Glossary
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Citizen participation
Engagement – individual or collective, ad hoc or regular – that enables people to participate actively in the development of their community or environment for the purpose of contributing to the collective well-being.
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Citizenship education
Education that enables individuals to acquire the skills they need to integrate into and engage in all aspects of the world around them, a world perceived as being in a state of constant flux owing to the globalization of economic markets, increased immigration, and political, social, and moral changes (Pilote, 2006).
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Collective culture
Characteristics of a society or a social group based on values, beliefs, traditions, and ways of living together that change depending on the individuals who participate in its evolution (Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, 2012).
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Conveyor of culture
Person who supports a child or adult in the building of their identity by creating meaningful opportunities for discovery and expression of the Francophone culture while remaining open to other cultures. Through actions that prompt feelings of attachment, competency, and autonomy, the conveyor of culture encourages serious consideration of the relationship to oneself, to others, and to the environment (ACELF, FCDEF, FCCF, & DOE, 2009).
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Cultural facilitation
Structured service based on identity-building activities and promotion of the French language and culture designed to result in and support engagement in academic studies and cultural life at school and within the community.
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Cultural identity
Process by which a group of individuals who share a partially common way of understanding and acting on the universe and of communicating their ideas and models for action become aware that other individuals and other groups think, act, and communicate in a way that is somewhat different from theirs (Dorais, 2004, p. 5).
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Cultural mediation
Approach that facilitates citizens’ appropriation of culture by taking advantage of the relationships between the spheres of culture, art, and heritage of a society.
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Cultural referents
Elements and attributes characteristic of the Francophone community at the local, provincial or territorial, regional, pan-Canadian, and international levels. They can be used as a topic of study to make learning more meaningful and to stimulate the learner’s cultural and identity development (definition based on the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, 2012, p. 47).
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Culture
Set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual, and emotional features of a society or a social group that encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions, and beliefs (UNESCO, 1982).
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Early childhood
Period from birth to age 8 during which brain development lays the foundations for future learning.
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Equity
Principle of justice that takes into account the special needs of Francophone minorities in order to provide them with a standard of education equivalent to that of the official-language majority (Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, 2006).
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Exogamous couple
Couple of which one spouse speaks French and the other speaks another language, generally English.
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Francophone cultural space
Physical or virtual dimension where the culture of Canada’s Francophone and Acadian communities can be expressed and conveyed and that encompasses the history, heritage, arts, behaviours, and values of those communities.
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Heritage
Tangible and intangible aspects of our natural and cultural past, from prehistory to the present. Tangible aspects include buildings and structures, archaeological and historic sites, cemeteries, sacred places, monuments, artifacts, specimens, and collections. Intangible aspects include beliefs, ideas, customs, language, religion, stories, and many others.
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Identity building
Dynamic process during which individuals define and recognize themselves by their way of thinking, acting, and desiring in the social contexts and natural environment in which they live their lives (Association canadienne d’éducation de langue française, 2008a, p. 2).
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Inclusive education
A pairing of a philosophy and a set of instructional practices that enables each student to feel valued, confident, and safe such that he or she can develop to his or her full potential. It is based on a system of values and beliefs that are centred on the best interests of the child and promote not only active participation in learning and school life, but also a feeling of belonging, social development, and positive interactions with ones peers and school community (New Brunswick, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2009).
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Individual culture
Personal history fashioned by events and the individual’s familiar universe (Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, 2012).
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Instructional approach in a minority setting
Instructional approach relating to the sociodemographic and linguistic context of Francophone communities that seeks to act on identity-based tensions, react to social injustice, develop a sense of community, and build a positive relationship with the language. This is a comprehensive form of education that is transformative, actualizing, differentiated, and community building (Cormier, 2005).
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Instructional leadership
Ability of an educator to set clear goals for a collective educational group learning project, to motivate colleagues and learners, and to promote their ongoing learning (based on Legendre, 2005).
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Integrated network of services
Series of interrelated and complementary public and private institutions that provide or ensure the delivery of a continuum of coordinated services, from a single entry point, to a defined population within a defined area, and that is collectively responsible for the overall development of children aged 0 to 8 and for supporting parents beginning in the perinatal period.
