student dynamic into a more collaborative learning environment. “For us, you can learn so much from your peers, from your students as well, even if you teach in kindergarten,” Laberge continues. “As such, we’re all lifelong learners, our staff are too, but they understand that whatever position you have, you have a critical role to play, and you still need to continue to learn.” Lesage reinforces this vision by highlighting how the division’s strategic planning process reimagined school roles. “When we first started developing our strategic plan, we often talked about instead of talking about students as students and teachers as teachers, we started to say that everybody was a learner.” For Lesage, education transcends academic subjects to encompass broader life skills.“Education is much larger than just learning math and physics. It’s all about participating in society,” he explains.“If I think back to the first day I became trustee to today and how much I’ve learned about education, it all shows how important education is to bring the whole of society to where we can live side by side, even though we are so different in many ways.” FUTURE PRIORITIES AND CHALLENGES Looking ahead, DSFM leadership has identified clear priorities to strengthen Francophone education throughout Manitoba, with infrastructure expansion and staffing needs topping their agenda for the coming years. “The first one would be to be able to get more schools,” Laberge states directly. This focus on physical infrastructure connects to deeper communitybuilding goals.“By building more schools we would have more neighborhood schools, which means we wouldn’t have students being on the bus one hour in the morning to go to school, one hour to come back at night.” Laberge envisions how these additional schools could transform student experiences beyond just education. “To be able to bike to school, to walk to school and have your friends, when you finish school at 3:30, that are in your neighborhood, that would be a way to not only enhance Francophone education, but more importantly to enhance the Francophone communities, which is really important to me.” Staffing remains an equally pressing concern for the division.“The second challenge we have is we need to have more teachers and more specialists,” Laberge explains. The competitive recruitment landscape presents unique challenges for Francophone schools. “We are in times where we are always looking to find staff. And it’s especially more difficult for Francophones because most of our Francophone teachers are EAs. They all speak good English. They 9 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 04 DIVISION SCOLAIRE FRANCO-MANITOBAINE
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