ACELF Conference: equipping teachers to make the French-speaking world come alive

The 77th Association canadienne d’éducation de langue française (ACELF, Canadian Association for French Language Education) conference was held on October 17 and 18, 2024 in Laval, bringing together more than 350 delegates from all over the world to explore the theme “Our Francophones with open hearts”. Among the distinguished guests was Natalia Pérez Pedraza, our Senior Education and Training Coordinator and French and Spanish teacher at the Collège Nordique, invited by the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques (Center for the Francophonie of the Americas) to contribute to this moment of exchange and personal and professional enrichment.

The workshop: educational resources at your fingertips to make the French-speaking world come alive

In collaboration with Sylvain Lavoie, CEO of the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques, Natalia co-facilitated a workshop titled "educational resources at your fingertips to make the French-speaking world come alive". This interactive workshop allowed participants to explore new ways of integrating the French-speaking world into their daily teaching. At the heart of this workshop was the presentation of several digital resources from the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques, such as the Library of the Americas, a free and accessible platform of books and educational tools designed for Francophone teachers.

Natalia presented examples of concrete applications in the classroom, already put into practice at Collège Nordique with our students. Shared resources included:

• Tales from the Americas (audiobooks)
• The Great Catalogue of the Library of the Americas
• Educational sheets on the historical stories of the Americas
• The slam teaching guide in French
• The podcasts "There are 33 million of us"
• The Library of the Americas educational zone

These tools allow teachers to enrich their students' learning experience while strengthening their Francophone identity. Natalia explained how these resources have contributed to her own educational practices, particularly in the Northern context where the French-speaking world occupies a unique place. During her presentation, Natalia shared a strong reflection on the importance of choosing educational resources to animate and enrich the French-speaking world in the classroom:

It is possible to make the French-speaking world come alive, if we, the teaching staff, are well equipped. The pedagogical choice of resources always requires didactic questioning: Why choose this or that resource? How can it be used effectively to achieve learning objectives? Could this resource promote the identity construction of our learners? Throughout my professional career in Colombia and Canada (NWT), I have asked myself (and I still ask myself) these questions to plan my educational ideas. Thanks to the free online resources of the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques, I was able to introduce my students at Collège Nordique to the fact that the French-speaking world is alive and diverse in the Americas, and I was able to see that language proficiency in French allows you to think, act and engage in the Francophone world. The educational resources of the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques are at your fingertips!

A dynamic and inclusive Francophonie

The ACELF conference allowed Natalia and other participants to build relationships, exchange ideas and strengthen the Francophone network. Enriching meetings, such as the one with Olivier Caron, Executive Assistant and advisor on Canadian Francophonie at the Ministry of French Language of Quebec, paved the way for future discussions on the issues and future of French-language training in the North. 

Collège Nordique would like to warmly thank the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques for its commitment to supporting and equipping the teaching staff, thus promoting a dynamic, inclusive Francophonie that is resolutely rooted in modernity. 

To learn more about the resources and initiatives presented at the conference, we invite you to visit the following sites (in French):