It all began in 1994 with a small guidebook whose sole ambition was to publish the addresses of French as a Foreign Language (FLE) schools and centers that met the quality criteria for offering French courses to international students in several French cities. A few years later, these same schools joined forces to form a de facto association, and adopted a code of ethics and an initial quality charter. Pooling their resources became a key focus for these schools.
In 2008, the association evolved and took on the structure of a not-for-profit association under the French law of 1901.. It took the name of “Groupement FLE” and set itself the objective of strengthening and accelerating its approach in the following three areas: quality, promotion and pooling. All members must demonstrate a strictly controlled quality approach. A full-time coordinator is hired to handle the association’s administrative work. The 9-member executive committee, made up of the directors of member centers, is known as the Bureau, and includes a number of volunteer delegates who are professionals in the field of FLE, to carry out specific tasks.
Groupement FLE quickly gained recognition, attracting new members and establishing itself as a partner in its own right. In 2010, Groupement FLE was given a seat on the steering committee for the FLE Quality label. Since 2016, the President of Groupement FLE has represented private FLE centers on the restricted board of the Campus France Forum, where he is called upon to sit if his expertise is deemed necessary. In 2020-2021, Groupement FLE is providing strong support to fle schools hard hit by the covid crisis.
A partnership agreement has been signed with FIPF (French Federation of teachers of French), enabling all member centers to take advantage of their membership of FIPF, without having to pay membership fees. A framework agreement has been signed with the French Institute to promote the sending abroad of selected teachers/trainers. In addition, pedagogical tools are transmitted for distribution on the IF (French Institute) teachers platform, in the “world partner” category.
Every year, Groupement FLE organizes its training days called “Journées Professionnelles”. These provide members with an opportunity not only to gather information on the profession, but also to take an active part in choosing the actions to be taken, and then to validate the results. For its part, the Bureau meets monthly by videoconference, and select committees carry out preparatory work, also by videoconference. Together, these meetings ensure the follow-up of current operations and the shaping of future ones.
In the same spirit, pedagogical days (Journées de Formation) are held every year in a different city. They are aimed at teachers, administrative staff and educational managers. Cross-disciplinary workshops between these different audiences enable them to learn about and exchange ideas on common themes (the quality approach, communication with students, etc.). During the course of the year, webinars complement these Training Days with sessions corresponding to requests expressed by successive participants.
