Quebec without a functional knowledge of the French language. Transitioning into a new culture comes with many social, personal and academic hardships and it is the responsibility of teachers to foster safe, welcoming and socially just milieus. Since the official language of instruction in Quebec is French, the classe d’accueil provides a unique setting for exploring two principal issues: how teachers look upon the linguistic and cultural diversity of their learners, and how teachers negotiate their way between potentially opposing tensions-- to integrate newly arrived children into Quebec, and, to reinforce Quebec’s distinct cultural and linguistic status. By drawing on New Literacy Studies (Gee, 1988; Street, 2003) and second language education perspectives, and through the incorporation of data from in-depth teacher interviews, classroom observation and analysis of classroom materials, this study argues that 1) teachers foster inclusive or exclusive learning environments in their classrooms contingent upon their personal and political ties to the French language and the Quebec culture and 2) that these attachments to Quebec’s Franco-national identity directly influence the manner in which they structure the learning environment in their classrooms. Evidence from this study further suggests that education in Quebec is not always inclusive, particularly for students enrolled in classes d’accueil.