ETHNIC CONCENTRATION IN MONTREAL. S
FRENCH LANGUAGE SCHOOLS:
ORIGIN AND IMPACT
Marie Mc Andrew
Université de
Montréal
Traditionally,
interethnic segregation in the Quebec school system has been extremely high.
During most of the 19th and 20th Century, Francophone
students attended franco-catholic schools, Anglophone of British descent,
anglo-protestant schools, catholic immigrants (the great majority) the de facto immigrant anglo-catholic
sector, while non-catholic immigrants had to opt either for largely segregated
anglo-protestant schools or ethno-religious institutions. Thus, in 1969, it was
estimated that 89 % of the immigrant school population attended schools
were they hardly had any contacts either with Francophone or Anglophone of old stock.
Nevertheless, in
1977, the educational provisions of the Charter of the French Language (familiarly
known as Bill 101) directed all newcomers towards French language schools,
while preserving the historical rights of the Anglophone minority and the
groups it had assimilated in the past to opt for English language education.
The aim of increased school contacts between francophone and immigrants
was not explicitly mentioned in the law. But it is clear, both by the
policy choice that was put forward (the common attendance of French schools as
opposed, for example, to an immersion sector reserved for immigrants or special
bilingual programs inside the English sector) and by the public debate which
surrounded its adoption, that decision makers considered the extended sharing
of schools as one of the necessary condition for integration. Thus, whatever
position one may adopt on the legitimacy of Bill 101, one of its clear outcomes
has been the transformation of the traditionally homogeneous French sector
into a pluralistic setting. This is especially the case in Montreal where
almost 90 % of the immigrant population congregates. Twenty-five years
after the adoption of the Charter, 46.5 % of the school population in
Montreal. s French Language schools is either first or second generation and
one would hardly find any schools where the immigrant population does not
represent a significant percentage of the total school population.
Nevertheless, as the effect
of Bill 101 gradually made common schooling for francophones and immigrants the norm,
Montreal. s French Language schools started to feel the impact of
some less specific phenomena which significantly slowed the rate of change, such
as the concentration of immigrants in some neighbourhoods, the flight of
some francophone parents to private schools (a choice often shared by well-off immigrant
parents) as well as the bureaucratic tendency to concentrate special services
for immigrants in specific schools. Thus, in 1995, the first major evaluation
of the extent of interethnic common schooling between francophone and
immigrants concluded that . the glass was either half empty or half
full. . The percentage of immigrant students who attended schools where
they represented the vast majority (more than 75 % of the school population)
had dropped to less than 20 %. Nevertheless, 46 % still attended
schools where they represented the majority (50 % of the school
population), although in some of those school settings, the francophone
students could still be the most important group. A more recent study
(1999-2000) confirmed some of the concerns the first study raised. The
percentage of immigrant students attending high density schools (50 to
75 %) is now up to 60 %. Among these, 26 % attend very high
density schools (75 to 100 %).
Since the
nineties when decision makers, teachers and parents, as well as the media and
pressure groups, became aware of this growing tendency, an important debate has
been going on, in Quebec society, regarding the extent to which schools with
such a concentration of immigrant population, can insure genuine integration, however one defines this polysemic concept.
During various public fora regarding either the adoption of the Policy Statement on Immigration and
Integration in 1990, the setting of the levels of immigration carried every
three years by the Quebec government, or the more recent school reform in 1996
(États généraux sur l. éducation), the issue
of ethnic concentration in Montreal. s French language schools has been
brought forward as one of the major concern. In order to contribute positively
to this debate, a consortium between a group of researchers of Université de
Montréal currently working within the Groupe de
recherche
sur l. ethnicité et l. adaptation au pluralisme en éducation
(Research Group on
Ethnicity and Adaptation to Pluralism in Education), and a group of Quebec
Departments (the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Immigration and Civic
Relations, the Council for the French Language) has defined and carried
a vast research program on ethnic concentration, its origin and impact, from
1992 to 2000. Different studies were supported by a variety of sources : The
Social Science Research Council of Canada, the Fonds concerté d. aide à
la recherche (FCAR) of Quebec, Immigration et Métropoles, le Centre interuniversitaire de
recherche sur l. immigration, l. intégration et la
dynamique urbaine (whose funding come from SSRCC and CIC through the Metropolis
project) as well as the above mentioned Departments.
Regarding the
origin of ethnic concentration, a first study (Mc Andrew et Ledoux,
1995-1996) explored to which extend socio-ecological and school factors did
respectively contribute to the over-representation of students in school
settings, by examining the relationships between the immigrant population actually
recruited by the various schools and the neighbourhoods one would have been
expected them to cover. In around one third of schools, mostly primary schools
and some secondary schools from the catholic sector, the presence of the
immigrant population had nothing artificial : it was a direct consequences
of their concentration in the neighbourhoods in which the schools were
situated. At the other hand, again in around one third of the schools, almost
all protestant schools and the majority of high schools of both sectors, the
recruitment pool of the schools had very few relationship with the
neighbourhoods where they were situated. Thus, the over-representation of the
immigrant population was most likely linked to a variety of voluntary factors,
such as parental choices or specific attraction strategies carried by some by
school boards towards specific ethnic groups. Finally, the last third are most
more ambiguous cases where ethnic concentration, although not totally
disconnected from the surrounding neighbourhoods, also seemed influenced by
various administrative decisions, such as the allocation of classes d. accueil (specific French
Language classes for new arrivals) or the definition, by school boards, of the
recruitment pool of various schools. In the study, we also proposed ways by
which these three different dynamics of production of ethnic concentration in
schools could be tackled differently at the level of policy, programs and
actions.
Since the
research was carried out, one of the factors identified, the fact that the
school system was still denominational and that franco-protestant schools were
more and more playing the role (formally carried by the anglo-catholic schools)
of de facto immigrant schools, has
been settled. It is nevertheless too early to identify an impact of the
creation of non-denominational linguistic boards in 1998 on immigrant school
segregation, because, until last year, most formally catholic and protestant
schools had kept a right to recruit students in the same pool.
Regarding the
other factors, the Quebec government did not decide to act upon them, most
probably because of the results of the other components of the research
program, which looked at the impact of the phenomenon. Indeed, generally
speaking, the consequences of ethnic concentration appear non existent on the
school performance of immigrant students, very limited on their social
integration and, only slightly significant, on their linguistic integration.
The first conclusion
is based on two different complementary approaches. On the one hand, the
comparisons of the results at the national tests of the last two years of compulsory
schooling (Grade 4 and 5) for schools with various ethnic density rate
and, on the other hand, the profile of high school diplomation of students of
immigrant origin in light of the ethnic density of the school they attend (see
Table 1). These results did not surprised anyone because they came after numerous
other studies which concluded to the absence of correlation between pluriethnicity
and academic achievement in Quebec. These positive outcomes are closely
linked to the balanced class composition of the immigrants in North America
and to the fact that, on the Montreal. s school map, pluriethnic and
socio-economically deprived area do not systematically coincide.
Table 1
School achievement in relation to the ethnic density of schools
Social integration, defined as an equivalent
participation to social and cultural activities, positive relation with other
groups, a sense of belonging to the host society, and agreement with common
democratic values, was the subject of the second study. It was carried in 18
high schools with a total sample of 2 700 students, and contrasted the
respective impact of ethnic density, the presence of recent immigrants and the
socio-economic characteristic of the various schools. As seen in Table 2, for
the students of immigrant origin, ethnic density slightly favours the opening
to other ethnic groups but is slightly linked to a less positive attitude towards
the host society. The proportion of recent immigration contributes slightly
negatively to the quality of interpersonal relationships, while the level of
economic deprivation is negatively linked to participation to cultural
activities and openness towards other ethnic groups. Neither ethnic density,
recent immigration nor socio-economic characteristics predicted participation
in school formal or extracurricular activities, which was significantly low for
all groups (including the francophone of second generation controlled group)..
Table 2
Impact of various factors on the social integration
of students of immigrant origin
Ethnic density
thus seems to have a relatively limited impact on social integration,
especially when contrasted with the socio-economic characteristics of the
schools. This conclusion is confirmed by Table 3 which shows that even when one
adopts a more substantive conception of social integration such as the sense of
belonging to the host society, ethnic density explains only around 4 % of
the total variation of the phenomenon. These results seem to show that peer
socialisation plays a much less important role that some believe on the
development of different civic attitudes and competencies. Within ethnic
density schools, a common curriculum, the presence of majority role models
through teachers and principals, as well as an institutional ethos where the
dominant culture is largely represented, seem to compensate the limits of
informal socialisation. Nevertheless, these conclusions cannot be generalized
to the situation prevailing in ethnoreligious schools where most of these
formal factors are absent. Social integration in those types of settings has
indeed never been studied in the Quebec context.
Table 3
Variance
of belonging to the host society among students of immigrant origin
explained by the ethnic density of schools (in
%)
The impact of ethnic density on linguistic integration is
a more hotly debated issue in Quebec, as well as a more complex one. To evaluate
it, we used two different approaches : a specific analysis of the questions
with a linguistic dimension from the former study as well as the development
of a new research in 20 primary and high schools of the Montreal. s
Island, where ethnographic observations of linguistic uses during informal
contacts outside the classroom were carried as well as interviews with school
personnel and youth. In the first instance, ethnic density explained 11 %
of the variation among students of immigrant origin on a variable named attitude to French, which included the tendency
to valorise the use of French, the agreement for public policy in this area,
the utilisation of French with family and friends, the consumption of electronic
media in French as well as the intention to attend a French language college
or university. Nevertheless, although this impact is significant, it is limited
in comparison with other factors, the sociolinguistic dynamic which prevails
in the students respective communities, as well as length of stay in Quebec
being much more important predictors of their attitudes. In this last regard,
let. s remind to our international audience, that in Quebec , the
correlation between length of stay and linguistic integration is opposite to
that which prevails in more normal
societies : the communities arrived after 1977 show a much greater positive
attitude to French than those who immigrated before 1977.
In the second study (Table 4), ethnic density which explains 90 % of
the variation, was also shown as an important factor influencing the relative
strength of French in relation to English, as the common language within
the 20 Montreal. s schools studied. Nevertheless, the most predictive
factor in this regard is the more or less
inclined to French climate generated by the ethnolinguistic
composition of the clientele in each school. This factor was measured by an
indicator, named Trad because it
refers to the traditional tendency within each group, based on the respective
rate of linguistic transfer to French or English found in the 1991 Census
within the age group of the parents. Moreover, when a multiple regression
analysis is carried, ethnic density contributes positively to francisation in
schools where other variables would play in a negative sense. This paradox can
be better understood, if one takes into account that anglophone or anglophile
new immigrants tend to be more concentrated in high density schools that
equivalent groups in the past. It also indicates that, although these groups
would have a natural tendency to
adopt English, schooling provides them with a significant opportunity to
practice French. Indeed, the descriptive data of the study also showed that
French was largely the main common language in the 20 schools studied, the
percentages in this regard varying from 70 to 100 % at primary level and
from 60 up to almost 100 % in high schools.
Table 4
Estimated contribution of various explanatory factors
on the relative strength
of French indicator (FRF)
Although the production
of such a vast quantity of data on the origin and impact of ethnic concentration
in Montreal. s French Language schools did certainly not end the
debate, we believe it did raised it to more complex perspectives, and
hopefully, path of actions. First, it is clear that we succeeded, somehow, to
counteract the majority tendency to blame the victim, i.e. to attribute almost
solely to the immigrant population the responsibility of the production of the
phenomenon. It has now become difficult not to look at school factors, such as
the definition of recruitment pool or the allocation of specific services for
immigrants, when discussing the origin of the over-representation of immigrant
students in some school settings, not to mention here the indirect impact that
our conclusions had in the decision to establish non-denominational boards,
which was obviously also influenced by a variety of non ethnic rationals.
Secondly, we clearly
showed the necessity of considering ethnic concentration as a multi-faceted
reality with different consequences on the various mandates attributed
to schooling in modern society. Be it in Quebec or elsewhere, one can
never assume that school performance, social integration or linguistic uses will
be influence in the same direction by the rate of over-representation of immigrant
students in some school settings. The Quebec. s case is also
interesting because, as immigration and lower socio-economic status are not
systematically linked, it illustrates, more easily than in context where those
two variables coincide, the central character of socio-economic deprivation,
much more than ethnic concentration, on the various outcomes related to
schooling.
Moreover, our
analyse points towards the necessity of revisiting the informal socialisation credo, which has been dominant in the field
since the 60. s. It is indeed possible that we have under estimated the
impact of formal programs and curricula on the social and linguistic
integration of immigrants. Such a conclusion also brings a new light to the
second debate of this workshop, the relevance of ethnospecific institutions.
Their project is precisely to ensure cultural and linguistic retention through
the same type of formal schooling but then defined and controlled by the
minority groups and not by the civic (or majority dominated) State.
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