"What's wrong with me?"

  French Immersion schooling has become a major part of the education system where I live. Parents queue up to enroll their darlings in schools that offer Immersion programs, believing it gives their children an advantage.

When our daughter reached school-age, we had a lot of very long discussions about whether to enroll her in Immersion, or in Mainstream. Choosing French or English as the language of instruction was what we were faced with, in a Province that lists Cantonese as it's predominant 'second' language.

We'd done our homework: talked to young adults (now in their mid-20's) that were among the first to know education in an Immersion program, talked to those that did a “late” Immersion program (starting in Grade Six), talked with other parents as well as teachers, talked to managers in government agencies; and reflected on the fact that Momma, here, did a form of “late” Immersion, and while I'm awfully rusty, je peut parler en francais aujourd'hui.

We heard stories of students unable to write properly in English, but unable to pass the language testing for bilingualism for employment in Government offices. One particularly candid young lady had taken the trouble to track down former classmates: she was one of more than half that had had to take remedial English courses post high school in order to gain employment. She was quite bitter about it, as were a few of her former classmates: parental egos and misinformation about the benefits of Immersion were pointed at as having contributed to hardships they'd not have known in Mainstream.

We decided that it would be best for the tyke to be enrolled in the Mainstream program; if she wants to do “late” Immersion come Grade Six, it's HER decision, and not ours. The basics of English will already be in her arsenal, and given that English is the predominant language spoken outside of school, that made sense to us. It would let her have say in the matter: at five, there was no way she could choose for herself.

There was only 11 children in the Kindergarten class (English) that year. There was 44 in the Immersion program, 2 full classes of kids being instructed in French. With Kindergarten being so insular, the child wasn't aware that the class she was in was unusually small, she just knew she liked going to school.

Come Grade One, our daughter was excited: larger classes and exposure to other kids on the playground had her very eager to start the year. It didn't take long for that excitement to wear off, and before the first month of school was done, she'd become quiet, almost sad.

“What's wrong with me?”, she quietly asked me, one afternoon after school.

It turns out that because she was in the Mainstream (English) school program, her class was home to all of the ESL kids, the behaviorally challenged, and the disabled. There were 22 kids, a regular teacher, a student teacher, 2 teachers aides, and a lot of “out of the classroom” sessions with support staff. One young man was prone to violent outbursts that included profanities; he actually bit our daughter during one of his rages. A non-speaking Autistic child that would shriek and hit, three children absolutely incapable of communicating in English with another 10 challenged by a language barrier and participating in ESL; there was another handful that required out-of-class counselling during the week, all involving behavioral issues. Our daughter was one of only four in a class of 22 that wasn't somehow in need of 'extra' input, counselling, or special resources. She had become convinced that she, too, must have a problem, because the Immersion classes didn't have students like that: there had to be something “wrong” with her. Nothing I said would convince her that she was just another kid in an English Grade One class, her own observations contradicted what I said, outright.

A parent-teacher conference had her Father and I bring that up: the teachers (2 of the four were present) were horrified at the question she'd asked of me. No child in past had reached such a conclusion, in classes of similar make-up. After hearing the explanations we knew were coming, her Father and I asked a question of our own: what was the school going to do to disavow the child of the conclusion she had reached? They were as responsible for addressing the matter as we were (as far as we were concerned), and we were looking it the issue from a “team” approach: help us help her make peace with the classroom environment and perform to the best of her abilities.

The child's scholastic performance was stellar. Behaviourally....

A few years have passed since that initial meeting. The question is still asked by the child, and dutifully taken to the teacher(s) at parent-teacher conferences. The school has done nothing to address her beliefs that she, too, must have an “issue” of some sort to be in a class full of children with “issues”. She has taken to back-talk, petulance, disrespect, and other “misbehaviors” in imitation of her classmates: my 6 yr old was taught to cuss in the school yard, throw tantrums when frustrated, and be non-compliant in the classroom : “I don't get it” is her catch-phrase of choice to avoid doing something she doesn't want to. The ESL kids have begun to teach her Chinese word-characters: she can write a dozen or more.

We're now questioning if we did the right thing by having the child in Mainstream: we'd never stopped to consider that it would also be the only place for students with special needs, regardless of the form, and in such numbers. When 18 out of 22 children have some sort of need for extra support, counselling, and resources, it's not hard to commiserate with the tyke and the conclusions she's drawn from her experiences.

There were no behavioural issues to speak of prior to Grade One. Now there is. “What's wrong with me?” has become an effort to fit in, and be like the others in the class, in all it's ugliness. We told the child that swearing and violence were for those not smart enough to use their words properly, but that's a tough line to follow when you're being hit and called a “f**king b**ch” by a classmate. When the other children are given less work than you are, because they're language-challenged, you feel resentful and don't want to do the extra work: it doesn't seem “fair”.

“What's wrong with me?” .... not a damned thing, until a Mainstream class placement in an Immersion school lent itself to an education of a different sort.No one wants to talk about it, or work to finding a solution, either. There's absolutely no accountability or help to be had, we're on our own to deal with the issue ourselves.

I've reached the conclusion that Immersion and Mainstream don't belong in the same school. I've got walking proof that the kids NOT in Immersion are suffering for their placement in bilingual school set-ups. I wanted my child to be proficient in her Mother Language, which happens to be the accepted International language of business and commerce, before she learned another.

The result is that I have a daughter that can read and write extremely well for her age, and that is now a behavioural handful and disciplinary issue.

Mich's Mumbles © 2011