Deb Weston Advocacy for change, Advocacy for public education, Social Justice

Barriers to Student Learning – Black Youth

Barriers 2
Illustration downloaded from http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/activities/political-cartoon/about.html

 

Education is one of the foundations of Canadian society. If you are wondering why your board is addressing issues of equity and inclusion recently, a policy/program memorandum has impacted the way Ontario public school boards are conducting their business of education.

Through the Policy/Program Memorandum No. 119, Developing and Implementing Equity and Inclusive Education Policies in Ontario Schools, it is stated that there is a need for our “publically funded education system to support and reflect the democratic values of fairness, equity, and respect for all” (Ministry of Education, 2013).

The Ministry of Education recognizes factors such as race, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, gender, and class can create barriers to learning. There is evident that some groups of students continue to encounter discriminatory barriers to learning. Research shows that when students feel connected to teachers and other students, they do better academically (Goleman, 2006).

Please refer to Barriers to Student Learning – An Overview for a more details outlined in Through Policy/Program Memorandum No. 119.

So what does this mean to teachers?

School boards must seek out barriers to learning for all students. Teachers therefore must also address barriers to learning due to factors such as race, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Through Policy/Program Memorandum No. 119, school boards, and teachers, must address barriers to learning that fall within prohibited grounds of discrimination set out in the Ontario Human Rights Code.

There is significant evidence to show that Black youth face significant barriers to learning within their schools. School boards such as the Toronto District School Board and the Peel District School Board have identified barriers to learning for Black youth who face systemic discrimination and who do not feel connected to their teachers or their school communities.

In developing and implementing equity and inclusive education to address Memorandum Number 119 (2009) education policy within Ontario, the Peel District Board of Education (PDSB) has identified a part of their student community who is experiencing systemic barriers to learning. These barriers to learning are supported through research that shows that black male students feel excluded, have fewer opportunities, and experienced an achievement gap in their learning. Further, research also shows that these barriers to learning are rooted in systemic biases and in negative teacher and peer perception of Black males identity and ability (Peel District School Board, 2018). These biases result in an over representation of levels of suspension and expulsions and lower levels of representation in gifted programs and high school completion (Maynard, 2017).

System-wide, cultural responsive pedagogy and practices are being put into place to have Black male students feel more included in meaningful curriculum and instruction. This curriculum should be reflective of Black voices and help students see themselves within the lessons. This curriculum should address Black culture from all over the world, and not just from “Jamaica” (Peel District School Board, 2018).

In order to integrate the experiences of Black Canadians into the curriculum, the PDSB is providing instructional resources to be embedded into core courses and through inquiry as well as classroom resources to reflect the student body (Peel District School Board, 2018). Teachers and teacher librarians will play a critical role in building culturally responsive schools. Further, purposeful assessment and student voice will to integrated into school practices. This action plan is also embedding equitable and inclusive practices in board policies and programs while identifying and removing discrimination, biases, and system barriers to the success of Black male students. There has been a system wide leadership commitment to this initiative thus changing the board’s climate and the prevention of discrimination and harassment of Black male students’ board wide. To ensure accountability, the PDBS will be tracking the impact on data of expulsion and suspension rates, gifted student numbers, and graduation rates in Black male students ensure accountability and transparency.

In the next few blogs, I will further address some of the barriers to learning that students face based on their race, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and socioeconomic status.

If you would like me to address barriers to learning for a specific student group, please provide a suggestion below.

Collaboratively yours,

Deb Weston

Note that, although I do not have any direct experience with the barriers to learning addressed in this blog, I do identify as an educator who advocates for equity and for all students, especially when it comes to breaking down barriers to learning.

References

Caton, M. (January 31, 20198). Ontario Black Youth Action Plan aims to break down barriers, Windsor Star. Downloaded from https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/ontario-black-youth-action-plan-aims-to-break-down-barriers

Goleman, D. (2006). Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships.-New York, NY: Bantam Dell, A Division of Random House.

Gordon, A. (October 2, 2017). Summit on barriers faced by Black male students comes to Toronto, Toronto Star. Downloaded from https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2017/10/02/summit-on-barriers-faced-by-black-male-students-comes-to-toronto.html

Maynard, R. (2017). Canadian education is steeped in anti-black racism, The Walrus Magazine.

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2013). Policy/Program Memorandum No. 119: Developing and Implementing Equity and Inclusive Education Policies in Ontario Schools, Government of Ontario. Toronto.

Peel District School Board. (2018). We Rise Together: The PDSB action plan to support Black male students. Peel District School Board of Education.

Will Gourley Advocacy for change, Advocacy for public education, Equity, General, Start of the year, Weather

Building upon balance

I’m back. You’re back. They’re back. We’re back!!!!!
And it could not have come at a better time. Or could it?

While our transition from summer to school traditionally begins after Labour Day, there are more and more students starting back to class in August than ever before. This is known in edu-circles as a balanced or modified year. It offers quite a few upsides that benefit our learners and with some time for adjustment, for our profession. So I ask…

Imagine if we all started in August with a balanced school year that allowed the learning to be spread out over a longer period of time, but with a few week long breaks built in? What are the pros and cons of such a shift in a historically established calendar? Is it possible to change a 100+ year old practice?

Helping out on the farm

A balanced school year makes sense on a number of levels. Especially, when we consider that the original reason for a September start stemmed from the need for students to be available to work on the family farm. In some areas of the province, farming is still a factor, but it is very evident, that the majority of the nearly 2 million students from K to 12 live close to or in cities. Most are not feeding a herd, driving a combine, or mending fences in July and August.

However, a greater majority of students are left to swelter in concrete jungles trying to stay cool. There are few if any universally accessible programs that do not require a computer bot like skill in order to register on-line for limited spaces. So no swimming lessons, city camps, or classes for all. In fact, the City of Toronto announced that it will try to add 70 000 new program spaces just to accomodate current demand.

Which means, for the foreseeable future, most students will still be given a summer sentence stuck indoors. It is no secret, our cities lack adequate child care, recreation, youth programming, and social spaces. What if all school boards were able to offer a balanced school year and provide working families with an option that would ultimately save them money in conjunction with municipalities? A kind of multi-tiered approach to community and education.

Who will pay?

With government money used for creating and subsidizing child care spaces, an investment in a balanced school year would relieve, not remove, the pressure by allowing younger school aged children to be in the classroom rather than a daycare centre. This in itself could save families 3 to 4 weeks of childcare costs that could then be spread out over time through the year rather than in one expensive 9 week chunk. Granted, that there are extra weeks off throughout the year, but they are distributed over the school calendar.

The biggest obstacle to all of this is from a purely structural point of view and comes from having to retrofit hundreds, if not thousands of elementary schools with adequate climate controls, aka air conditioning. Recent returns to the classroom remind us all that our elementary schools are woefully equipped to deal with irratic temperature fluctuations and extreme heat. 2 fans per classroom do nothing to cut through the sweltering heat on the first or second floors of any ill-equipped building – even with the lights off.

The bigger question that comes to mind is why our province still chooses to provide air conditioning to students in high school, but not from JK to 8? This type of systemic disparity does not seem fair. Are elementary school students and staff expected to feel they are being treated fairly by the government’s funding model? I can see fingers pointing in all directions here, but not a one is doing a thing to acknowledge or remedy the problem. Students suffering from heat exhaustion do not make good learners. Perhaps it’s time for our grade 5 Social Studies classes to mount a letter writing campaign to ask our government to do its job and serve its future taxpayers. We’d better hurry before that curriculum gets changed. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/social-studies-history-geography-2018.pdf

I feel we are about to see bigger problems in our province if facilities equity cannot be guaranteed in all schools. Think of it like this; the province buys or leases 1000s of vehicles each year. After a few years they are traded in or replaced with newer models and the fleet stays rolling. If Ontario maintained its government auto fleet like its schools, some would have hand crank windows, some might have air-conditioning, some would have low mileage, while others would be up on blocks. Most would need to go to the body shop for repairs and others would have to be towed to the scrapyard. Nobody would want to drive in an unreliable vehicle. So why are our schools being left to deteriorate through underfunding and repair backlogs?

How is it fair to expect standardized results when there are no standard facilities? Is it a class thing? A neighbourhood thing?

As teachers, we take pride in our workspace. We have witnessed all that can be done each year despite the structural shortfalls and disparities from school to school and board to board. We also know that the current funding model for our schools cannot be a band-aid solution. The recent cuts by the new provincial government are leaving school boards with open wounds.

It’s not all bad (well the above part is, but below is all sunshine)

This year’s return to school was ushered in with all of the elation, excitement, and chaos of its predecessors. How could it not be so? At my school over 600 hope-filled students converged on the playground for a surreal moment of truth. Who was going to be their teacher? In which classroom? Main building sauna or luxurious portable? I loved the chaos that was the first day. It was perfect weather for a July day in September. Perhaps in the future you will be reading this message in August. In the meantime, welcome back.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/monthly/ontario/richmond-hill

In my next post I’ll discuss the aspects of greater knowledge retention that come from a more balanced school year. What do you think of the idea of the school year spread out over a longer period of time? Please share and comment to continue the conversation. Thank you for reading.

Further reading

Interesting blog post explaining how education is funded in Ontario.

Deb Weston Advocacy for public education

Switching to a four-day school week

empty classroom

Switching to a four-day school week

I recently read a NPR post about the Colorado School District Switching to a four-day school week to save money. This made me very concerned as many educational policy trends in the United States make their way to Canada.

In the 2018-2019 school year, Colorado’s School District 27J has dropped Mondays and now has school from Tuesdays to Fridays. Superintendent Chris Fiedler cited cost savings in transportation, teacher salaries, and utilities such as air conditioning and heating.  This was a result of six failed attempts to raise money from the district. As a result of these cuts, the district will save $30 per student per day.

A Phoenix school board, Apache Junction Unified School District has also moved to the four-day week with classes going from Monday to Thursday saving about $33 per student per year. Here, parents can drop their children off at a city-run day care at a cost of $100 a month. Apparently, teachers in this district use to meet every Saturday to plan lessons for the week – now they meet Friday, without students.

For both districts, the most savings came from busing. Students had longer days. According to researchers at Georgia State University and Montana State University, students in four-day schools showed no negative academic impact and had higher math scores with little evidence of compromised academics. Research from these universities showed no evidence of an impact on shorter attention spans due to the pressures of a longer day.

In British Columbia, Boundary School District 51 switched all schools to a four-day school week during 2001-2002 to ensure schools would stay open and showed savings of more than $200,000 per year. They reported no change in academic performance and the need for student discipline dropped by 50 percent.  Fort McMurray was also contemplating this strategy in order to save up to $1,000,000 per year.

Education Week’s Paul Hill cites that educators and parents should be weary of this trend as, contrary to some evidence, students may fall behind in overall learning in school. Students from low socio-economic backgrounds or from minority groups tend to have less resources at home, and stand to lose disproportionately to their more socioeconomically well off peers. This means overall lower student achievement, graduation levels, and college attendance, especially in small towns and rural areas. Also, the real net savings in costs does not add up. Paul Hill states that “governors and state superintendents of education need to make sure local communities look at real numbers and don’t jump blindly onto a bandwagon that they might never be able to get off”.

I say, beware of education cost cutting as it could result in cutting overall students’ education.

Yours to consider …

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston

References

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/14/638715749/colorado-school-district-switches-to-4-day-week-to-save-money?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/11/27/451754700/when-a-four-day-school-week-might-cost-more-than-it-saves

https://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2018/08/4-day_school_week_denver.html

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/are-4-day-school-weeks-good-for-students-1.3234375

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/is-a-four-day-school-week-a-good-idea_us_5abcfbade4b03e2a5c7a2523

https://www.parents.com/health/parents-news-now/a-four-day-school-week-may-benefit-kids-study-says/

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/07/19/beware-the-four-day-school-week-trap.html

Deb Weston Advocacy for change, Advocacy for public education, Learning in a Real Life Context, LGBTQ2S, Making a Difference Through Education, Mental Health

What’s up with Ontario’s Health Curriculum?

10 percent

What’s up with Ontario’s Health Curriculum? … 10% is what’s up!

It’s June 2018 and the newly elected Ontario Conservative government is planning to pull the most recently updated 2015 Health and Physical Education Curriculum. I interpret this statement as meaning that Ontario’s Ministry of Education will use the previous Health and Physical Education Curriculum which was released in 1998.

Up to this point, the Health and Physical Education Curriculum had not been updated since 1998 and in 2010 a revised Health and Physical Education Curriculum was in the works of being released. The addition of same-sex relationships in the specific Health Curriculum resulted in significant political backlash. The release of the revised 2010 Health and Physical Education Curriculum was dropped by the former premier, Dalton McGuinty, within hours after his education minister defended it in the legislature (CBC News, April 18th, 2018).

Up to 2015, the last Health and Physical Education Curriculum was 17 years old. With the impact of social media and an increased access to the Internet, students needed an updated curriculum that included information on online safety, healthy relationships, consent, mental health, and the risks of “sexting”. As an 11-year middle school teacher, I experienced schools already dealing with challenges around these issues. Ontario teachers needed tools to educate students to deal appropriately with the realities of school after 2000.

The 2015 Health and Physical Education Curriculum, reflects health, safety, and well-being faced in schools now. It was developed in consultation with the ministry, parents, students, teachers, faculties of education, university, colleges, and other organizations such as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, The Ontario Public Health Association, and the Healthy Schools Coalition. Further, more than 70 health-related organizations submitted reports for consideration and thousands of people provided feedback (Government of Ontario, February 23, 2015, Updated Health & Physical Education Curriculum). In 2014, more than 4000 parents were involved in the consultation process of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum (CBC News, April 18, 2018).

The now 20 year old Health and Physical Education Curriculum not only had to be updated to deal with the realities of the social media and instant access to information, it also addressed the changing realities of human development. The World Health Organization indicated that “girls are entering puberty as early as seven years old, which is significantly earlier than in previous generations” and “found that providing kids with comprehensive sexual health information helps prevent early sexual activity and negative health outcomes”. In addition, research documented that the majority of parents wanted schools to provide information on sexuality (Government of Ontario, April 2015, Updated Health & Physical Education Curriculum)

What’s in the Health and Physical Education Curriculum?

The 2015 Health and Physical Education curriculum has four main sections for each grade (Students also learn about mental health across the curriculum):

  • Living Skills: understanding themselves, communicating and interacting positively with others and learning to think critically and solve problems
  • Active Living: active participation, physical fitness and safety
  • Movement Competence: skills for moving properly and with confidence
  • Healthy Living: learning about health, making healthy choices, and understanding the connections to everyday life
Source: https://www.ontario.ca/page/sex-education-ontario

Based on my experience as a teacher, parents usually have few concerns about Living Skills, Active Living, and Movement Competence sections of the Health and and Physical Education curriculum. The Healthy Living section includes topics about food, safety at home, school and in the community, alcohol and other substances, and a section on Human Development and Sexual Health. Some parents are specifically concerned with health education dealing with sexual activity and health. Note that the sexual health curriculum makes up only 10 per cent of the Health curriculum (Basian cited in CBC News, Apr 18, 2018).

Sexual Health Education By Grade

Even today, there continues to be many rumours spread about the Health curriculum. A few weeks ago a parent asked me if the grade 1 students were going to see videos about how to have sex. In May 2015, the Toronto Star Reporter, Robin Levin King, dealt with some of these uninformed claims (copied verbatim from May 2015, Robin Levin King, Toronto Star Reporter):

Uninformed Claims about the Ontario Health Curriculum

The chart below shows what students will learn in the Healthy Living portion of their Health and Physical Education classes. The Human Development and Sexual Health (i.e. sex ed.) component of the Health and Physical Education curriculum guides teachers to plan what they teach with the goal of establishing a foundation of mutual respect, and understanding for diverse perspectives in the classroom. This curriculum is not meant to ever replace the role of parents in educating their children about sexual health.

Chart of Human and Sexual Health by grade

 .

The Human Rights of Gender Equity and Gender Expression

Upholding human rights in Ontario is a fundamental principal of Ontario’s society and culture. In 2012, “gender identity” and “gender expression” were added to the Ontario Human Rights Code. Based on gender equity and gender expression, this made the discrimination and harassment of these persons against the law. This meant that all people should be treated with dignity and respect and have the same opportunities and benefits which includes persons who identify as “transgender, transsexual and intersex persons, cross-dressers, and other people whose gender identity or expression is, or is seen to be, different from their birth sex” (Government of Ontario, 2018, Gender Equity and Gender Expression).

Given that discrimination and harassment of people who identify as LGBTQ2S – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer, and/or Two Spirited (i.e. gender identity or gender expression) is against the law, students need to know what these terms mean. Further, students need to know how to deal with harassment that is happening to them or others. These topics are part of the Ontario Health and Physical Education Curriculum and originate from the Ontario Human Rights Code. Eliminating these topics could result in fewer people being informed of gender based human rights and increased violations of these laws. The Ontario Human Rights Code was revised based on public consultation. To fully implement the new Code, significant legal decisions and policy changes were released in 2014. The Ontario Human Rights Code must be upheld in education curricula and in all Ontario schools.

Relevant Resources and Policies are listed below:

 .

Gender Identify within the Ontario Health and Physical Education Curriculum

(Source: Health and Physical Education Curriculum Grades 1 to 8, 2015)

When teachers are planning instruction and considering class groupings, they should be aware of and consider the needs of students who may not identify as “male” or “female”, who are transgender, or who are “gender-non-conforming”.

For more information about gender identity, gender expression, and human rights, see the website of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Understanding Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan: Parent Fact Sheet

Teachers should also acknowledge and respect individual differences regardless of sex or gender identity that will encourage student participation and help students learn to collaborate with and respect others. Strategies for encouraging understanding and mutual respect among students include:

  • creating an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere in the class and supporting all students to be active participants;
  • fostering authentic opportunities for students to provide input into learning activities and approaches;
  • providing opportunities for all students to assume leadership roles;
  • encouraging and respecting the interests and abilities of all students;
  • ensuring that responsibilities are shared equally by all students.

 Breakdown of Gender References in Health and Physical Education Curriculum

In 2018, Ontario and the world is a very different place dealing with a plethora of social and economic issues. Education curriculum needs to be updated on a regular basis to reflect society and its issues. Ontario cannot go back twenty years in any curriculum, especially in the Health and Physical Education Curriculum. So that means Ontario’s education curriculum can only move forward.

It took over 16 years to update and implement the last Health and Physical Education curriculum. Updating and revising curriculum takes a lot of people hours and multi-level consultation – this means it also costs lots money to make changes. Simply using a black marker to redact all the controversial parts isn’t going to cut it! My guess is that four years (i.e. a political government rein) is not enough time for the Health and Physical Education Curriculum to be updated.

And for my good friend and colleague @FAPareja,  here’s the curriculum download of all Ontario teachers to access:

Health and Physical Education Curriculum Grades 1 to 8, 2015

 

Collaboratively Yours,

Deb Weston

References

CBC News, (April 18, 2018). The facts about Ontario’s sex ed curriculum, Downloaded from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ontario-sexual-education-curriculum-election-1.4624512

Government of Ontario, (2018). Gender Equity and Gender Expression) http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/code_grounds/gender_identity

Goverment of Ontario, (2018). Ontario Human Rights Code. Downloaded from Ontario Human Rights Commission at www.ohrc.on.ca/en/code_grounds/gender_identity.

Government of Ontario, (2015). Health and Physical Education Curriculum, Grades 1 to 8 Downloaded from www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/health1to8.pdf

Government of Ontario, (February 23, 2015). News Release Ontario Releases Updated Health & Physical Education Curriculum, Parent Resources: Promoting the Health and Well-Being of Students Downloaded from https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2015/02/ontario-releases-updated-health-physical-education-curriculum-parent-resources.html

Government of Ontario, (April 2015). Ontario Releases Updated Health & Physical Education Curriculum, Parent Resources, Downloaded from https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2015/02/ontario-releases-updated-health-physical-education-curriculum-parent-resources.html

King, R. L., (May 4, 2015). Toronto Star, Downloaded from https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/04/fact-checking-10-claims-made-by-parents-against-the-ontario-sex-ed-curriculum.htmlhighlights

Deb Weston Advocacy for change, Advocacy for public education, agency, Building Inclusion, Making a Difference Through Education, Why unions matter

Why Ontario Teachers Need to be Political

Class sizes have concequences

According to The Washington Post’s Valarie Strauss “Teachers are often expected to remain politically neutral in class, not letting their students know which candidate they support or where they stand on controversial issues” (Strauss, 2016).

Parents may anticipate that teachers could “indoctrinate” students by expressing their own views in classrooms (Strauss, 2016) and as a result, so many teachers are tentative to discuss their political views.

Given that “teachers teach who they are” (Susan Drake, n.d.), it’s hard for teachers to be neutral in their passions for education and especially for the inclusion and equity of students.

I state that the act of teaching is a political act as classrooms hold future citizens and what teachers say and do matters.

Teachers teach children to become creative, collaborative communicators, critical thinkers, problem solvers, and global citizens. Teachers help their students become good citizens or as Dewey stated the “organization of the school, as it affects the mind of both teacher and pupil, [is a] growth and extension of the democratic principle in life beyond school doors” (Dewey, 1903).

The act of advocating for democracy and human rights in schools is a political action – so should teachers be political?  Former state and national U.S. Teachers of the Year wrote in an open letter “there are times when a moral imperative outweighs traditional social norms. There are times when silence is the voice of complicity” (cited in Strauss, 2016).

As teachers, we regularly espouse ideas of supporting human rights, through equity and inclusion. In the act of teaching, we are the political messengers of these ideas. Teachers are role models for students as we set the example through what we say and do. Our students watch our every move in our words and our actions. Teachers’ words and actions matter.

In Ontario politics, teachers’ voices matter and our representation and advocacy through our unions matter. Through the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, teachers represent almost 200,000 voices in Ontario. Teachers’ votes matter!

Results of Ontario political outcomes directly impact education funding for schools, staff, and students. In 1994, the election of Mike Harris cut billions of dollars from education (Martin, 2009). By the time I became a teacher in 2000, classrooms were void of resources – teachers ended up filling this gap directly with money out of their pockets. Teacher salaries are also directly regulated by provincial governments. Politics impacts teachers’ net income.

Teachers have built their advocacy for public education through their boards of education and their agency through their unions.

Should teachers talk about which political party they will vote for on this 2018 Provincial Election Day? Probably not, but teachers can just be who they are … advocates for public education, advocates for human rights, and advocates for the inclusion and equity of all students.

Above all, teachers can be advocates for democracy. The most impactful act a citizen can do to support democracy is to vote.

Teach who you are, be who you are. Vote.

Yours Collaboratively

Deb Weston

References

Dewey, J., (1903). Democracy in education. The elementary school teacher, 4(4), 193-204.

Drake, S., (n.d.) Professor (PhD), Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education,  Brock University, https://brocku.ca/education/faculty-and-staff/dr-susan-drake/

Martin, R., (October 20, 2009). What happened to Canada’s education advantage? The Toronto Star, Downloaded from https://www.thestar.com/opinion/2009/10/20/what_happened_to_canadas_education_advantage.html

Strauss, V., (October 14, 2016). Teachers are expected to remain politically neutral. These Teachers of the Year say they can’t., The Washington Post, Downloaded from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/10/14/teachers-are-expected-to-remain-politically-neutral-these-teachers-of-the-year-say-they-cant/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4ab93d6a23ed