I was invited to co-host a webinar about Ecojustice Education, hosted by the Toronto District School Board’s EcoSchools team, in collaboration with OISE’s Environmental and Sustainability Education Initiative. My inspiring co-host was Farah Wadia. Farah is a Grade 7/8 teacher in Toronto, and she has written about her work raising issues of environmental justice through […]
Advocacy for change
Anti-Racism and the Fight for Black Lives
I recently joined educators from across the province to participate in ETFO’s powerful four-part webinar series called, “Anti-Racism and the Fight for Black Lives”. It was an amazing professional learning opportunity, and it should be mandatory for all ETFO staff and members. The program involves watching a short video clip each week, and engaging in […]
Equity or Anti-Racism
Equity vs Anti-racism As part of my advocacy for students, I’m on a school-based committee to address systemic equity issues within my school board. These board wide equity issues deal specifically with documented Black racism. Within our committees’ discussions, a debate launched into what our committee should be called. Some members wanted the title, Equity […]
A Call for Change
In this post, I write as a Black educator struggling to understand why change is so hard. Over the years, I’ve had many colleagues and administrators who “understand” my position, and yet when it comes to enacting change, the status quo is upheld. If you understand my position and can support me in the private […]
About those special days at school Pt 2.
This post is a continuation of About those special days at school Pt 1. Both seek to make sense of a number of events in and out of the classroom over the month of October. I believe it serves as an excellent snapshot of the incredible amounts of effort, organization, and attention that educators put […]
Unpacking the Invisible White Backpack in a Time of Black Lives Matter
In a time focusing on the impact of racial equality, Black Lives Matter advocacy is pushing for the human rights of all those who do not identify as White. As a person who identifies as White, I do not go through life with the same experiences as people who do not identify as White. I […]
Teaching Beyond the Land Acknowledgment
In order to minimize exposure to COVID-19, many educators will be teaching and learning outdoors. This is a wonderful opportunity to re/connect with land, explore environmental justice through inquiry, and integrate First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples’ knowledge and perspectives throughout the curriculum. As a non-Indigenous ally and accomplice, I am learning about the critical […]
School re-opening smart policy design: How Ontario’s current school reopening policy is not so smart
Education policy implementation is a complex process that requires the input of all stakeholders including teachers, school staff, parents, and school communities. As major players in policy implementation, teachers decode and recode policy texts in the process of understanding and translating with various degrees of intentional and unintentional interpretation (Clune, 1987; Fuhrman, Clune, & Elmore, […]
Crazy Hair Day
Last month on Twitter, a Tweet about “Crazy Hair Day” sparked interesting conversations around words, hair, and spirit. A long-standing practice in schools has been “Spirit Days”. Centered around themes that are supposed to demonstrate school or community “spirit”, these days have been around for as long as I have been in education. As a […]