Carl Ruest, PhD

Lecturer

Education

Other Titles: BEd French Pathways Coordinator (Coordonnateur des parcours français au BEd); Field Experience Coordinator, French (Coordonnateur des stages en français); Co-director, Espaces francophones (Co-directeur, Espaces francophones)
Email: carl.ruest@ubc.ca

Biography

Carl Ruest (il/he) is currently a lecturer and the first coordinator of the recently established BEd French Pathways. His mandate at OSE centers around the development and incorporation of the French Pathways into the existing generalist Teacher Education program to prepare teacher candidates to become confident and successful teachers of French. Before joining the Okanagan School of Education, Carl worked at UBCV where he taught in the BEd, as well as in the MEd in French Education. He was also a teacher and a coordinator of the French Immersion program in a Richmond secondary school.  

Carl completed his PhD in language and literacy education at UBC with a focus on interculturality in second language learning. Inspired by his experience as a French as a second language (FSL) teacher, his research focused on the role that going on exchange to Québec provides for secondary French immersion students. His dissertation, funded by a SSHRC doctoral grant, highlighted the importance of exchanges as sites for developing intercultural competence, especially when participants are supported to reflect on, and make meaning of, their complex interpersonal and intercultural experiences. This research helped him refine his intercultural approach to teaching and teacher education, an important lens that shapes his current work as teacher educator.  

His current research interests include: second language assessment and teacher education, inspired by his research experiences with the CEFR and the Canadian Benchmarks and the role conceptions of competence play in French language teacher education; teaching in Francophone minority contexts; and intercultural education. Carl is also deeply committed to Truth and Reconciliation. Considering how culture, diversity, race, and colonization have traditionally been discussed superficially or even ignored in FSL education, Carl believes that decolonizing the FSL curriculum and connecting with local communities is integral to addressing the colonial past, and a priority in the field of French education. 

Besides his passion for education, Carl loves swimming, cross-country skiing, traveling and visiting his family in Mont-Joli, Québec. 

Degrees

PhD - Language and Literacy Education (UBC)
MA - French Studies (UBC)
MEd - French Education (UBC)
BEd - Secondary Teaching: French and Social Studies (UBC)
MSc - Economics (Université de Montréal)
BSc - Economics (Université de Montréal)