Asian Heritage Month is celebrated each May in Canada. The federal government of Canada has announced their theme as, “Unity in Diversity: The Impact of Asian Communities in Shaping Canadian Identity”. This theme acknowledges the abundance of diversity present among Asian Canadian communities, and how this richness has contributed to building a unifying Canadian identity. The diverse nature of Asian Canadian communities is considered as one of their strengths, just as it is in our Canadian identity.”
When I spent some time last month with a wonderful group of educators to collate resources that acknowledge Asian identity here in Canada, we kept this theme in mind. There is so much diversity in Asian identity – not just in regionality, but also within regions, the global diaspora, culture, and more. Celebrating and representing this diverse identity is something that requires some thoughtful planning.
We started locating books for representation; ones that addressed topics that many Asian children experience. We thought about our own experiences as Asian teachers as well as the experiences of Asian students and families we knew in schools. We decided to address a few different topics; name stories, immigration experiences, food, language, and clothing. For each of these categories, we selected texts, such as picture books, visuals, and websites that could be explored for cultural representation. We tried our best to ensure that we weren’t building stereotypes;, that we had characters from a variety of countries and regions and intersectionalities. It was wonderful to meet with like-minded educators who were interested in bringing their ideas to reality!
Through our discussions, we also realized the joy and understanding that happens through highlighting changemakers and trailblazers during heritage months. To acknowledge this, we made sure to include links to useful resources that provided information about Asian Canadians, such as government websites, websites built by those who identify with that ethnicity, or texts that were written from their own cultural perspective. There was no shortage of resources to find; in fact, we found so many that were new for us to comb through and learn more about our own identities and others. Seeing these mirrors and windows into our Asian heritage inspired us to walk through those sliding glass doors and into possibilities of what we could do in the classroom.
During this planning session, I realized that we needed to include Asian Canadians that are recent trailblazers – it wasn’t only about focussing on the past achievements, but making these moments come alive for students in the time period that they are living. Some of these include Kevin He, the first Chinese born Canadian to sign an NHL contract in 2024; politician Rechie Valdez, the first Filipino Canadian woman to be elected as a Member of Parliament in Canada and who has been recently announced as the new Minister of Women and Gender Equality. There’s also Lauren Chan, a model, editor and founder of the plus-size clothing brand Henning. This champion for diversity in the fashion world also identifies with the LGBTQ+ community and has Chinese-Armenian heritage.
As you explore different ways to recognize Asian Heritage month in May and beyond with your students and staff members, I encourage you to look at the ways Asian Canadians are still becoming ‘firsts’. Join in the celebrations that are happening right now and consider how history is still in the making.
