Advocacy in the US
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Ideas for French Language &
Culture Advocacy in the US |
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| General Advocacy of French Youtube - AATFrench http://www.youtube.com/user/aatfrench Youtube for Eastern Massachusetts AATF Chapter http://www.youtube.com/user/aatfema AATF -Rhode Island (Youtube channel) http://www.youtube.com/user/AATFRI Why Learn French? (Youtube video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3OBy8fSywU You Wouldn't Know They Majored in French http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/frenchdegree.html French Matters (notes posted during Columbia U. webcast) - webcast video http://www.utm.edu/staff/bobp/french/frmatters.html Association France Etats-Unis http://www.france-etatsunis.com/ The French Language Initiative http://www.theworldspeaksfrench.org/ Beyond Freedom Fries and Indignity: On Francophobia http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/freedomfries.html Canadian Parents for French http://www.cpf.ca/ CODOFIL - Council for the Development of French in Louisiana http://www.codofil.org/ Commission for the Promotion of French (AATF) http://www.frenchteachers.org/hq/commissions.html#promo Le Français . . . pas compliqué (comparative difficulty link list) http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/ difficult.html French - The Most Practical Foreign Language http://www.fll.vt.edu/French/whyfrench.html In What ways is French a Gateway Language to the World (other videos on right) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoMMS8KmfsU MATERIALS CENTER (AATF Commission for the Promotion of French) http://frenchteachers.org/hq/materials/material.htm Miquelon.org http://www.miquelon.org Why learn French? (About.com) http://french.about.com/od/whylearnfrench/Why_learn_French.htm On the Importance of Knowing French http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/profren.shtml Organizations Promoting the Study of French http://globegate.utm.edu/french/globegate_mirror/org.html "Advocacy Lessons Learned," by Barbara Ransford http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/legislate.htm Save French! (Brooke Prestano 's French students in Kings Park, NY) http://save-french.webs.com/ SuperFrenchie http://superfrenchie.com/ Advocacy for French Programs http://www.scoop.it/t/advocacy-for-french-programs |
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The administrator or politician who cannot recognize the importance of foreign language learning will be among the first to call for the elimination of a French program. Therefore, those who would call themselves advocates for French language and culture programs must first be foreign-language advocates. Anyone who has tried to save a French program in distress, knows instinctively that there is a difference between promotion and advocacy. Promotion seems to speak universal truths about the value of language learning itself, or even the value of knowing a particular language and its cultures. Designed to increase visibility or desirability of that language and culture, it can be used to attract new learners, or to motivate those who are already learners. Promotion works best if there is national base of shared materials and information to be used on the local level by competent enthusiastic teachers. Of course these efforts can be enhanced by local data and materials. You promote like you advertise, because the world should know. Language advocacy, on the other hand, generally treats identified specific and diverse problems associated with one or a set of language and culture programs in defined geographic locations. Within that context it seeks to influence public policy and resource allocation decisions of specific political, economic, and social systems and institutions. It generally occurs as a reaction to a program cut or plans to cut a program, and you do it because you have to. The reasons for an advocacy call often seem local, stemming from the diversity inherent among American school districts. Here is why some French programs are cut: revolving door position in a school district, really poor teaching, French teacher fired for inappropriate activities, another language being substituted for French, reduction to Spanish, all foreign languages suffering at the same time, the way in which a particular district faces a state budget deficit, local tax support down, dwindling and unsustainable district enrollment, the politics of a dominant school board, PTO or booster club member, no practical need for French identified for that region, and pure, unadulterated agoraphobia. One of the chief difficulties with advocacy is that since our need for it appears to arise largely from local situations, there is reluctance to develop centralized strategies, and many efforts, both successful and unsuccessful, have been built literally from scratch. However, along with local causes are often less obvious general ones. These include both ignorance of and misinterpretation of facts, like a world population of "native-speaking" Hispanics numerically superior to that native speakers of French, our current rash of jingoistic French bashing, with its racist overtones, our ignorance of the roles played by French speakers in US history, ignorance of the importance of French in the operation of international non-government organizations, the linguistic and cultural dynamics of globalized business (not just import-export, but component and process chaining, foreign-direct investment, etc.). The AATF has a very good "Commission for the Promotion of French". When it was established in 1997, its main objective was "to help teachers recruit students by producing various documents such as flyers, guides, teaching ideas, and letters to convince students, parents, and administrators of the value of French." Many of the materials developed by the Task Force and the Commission are available through the AATF Materials Center. Regular dissemination of these materials by enthusiastic teachers will reduce the need for advocacy. But wait, there's more. The Commission sponsors a regular feature in the National Bulletin entitled "Promotion in Motion." With a click on the "Promotion in Motion" section, I discovered Barbara Ransford's article, "Advocacy Lessons Learned" from a 2001 issue of the the AATF National Bulletin, and I began to learn of the AATF's concern for advocacy. Since the loss of a French program often has a complex web of both local and non-local causes, since these may stem from community diversity reflected in all American educational programs and reactions to them, since they may also grow from the prejudice, ignorance and misinformation to which we are universally susceptible, it makes sense to create central resources on the national and state levels, and to implement a strategic framework that will work on the local level. In this way advocates will not reinvent the wheel, and there will exist the kind of systems redundancy that will allow for multiple arguments to aim at a variety of key individuals and groups. Here are some suggestions on how to set this up, gathering pertinent information about a particular district and state. My caveat is that while it will be impossible to gather complete information in all the categories at one time, additional information may fall into place during stages of the advocacy process. Local Level Profiling School Districts where French programs are in trouble: Identify and study troubled districts. Find web sites for schools and the school board if possible. Are school board meeting or PTO schedules available on line? Are school board meeting or PTO minutes available on line? Is a district school system report card available on line? Find out if French is being cut to introduce another language. Identify official reasons for cutting French programs. Is this a partial cut (number of classes or levels) or complete cut? Identify language dept. chair, language supervisor, general curriculum supervisor. Identify state supervisor of foreign languages. Find out if teachers are members of AATF or other language teaching organizations. Identify AATF members closest to the troubled district. Identify graduates who have benefited from the program (especially high-profile ones). Identify students who really like the program. Identify pro-French segments of PTO/PTA, faculty, and student body. Identify guidance counselors, and find out how they stand on this issue. Identify local and regional media (newspaper, radio, TV, web), with contact people. identify the local mayor. Identify local or regional allies (in businesses, political positions, colleges). Identify language department & school of education in nearby colleges. Identify any other educational organization for international education. Identify nearest French, or Canadian consulate. Identify nearest Alliance Française. Identify and collate state-specific advocacy facts. Identify French classes in strong districts willing to write letters supporting French in troubled districts. Identify French-owned companies, French goods importers and exporters to francophone companies in the region. Identify regional companies with branches in francophone countries (Is there someone who would come to speak or write a letter?). Identify local native speakers willing to speak or write letters. Identify exciting francophone cultural events in the regions of troubled districts. Identify other extra-curricular opportunities for students in troubled districts. What is the percentage of kids who go on to college from high school? What is the district's financial status (any visible budget woes)? What is the district's status with respect to "No Child Left Behind"? State Level State profiling State Board of Education web site. State Department of Education web site. State Curriculum Specialist in charge. State Teacher qualifications. State teacher quality enhancement programs. State Language Curriculum. State Language Standards. State legislature education committees on Foreign Languages. State exit proficiency expectations or exams. State High-School Graduation Requirements. State Public College entrance expectations or requirements. State School District Report Cards on line. State Economic Development Department. State Foreign Language Teaching Association. State Senators and Representatives (contact information). Does the above have an advocacy committee or program? Identify AATF chapters in the state. Identify nearest Alliance Française chapters in the state. Are any state accredited online or dual credit French courses being offered? In which districts of the French and Canadian Consulates is the state located (locate their web sites)? What are the state's practices of district evaluation for "No Child Left Behind"? An extremely important part of working at the state level is a web site making a comprehensive case for the benefits of knowing French within that state. In order to serve its several purposes it should have the kind of redundancy that would support several different arguments. Ideally, such a site might have information about any French language media either native to the state, trans-border or internet (for radio and television). The following resources may help state advocacy webmasters in this area: French-language newspapers published in the United States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:French-language_newspapers_published_in_the_United_States French in Louisiana media http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_French#French_in_Louisiana_media Radio Louisianne http://www.radiolouisiane.com/welcome.htm Radio Jeunesse des Amériques http://radiojeunesse.org/ European radio stations streaming live on the internet - France http://www.listenlive.eu/france.html Squid TV - France http://watch.squidtv.net/europe/france.html Squid TV - Canada http://watch.squidtv.net/americas/canada.html It would be appropriate also to include information about frequent French or francophone cultural events (film, music festivals, famous art collections), demographic information about the state's francophone, cajun or French creole population, organizational support for French language or francophone cultures in the state (AATF and Alliance Française chapters, appropriate consulate offices, your state foreign language association) French or francophone moments in state history. For the important bottom-line issue of the French-speaking world in the state economy (import-export data, information on component and process chaining, foreign-direct investment, francophone tourists, etc.). In some cases, it might be impressive to include information about famous state residents who speak French. Finally, there should be a link to a national advocacy site. State-Specific Sites for French Advocacy AATF ADVOCACY FACT-PACK FOR ARIZONA (URL will change soon) http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/azadvocacy.html Arkansas Needs French http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/arkfrench.html Colorado Needs French (PDF file) languages.colostate.edu/docs/colorado.pdf Idaho Needs French http://www.iatlc.org/downloads/Idahofactpack.htm Indiana Needs French http://www.infrenchteachers.org/indiana_needs_french.htm Kansas Needs French http://www.kfla.lawrence.com/aatffactpack.htm Kentucky AATF (click on advocacy links) http://www.french.kwla-online.org/ Louisiana Needs French (temporary address) http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/louisiana.html AATF ADVOCACY FACT PACK FOR MAINE (temporary address) http://www.umaine.edu/flame/aatf_advocacy_fact_pack_for_main.htm Massachusetts Needs French http://www.faculty.umb.edu/brian_thompson/maneeds.htm AATF ADVOCACY FACT PACK FOR MICHIGAN (see "document promotionnel téléchargeable") http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/michigan.html Minnesota French Facts http://mnaatf.org/1d.htm Missouri French Facts (Microsoft Word document) http://flamnet.org/MOFrench.doc New Jersey Needs French http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/newjersey.html French in the Delaware Valley http://foreignlanguages.camden.rutgers.edu/french/why-french-matters/#Frenchinthedelawarevalley SaveNYFrench! (A wiki cooperative in progress) https://savenyfrench.wikispaces.com/ New York Needs French (state-specific data) http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/nyadvocat.html The Advocacy page for North Carolina-AATF http://www.ncaatf.org/advocacy.html AATF ADVOCACY FACT PACK FOR OHIO http://www3.uakron.edu/modlang/aatf/ohiofrench.html http://ms.loganhocking.k12.oh.us/~madame/ohiofrench.htm Rhode Island AATF - Advocacy Resources http://www.aatfri.com/advocacy/resources/default.html Tennessee Needs French http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/frtnadvoc.shtml FRENCH ADVOCACY FOR VERMONT http://www.vfla.org/resources.html French in DC [advocacy+] https://melissakerley.wordpress.com/category/language-study-advocacy/ West Virginia Needs French http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/frenchwv.html Wisconsin Needs French https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/alkhas/www/winfrench/ We have AATF Advocacy Fact Packs for the states above and for Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, US Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. If your state is not on this list or one the list of state web sites and you have some advocacy needs, please contact us. Each state's page will be different in a variety of ways. For example, I did not have the celeb idea you see on the Tennessee page until I had done the New York page. Of course, as we progress AATF members will come up with new and better categories of information. Not every category will be relevant to targeted groups or individuals, but the categories exist because the information from each might be used in constructing an effective argument aimed at a particular group or key individual. Redundancy is the operative word here. The virtue of a plainly programmed and accessible web resource is its universal availability, and its potential for flexible service. Local advocates can create their own district-specific documents by selecting from the state page and adding their own local information. In our war against weak budgets, ignorance and agoraphobia, a web site like this is a weapon of mass instruction. Here are tutorials for two of many simple ways of making an informational web site using materials most people have or can get for free: Creating Web Pages Using Microsoft Word http://www.hartnell.edu/library/word_web_design/word_web_pages.htm Creating a Web page using Netscape Composer 7.x http://www.cameron.edu/~karenh/tutorials/Composer7.html State and Chapter Coordinators All AATF chapters will have their own advocacy coordinators, and this is what we would like them to do or "coordinate": 1. Work with other chapter members or with other chapters (in multi-chapter states) to make available state-specific advocacy materials on a web page. 2. Organize information pertinent to the status of French in their chapters. This might include some of the answers to queries in the district and state profile lists from Ideas for French Language & Culture Advocacy in the US http://www.utm.edu/staff/globeg/advofr.shtml 3. Maintain a name and address list of influential people in the chapter (state supervisors, state and national representatives and senators, allies in business, state foreign language association contacts, etc.). 4. Identify members and interested allies who are willing to travel and speak, Advocating for World Languages to Decision Makers Beyond the Choir http://community.actfl.org/actfl/communities/resources/viewdocument?DocumentKey=135618be-ca14-4b2e-a419-565a05d620b6 those who are willing to phone and those willing to write letters. Contacting Congress http://www.contactingthecongress.org/ State Legislatures Internet Links http://www.ncsl.org/public/leglinks.cfm 5. Create, or be ready to create correspondence templates for letter writing campaigns. 6. Put the call out that you are interested in any sign that a French program will be cut, scaled back, replaced by something else, or that someone is struggling to introduce a French program in a district where there is none. 7. If possible, map out where chapter members are geographically, so you can call on those near trouble spots. 8. Share ideas, success and failure stories with other chapters. |
Advocacy for French Language and Culture programs in the US cannot be characterized as a naming of celebs who speak French, executives who find it to be an essential tool, or by writing letters to politicians, though these may all wind up in the mix. Clearly, efforts will involve organization from the national to the local level. Topics addressed in advocacy discourse will be both in and outside of language education, with some entirely unrelated to education. In this war, advocates may need an air campaign of letters, but they will also need "boots on the ground" in local supporters, willing to show up at PTO and school board meetings. Therefore, they will work with other educators, students, parents, alumni, school board members, city officials and other politicians, people from the regional and local business communities, newspaper other media employees. Advocacy is of great importance to the AATF, in a climate where French enrollments show little growth on the college level, and where a number of high-school programs are being eliminated. My suggestion is that our efforts be centered in the "Commission for the Promotion of French", but that they involve regular interaction with the other commissions. In addition, we need to identify AATF members who are also active members of other language teaching or general educators organizations. Some of these organizations have developed effective advocacy strategies which we might use, and AATF members connected to them would be of important liaison value. Third, we need to learn how to approach and enlist the help of individuals and organizations outside of academe. In doing all of this, we will have to get more members involved. Each AATF member, even with a small contribution of effort, can be a part of a successful collective support effort, which I will outline in the next few months. If I am successful, part of the plan I outline should come from you. Advocacy for French Language and Culture programs in the US cannot be characterized as a naming of celebs who speak French, executives who find it to be an essential tool, or by writing letters to politicians, though these may all wind up in the mix. Clearly, efforts will involve organization from the national to the local level. Topics addressed in advocacy discourse will be both in and outside of language education, with some entirely unrelated to education. In this war, advocates may need an air campaign of letters, but they will also need "boots on the ground" in local supporters, willing to show up at PTO and school board meetings. Therefore, they will work with other educators, students, parents, alumni, school board members, city officials and other politicians, people from the regional and local business communities, newspaper other media employees. Advocacy is of great importance to the AATF, in a climate where French enrollments show little growth on the college level, and where a number of high-school programs are being eliminated. My suggestion is that our efforts be centered in the "Commission for the Promotion of French", but that they involve regular interaction with the other commissions. In addition, we need to identify AATF members who are also active members of other language teaching or general educators organizations. Some of these organizations have developed effective advocacy strategies which we might use, and AATF members connected to them would be of important liaison value. Third, we need to learn how to approach and enlist the help of individuals and organizations outside of academe. In doing all of this, we will have to get more members involved. Each AATF member, even with a small contribution of effort, can be a part of a successful collective support effort, which I will outline in the next few months. If I am successful, part of the plan I outline should come from you. Email questions to TennesseeBob Peckham: bobp@utm.edu |