This year, our school community will celebrate Gender Splendour from April 6-9, 2021. It will be our 11th year implementing arts-based curriculum that explores gender identity and equity, 2SLGBTQ+ communities, inclusive families, and disrupts homophobia and transphobia. Over the years, the Kindergarten-Grade 6 students have participated in several inclusive and intersectional workshops, including: Love Makes […]
Advocacy for change
International Women’s Day
Happy International Women’s Day! What does this mean to you? What does this mean to your teaching practice? Feminism is for everyone “Eighty-one percent of the members of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) are women and, in many ways, the history of women teachers reflects the struggles of all Canadian women” […]
About next month
Do not go gently into that next month. Do not close the book on the last one, and not open it up until the same time next year. Do not look at your checklist and think it is complete. There are still boxes to tick and more are being added each day. There is work […]
On becoming an anti-racist educator
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin 2020 was like a personal worldview culminating activity that happened in slow motion. It was a merger of events and interactions that finally allowed me the ability to see race and racism more clearly than ever […]
Sick Days for All
It takes a crisis to elevate worker rights issues. The Covid-19 pandemic is no exception. No Paid Sick Days Put Workers at Risk Paid sick days are a critical part of the workers’ employment agreement. Paid sick days are as important as a salary or hourly wage as they impact how much employees get paid. […]
Eco-Justice: Learning with Water
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 […]
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 […]