Educating French Teachers in the Digital Era

Abstract

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has greatly influenced teaching and learning in and of French and has propelled all stakeholders towards integrating easily accessible digital technologies in their endeavours. One of the important shortcomings made visible since the advent of the pandemic is the apparent lack of appropriate skills to teach online on the part of teachers in general and French teachers in particular. It was, therefore, essential to find out whether teachers of French had been trained in the past and whether any continuous professional development had assisted them during the pandemic (and possibly beyond). Thus, in this chapter, we examine the ways in which teachers of French in Southern Africa (in particular in South Africa and neighbouring Eswatini) are trained at both pre- and in-service levels. It is noted that, for a long time (more than 30 years), French teacher education has undergone little or no change (curriculum, pedagogical approaches, etc.). Digitisation of teacher training and professional practices is needed to ensure that teachers are well equipped to assist learners from various socio-economic backgrounds to become fully-fledged 21st-century citizens, able to contribute to societal development. In order to adapt teacher training to the current demands of technological transformation, we first need to understand the levels of training obtained regarding teaching with technology, the skill sets acquired and the ways in which they were acquired. We gathered data through a survey sent to 200 French teachers and lecturers in Eswatini and South Africa. After data analysis, we recommend that further training is necessary to adapt to the digitisation of teaching and learning and to implement pedagogical approaches suited to the current (and future) digital era. Our recommendations further include the importance of creating digital spaces for teachers to engage, share and collaboratively develop content as well as the raising of awareness of the benefits of Open Educational Resources (OER).KeywordsFrench teachersSouthern AfricaDigital eraCompetenciesTeacher education