Content Knowledge Experiences

I possess many outside-of-school experiences that have deepened my French content knowledge. One of the most poignant of these experiences was living and studying in Paris in the Summer of 2007 through UCLA's Travel Study Paris session. Actually being immersed in the dialect and practicing my language with native speakers truly enhanced my listening comprehension and oral production skills of the language. My experience in Paris also awakened me to the culture of Parisian natives and important French history, art, and food. Living in an actual francophone part of the world was paramount to me. It really catapulted my passion in teaching the French language and culture to my students. I continually emphasize to them that this greater francophone world does exist! (Below: Enjoying Le Jour de Bastille under the Eiffel Tower, a blonde me in front of the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, and eating escargot in a quintessential French cafe.)







Our class discussion of Deborah Ball's "The Subject Matter Preparation of Teachers" really opened my thoughts about what is necessary in learning to teach the subject matter one is supposed to have mastery of. I really appreciated Tammy's comment regarding additional schooling to be a teacher of subject matter - is it really a viable suggestion to require additional teacher-training and education in subject matter when most teachers' salaries cannot afford the tuition and time off of continuing education? Tom also made an interesting comment about the perception of the teacher in the United States - if we were to add years to our education in mastering our subjects, would this change society's perception of us? Would we suddenly be as revered as professionals of other extensively-schooled fields, such as doctors? Would we now have more respect as academic scholars, like teachers in some other parts of the world?

In developing my inquiry, I have narrowed my topic to French/Francophone Cinema, but have not necessarily developed a clear question. Some possibilities: What can francophone cinema teach to a high school audience that the textbook cannot? What are the benefits of showing and studying francophone cinema in the high-school level classroom? What films or film clips can I use to emphasize/reinforce vocabulary being taught in-class?

For experiential evidence, I have at least five experiences planned: 1) Visiting the San Francisco Film Society and possibly viewing a contemporary French film while there, 2) Interviewing a faculty member of UC Berkeley's film department, particularly someone who specializes in French film, 3) Visiting the Pacific Film Archives in Berkeley, CA, 4) Viewing "Les Intouchables," a contemporary French film about modern-day Paris and race relations, 5) Viewing 2-3 other francophone films and listing the themes of educational value that are present. If I can follow through successfully with all of these experiential plans, I think I will have an interesting and rewarding product at the end of this program.

SEE MY COMMENTS FOR COLLEAGUES:

Yadira Zapata - unahistoriadeunamaestra.blogspot.com
Mike Rose - Mikejas.blogspot.com
Juliana Wegher - masterbloggersmc.blogspot.com

PCK & Content Guiding Questions - French Cinema in the Classroom

Below are some possible guiding questions to lead me to my inquiry for my capstone project at Saint Mary's College of California (Masters of Arts in Teaching program). My inquiry question, though not fully developed, will revolve around French cinema and teaching foreign language in the high-school classroom:

1) How is French/francophone cinema different from American/English cinema?

2) Are there resources/locations available for study trips that pertain to French cinema?

3) Would showing French/francophone cinema in high-school level courses help teach students about French/francophone culture?

4) Does foreign language cinema demonstrate cultural nuances better than written text?

5) Can vocabulary and comprehension of slang in a foreign language be improved by viewing foreign language cinema?

6) What pre-film and post-film activities can be developed around a particular film to create an entire unit?

7) What difficulties may come in showing and teaching with French cinema?

8) What opinions exist around the use of English subtitles in showing foreign language films in the secondary classroom?




(Left: Catherine Deneuve in Jacques Demy's Les Parapluies de Cherbourg of 1964)