We Are (also) The System 

The Joy of Being With Students

I am always grateful for the opportunity of being with students in the schools where I have worked and the classrooms in which I now co-teach. These interactions with students in the hallway, school yard or while entering the school are very precious because they always remind of my purpose in this work. 

In a Grade 1 classroom the other day, there was talk of dinosaurs because one backpack had them and several sweaters did too. I was waiting with the students for their teacher to come in from supervision duty.  For a short time, I was in the spotlight because they remembered from a previous visit.

Then one of the students had a bright idea: “Let us see if Ms. Kaar-naad knows the names of at least two of the dinosaurs” The whispers of “she may not know them, we may need to help her” were very heartwarming.  It is humbling that children are gracious and kind towards the grown-ups in their lives. 

I could name at least 2 dinosaurs as asked and I was in! 

The System and Our Work

One of the Big Words that comes up often in school-related work is The System  

When I was in the classroom as a teacher from 2004 to 2020 and since then, working side by side with colleagues’ in their classrooms, it often felt (and still does) as if it was just me, students, colleagues and families.  But there are times, when in spite of of the strongest efforts and best intentions, things move slowly or do not move at all.

At such times, I say and we say: “It is the System.” Out of sight, yet in our lives always – The System towers over us. Educational work, whether done in our classrooms or in the homes of our students by their families, unfolds in its shadow.

This pervasive and powerful System is everywhere and we speak of it often. We tacitly know that it exists. We say that The System determines the inequities in education, social and professional spaces. We notice and name Systemic Barriers that hold back student outcomes, and even our Higher Ed admissions to programs that we plan to get into, as educators.

We also see systemic barriers interlock with families’ home lives that in turn impact our working conditions and students’ learning conditions. This last issue often occurs when internationally trained professionals are invited to Canada through various pathways, and when they settle in Ontario, they go through many, sometimes never ending cycles of under-employment or unemployment. 

So where do we go from here, when The System holds all of us in its grasp and impacts the lives of so many?

Learning Together: The Triangle of Power

ETFO’s Anti-Oppressive Framework: A Primer is an important document for all of us to review and become familiar with. I am pleased to share that it was also intentionally brought into view for members by the York Region local’s Anti-Oppression Task Force a few years ago.

It is a very readable and relatable resource and allows the reader to actually see in a new light, the everyday work spaces in which we are immersed.  What stands out for me and many who have made this resource a key aspect of our practice is The Triangle of Power (p.9).

The Triangle of Power highlights three vertices: Ideology, Individual Action and Institutional Barriers and explains them in very easy-to-understand language. ETFO members can connect with this visual in our busy lives and  weave the learning into our jobs, the conversations in which we participate, in professional learning that we develop, deliver or attend as well as ways in which we engage with families, students, as well as with one another. 

The Anti-Oppressive Framework Primer explains the 3 vertices as Ideology, Individual Action and Institutional Barriers. 

For the purpose of this conversation, I have changed the order  as below:

Institutional Barriers

“The corners of the triangle — ideas and actions inform and result in institutional inequities. This can be seen in systems/structures such as the media, the justice system, politics, education, religious institutions and union spaces where inequities based on lack of representation, over-representation, omissions, discriminatory policies are present.”

The reason I have placed Institutional Barriers as the first consideration is because they tower above us as we go about our day as they do for students and families. Institutional Barriers are high up above the classrooms and other spaces where you and I do our work. Their impact is also felt all around us but they are invisibilized in the busy pace of our lives and we do not always notice them. 

Ideology 

“If we are to consider that as human beings, we are all informed by our ideas (ideology) which in this case, can be displayed through generalizations, assumptions, implicit or explicit biases and stereotypes that one may hold about individuals or groups, it is these constructed and learned ideas that inform the way one behaves towards people.”

I have placed Ideology 2nd in this list of 3 vertices because our ideas are so well marinated in our implicit and explicit biases that they become tacit knowledge and then evolve into “a fact.” This can apply to stereotypes about one another, students, their families, the places colleagues and families got their educational degrees and so on. 

“Who, me?”, people may say when you speak of ideology to them. And that’s exactly it.  Ideology is also invisibilized and quite easily deniable. 

Individual Action 

“Discriminatory behaviours, often unintentional, can take the form of actions towards individuals or groups of people. These acts may appear in the form of conducts such as name-calling, inappropriate comments to more violent and pervasive physical acts such as bullying, assault, segregation or omissions. Some behaviours are more insidious and less able to be obviously detected. For example, comments about a racialized or Indigenous person’s hair, or asking someone where they are from, can be identified as microaggressions.” 

I have placed Individual Action as the last vertex so that you and I can focus our attention on it and remember it well. 

I am inviting you to join me in critically examining the role that you and I can play in upholding oppressive practices unless we hold ourselves accountable everyday, in every interaction. 

We are (also) The System

The Triangle of Power makes it very clear that We are (also) The System because each corner (vertex) holds a specific part of oppression.

If you and I choose to hold up a specific part of oppression through our individual action, we are (also) a part of oppressive practices. Mathematically, if the third vertex (individual action) is not there to hold the structure in place, it is not a closed figure. It is not a triangle anymore. 

While I do not think that Individual Action alone can break down Institutional Barriers or shift ideology because they are very powerful, I do believe that each one of us has an important role to play in how the other two vertices have an impact. 

• After all, oppression is action: it occurs when someone does something oppressive.
• Thankfully, anti-oppressive practices are actions too. You and I have to actually do something anti-oppressive.

Let’s dismantle the Triangle of Power at every opportunity we get by making our Individual Actions in educational settings anti-oppressive.

When you feel wobbly, reach out. There are many fellow travellers engaged in anti-oppressive practices in local and provincial settings.

We will help one another.  I also invite you to read, practice and share ETFO’s Anti-Oppression Primer.

With You, In Solidarity

Rashmee Karnad-Jani