Geeta Kumar Before School Starts, Building Inclusion, Inclusion

Active Listening: What the Ontario Curriculum Actually Says

In elementary, we spend time during the beginning of the year setting expectations and norms to build a healthy and welcoming classroom community. Best practice tells us to continue to reinforce these norms throughout the year—not just in September.

We often focus on oral communication early on, particularly active listening, as a means to ensure all voices are heard and valued. But did you know that the Ontario Language Curriculum doesn’t actually define “active listening”?

Here’s what it does say:

Effective Listening Skills
 B1.1 use effective listening skills, including listening attentively and asking relevant questions, in formal and informal contexts, including conversations and classroom activities
 — Grade 1, Ontario Language Curriculum (2023)

It does not define “active listening” as eyes on the speaker, mouth closed, hands in lap, sitting criss-cross with a calm body. Yet, the number of posters, anchor charts, classroom displays, and behaviour expectations across classrooms that frame it this way.

Some Considerations — Thinking Critically About Listening Norms

Let’s consider a few things. Are the ways we define and assess listening in our classrooms actually inclusive? Are they developmentally appropriate? Are they culturally responsive?

Here are a few questions to reflect on:

1. Do students need to look at the speaker to listen?

2. How are students sitting?

3. How are we measuring listening?

4. Are we privileging dominant cultural norms?

Instead of teaching a one-size-fits-all version of active listening, we can:

  • Model and co-create with students what listening looks like, sounds like, and feels like—acknowledging that it may vary by person
  • Encourage self-awareness: “What helps you listen and focus best?”
  • Prioritize authentic communication over performative behaviour.

Final Thoughts
As educators, our role is not just to teach curriculum, but to teach it in a way that honours identity, culture, and individual needs. Let’s move beyond posters and routines, and into a more inclusive, responsive approach to oral communication and classroom participation.

Geeta Kumar Building Inclusion, First Week Reflections

Shift from Summer Recaps to Hope

During the first week of school, it is common for teachers to assign a writing task that to ease students in with light writing activities — like the classic “What I Did This Summer” assignment. However, I chose to focus on connection instead. This is because the beginning of the year should be about building a classroom community and expectations. 

Recognizing that students may not want to recount their summers for several reasons, these are the questions I ask instead.

  • What do you want your classmates to know about you?
  • Tell me about a time that you were proud of yourself!
  • What are you looking forward to this year?
  • What are your hopes? 

Let’s start the year by making every student feel like they belong!

Geeta Kumar General

Equity Habits of Mind: Shifts in Practice (Part Four)

My positionality: To preface this post, I am engaging in this work as a co-learner rather than an expert. As a racialized woman and a life-long learner, my role as an anti-racist teacher involves knowing the students and families in front of me to create equitable learning experiences to ensure students feel a sense of belonging and community. This means doing the heart and hard work of learning and unlearning.

Cultivating an equity mindset isn’t a checklist—it’s a lifelong journey. It involves continual reflection, deep listening, and a commitment to shifting how we see and support our students. In this article, we’re exploring two powerful shifts that can transform our practice: Asset-Based Thinking and Lifelong Learning and Unlearning.

Shift # 5 Intentionally Disrupting Thinking

The act of disrupting requires us to examine who benefits from current systems and who is left behind when learning opportunities are presented. 

This is one of the hardest shifts, because it often requires us to have uncomfortable, brave conversations. Remember when we talked about the importance of critical conversations? Yes, they are uncomfortable—but they are necessary to interrupt harmful language, behaviours, and systems.

Notice: 

Often we are more attuned to noticing harm when it personally impacts our identity. This is why Shift # 4 (Lifelong Learning and Unlearning), is so essential—it helps us build awareness and notice more, especially when the harm isn’t directly personal. This means being committed to learning, having critical friends, listening with three ears (two with your ears, one with your heart). 

As we notice we reflect on these questions: 

    • Which students get access to resources and opportunities? 
    • Whose stories are represented in the curriculum? 
    • Which students will benefit from this? Which students will not?
    • What adjustments do I/we need to make?

Addressing: Calling In versus Calling Out

Addressing harm is about more than just correction—it’s about creating a compassionate space for growth, understanding, and accountability.

Both calling in and calling out are valid strategies, and which one we choose depends on context, timing, and emotional labour.

  • Calling In: A private or small-group conversation that invites dialogue and reflection around harm caused.
  • Calling Out: A public acknowledgment or challenge to harmful behaviour or language.

Tiffany Jewell offers these reflection questions in This Book is Anti-Racist (pg. 116–117) before calling in or out: 

Who has the power in the situation? Am I calling out a person or a systemic barrier? How much energy and emotional labour am I able to share right now? Is this person likely to change their problematic behaviour? What am I hoping to accomplish with this call-in or call-out

Educators with equity habits of mind are willing to challenge tradition and advocate for change—especially when it’s uncomfortable.

This is the real work of anti-racist and anti-oppressive education.

This post marks the final post in my Equity Mindset series (for now). Thank you for engaging with these reflections and shifts alongside me. My hope is that each shift has offered a moment of pause, a spark of curiosity, or a deeper commitment to your own  journey. These shifts are not meant to be mastered, but practiced—over and over again. Let’s continue to learn together, ask better questions, and center the voices and needs of the students in front of us.

Some Resources to review:

Calling in Vs. Calling Out Guide by Harvard University

Geeta Kumar General, Professional Judgement

No Perfect Resource!

There is NO PERFECT RESOURCE!

I repeat… THERE IS NO PERFECT RESOURCE!

In 2025, we are fortunate to have an incredible wealth of resources at our fingertips – from programs to books to digital tools! We are constantly looking for better resources, especially as the science of learning and the research behind teaching improves. 

However, something that I’ve come to learn quickly, is that every resource will have its limitations. No program, book, worksheet will meet the needs of every learner in your classroom. Teaching is too complex –  and our students are so wonderfully diverse – for any one-size-fits all approach to truly work.

This is where professional judgement comes in. As educators, it’s up to us to make the best decisions for the students in front of us – to adapt, scaffold and differentiate with intention and care.

When I engage in backwards design planning and explore new resources, I often find myself:

  • Adjusting a lesson to reflect students identities and lived experiences
  • Amplifying tasks to better support multilingual learners or neurodivergent students
  • Adding scaffolds or removing unnecessary barriers
  • And learning to  let go of something entirely, especially if it was previously considered appropriate (this can be hard!)

A good resource is just the starting point… how you choose to bring it into the classroom – keeping in mind your students, class culture and equity habits of mind – that is what makes it meaningful. 

Curious about Professional Judgement? The ETFO docuseries on Professional Judgement highlights the critical role of educators’ expertise in decision-making.

Geeta Kumar Celebrating Success, wellness

3 Lessons this Year

This school year, I felt a lot. 

It was like bowling. I showed up each day and gave it my all. I aimed for that perfect strike each time. 

As I reflect on my experiences this year, I know not every bowling ball hit its mark. Some days felt like a solid spare. Others? A complete gutterball.

Still, I kept going –  frame by frame, day by day.

As I wrap up this year and reflect on what truly mattered, I’m walking away with three powerful lessons:

 

  1. Boundaries Matter … so I can be sustainable.  

With each year, I am getting better at setting boundaries between work and personal life. It is a practice I will continue to grow with. Setting boundaries allows me to be present for my students and team each day. 

2. Progress Matters … so I can keep being my best for students. 

Some mistakes were made. But the beauty of teaching is that there is always another frame, another day, to try again. Each “miss” forced me to learn how to better reach and support students.

3. The Arts Matters … so I can spark creativity in my students and myself. 

Whether it was planning a themed literacy day, facilitating student projects, or simply rethinking a lesson through an equity lens—those creative sparks made the hard days brighter.

 

No, this year was not a perfect game. 

But it was real, meaningful, and full of growth. 

And for me, that’s more than enough.

What are your three lessons from this year? What matters to you the most?

Geeta Kumar Teacher Wellness, Teacher Working Conditions, Year End Reflection

June-tember: The Busiest Time of the Year

I have come across the term “May-cember” and  “June-tember” a few times, and I think it captures it well. Spring is a BUSY time of year for ALL educators as we begin to wrap up the school year!

Our tasks includes …

  • Assessments
  • Reporting
  • Interviews
  • Field Trips
  • Class Placements
  • End of Year Planning
  • Physical Clean up
  • Transition Meetings ….

and the list keeps growing

Here are some tips and tricks I have learned over the years (keep in mind I am still learning)

  • Prioritize yourself
  • Focus on what matters: Connection, and Care
  • Say no (guilt-free): Protect your peace
  • Celebrate the small wins: A completed checklist, A kind note from a student… these are all worth acknowledging
  • Lean into joy: Among the stress, May and June brings magic: growth, resilience, and the chance to reflect on how far your students and you’ve come!

What are your tips to thrive at the busy times of the year?

Geeta Kumar General

Equity Habits of Mind: Shifts in Practice (Part three)

My positionality: To preface this post, I am engaging in this work as a co-learner rather than an expert. As a racialized woman and a life-long learner, my role as an anti-racist teacher involves knowing the students and families in front of me to create equitable learning experiences to ensure students feel a sense of belonging and community. This means doing the heart and hard work of learning and unlearning.

Cultivating an equity mindset isn’t a checklist—it’s a lifelong journey. It involves continual reflection, deep listening, and a commitment to shifting how we see and support our students. In this article, we’re exploring two powerful shifts that can transform our practice: Asset-Based Thinking and Lifelong Learning and Unlearning.

Shift # 3 Asset-Based Thinking

An asset-based approach starts from a place of strength. All students enter our classrooms with valuable assets:

  • Linguistic assets – home languages and unique ways of communicating
  • Cultural assets – traditions, values, and worldviews
  • Social-emotional strengths – resilience, adaptability, empathy
  • Transferable Skills – curiosity, problem-solving

As equity-minded educators, it’s our responsibility to see, name, and nurture these gifts. When we shift our thinking to “What strengths does this student bring?”, we reframe our role. This habit of mind pushes against deficit thinking and reframes the narrative from one of struggle to one of potential. When we view students as capable and whole, we create space for their brilliance to shine.

Read this article here where I go deeper into it.

Shift # 4 Lifelong Learning and Unlearning 

It is important to commit to growing our lenses by learning from and about individuals with diverse identities, lived experiences, and perspectives so that we can notice more.

We need to continually build awareness related to aspects of our identities where we experience comfort because of power and privilege.

An equity mindset recognizes that we are always learning and unlearning. This means staying open to:

  • New research and evolving best practices
  • Voices and stories from those with lived experiences different from our own
  • Feedback that challenges our assumptions or biases
  • Unlearning – this in particular, can be difficult. It involves letting go of ingrained beliefs or practices that may unintentionally cause harm, even if they were once well-intentioned. This takes vulnerability, humility, and courage.

Equity Habits of Mind is a life long journey. While it is uncomfortable, it helps us create to classroom communities where every student is seen, valued, and empowered. When educators commit to developing these habits, we move closer to educational spaces that are truly inclusive, just, and transformative.

Geeta Kumar General

Don’t Assume

At a recent monthly staff meeting, our school’s Special Education Team facilitated a powerful presentation on complex learning profiles and how to support students in ways that preserve their dignity, foster belonging, and promote true inclusion.

One of the messages that resonated with me

Don’t Assume

This message was shared in connection with a compelling video of a woman with Down syndrome, confidently speaking about her own abilities and advocating for herself. Her words were a reminder that assumptions—especially when unexamined—can create invisible barriers for students.

High Expectations for All

To not assume is to hold high expectations for all students, regardless of their lived experiences, identities, or social locations. Every learner comes with unique strengths, challenges, perspectives, and potential. When we assume what a student can or cannot do, we risk limiting them before they’ve even had the chance to show us who they are.

Assumptions, even when well-intended, can reinforce systemic inequities. They can maintain certain dominant narratives. These narratives can influence the level of support students receive, the expectations we set, and ultimately, the level of success they’re able to achieve.

So how do we shift this? We get curious.

  • Don’t assume… Ask – Seek to understand a student’s perspective. Ask them about their interests, needs, and goals.

  • Don’t assume… Observe – Watch how they interact, what excites them, and how they respond to different strategies.

  • Don’t assume… Listen – Take in their words, their actions, and their silences with openness.

  • Don’t assume… Try – Experiment with new approaches, tools, and scaffolds to support their learning.

  • Don’t assume… Try again – If something doesn’t work, don’t give up. Try something else. Flexibility is key.

  • Don’t assume… Research – Learn about their specific needs, whether that’s a diagnosis, cultural background, or learning style.

  • Don’t assume… Look at the data – Let evidence guide our next steps instead of assumptions.

  • Don’t assume… Be curious – Remain open-minded and committed to learning alongside our students.

A Call to Action

“Don’t assume” isn’t just a gentle suggestion—it’s a call to action. A challenge to all of us in education to do better by our students. When we let go of assumptions, we create room for students to show us who they really are—and the results might just surprise us.

Let’s choose to believe in every child’s potential. Let’s stay curious, stay humble, and stay committed to creating classrooms where every learner feels seen, valued, and supported.

Because when we don’t assume, we create space for possibility.

Geeta Kumar General

Equity Habits of Mind: Shifts in Practice (Part two)

My positionality: To preface this post, I am engaging in this work as a co-learner rather than an expert. As a racialized woman and a life-long learner, my role as an anti-racist teacher involves knowing the students and families in front of me to create equitable learning experiences to ensure students feel a sense of belonging and community. This means doing the heart and hard work of learning and unlearning.

Cultivating an equity mindset isn’t a checklist—it’s a lifelong journey. It involves continual reflection, deep listening, and a commitment to shifting how we see and support our students. In this article, we’re exploring another powerful shifts that can transform our practice: Curiosity over Judgement

Read here part one! 

Shift # 2 Curiosity Over Judgment 

As educators committed to equity habits of mind, we’re often encouraged to reflect on our beliefs, assumptions, and practices. One of the most powerful mindset shifts we can make is choosing curiosity over judgment—especially when student behavior or academic performance challenges us.

It’s natural to feel frustrated when a student is disengaged, or underperforming. But equity-minded educators pause to ask:

  • What might this student be experiencing?
  • What is happening beneath the surface?
  • What can I shift in my practice to meet this student’s needs?

This approach moves us toward deeper understanding.

The Iceberg of Culture: Looking Beneath the Surface

To fully embrace curiosity, we must also deepen our understanding of what influences student behavior and learning. This is where the Iceberg of Culture comes in—a framework that reminds us that only a small portion of culture is visible above the surface. See the photo below to explore the three surfaces of culture. 

The iceberg model of culture is a metaphor used to understand the complexity and depth of human culture. It illustrates that much of culture is hidden beneath the surface.
Retrieved from PBS

What we visibly see in students:

  • Language use
  • Behavior
  • Dress
  • Eye contact
  • Participation style
  • Physical Ability

But what lies beneath includes (not extensive):

  • Family expectations and roles
  • Socioeconomic realities
  • Past trauma or displacement
  • Cultural values (e.g., collectivism vs. individualism)
  • Experiences with racism or bias
  • Language proficiency and identity

Just like an iceberg, the most impactful elements are hidden—and they profoundly shape how students engage with school.

When we take the time to learn about our students, we build empathy. 

This shift in perspective leads to deeper understanding and culturally responsive supports that honour each student’s lived experience.

Geeta Kumar Anti-Racism, Equity, General, Inclusion, Social Justice

Equity Habits of Mind: Shifts in Practice (Part One)

My positionality: To preface this post, I am engaging in this work as a co-learner rather than an expert. As a racialized woman and a life-long learner, my role as an anti-racist teacher involves knowing the students and families in front of me to create equitable learning experiences to ensure students feel a sense of belonging and community. This means doing the heart and hard work of learning and unlearning.

Indigenous Education, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is not simply about bringing in diverse texts and learning about holidays. It begins deeper—with our mindsets as educators.

Equity Habits of Mind are the intentional ways we reflect, question, and respond in order to create inclusive, belonging and affirming learning spaces. These habits help educators not only recognize inequities but also take meaningful steps toward disrupting them as part of anti-oppressive work and teaching.

In this series, I will explore some considerations and shifts to take as you move towards incorporating anti-oppressive work in your practices.

Please note that this is not a checklist, nor can it be. Cultivating these habits takes time, and can transform teaching into a lived commitment of anti-oppressive teaching. There is a commitment to having brave’ critical conversations, being uncomfortable and lifelong learning and unlearning.

Shift # 1: Self-Reflection – Inward Work

It is vital that we seek to better understand ourselves, including identity and positionality, as we engage in the work of Indigenous Education, Equity, Inclusion, and education. This includes critical and ongoing reflections on power, privilege, build spots, and more. While this is vulnerable work, it should be recognized that discomfort is necessary for growth. Some questions include:

  • What assumptions am I making?
  • What privilege do I have?
  • Whose perspectives am I centering?
  • How does my identity shape my thinking?
  • What do I need to learn ?

Using a graphic organizer like the one below, can also help guide your thinking in understanding privilege.  Known as the wheel of privilege and power, the closer you are to the centre, the more privilege you have. By understanding our privileges and unconscious biases, it helps us to identify where we need to shift our thinking as we become more capable of seeing the systems and structures that perpetuate inequities. 

Photo retrieved from: https://www.canada.ca

Have you tried this ? What did you notice? What do you wonder? How this impact your ability to build relationships with students and understand their needs?

Some ETFO resources to understand privilege more: