Presentation People for Education Rebekah -- Plenary -- The pros - PDF document

Presentation People for Education Rebekah -- Plenary ​ -- The pros and cons of e-Learning. This was set up as a debate where 3 experts with differing views presented, answered questions and had healthy discussions around some fairly heated topics of concern. The 3 that were at the debate table were: Alison (Slack) Baron - presently Coordinator of the Ontario eLearning Consortium, past educator for more than 30 years, with 18 years in e-Learning and secondment to the Ministry of Education to help develop Ontario e-Learning strategy Beyhan Farhadi ​ , ​ is a Toronto District School Board secondary teacher with a PhD in Geography. Her doctoral research looked at the relationship between e-Learning and educational inequality in the TDSB. Maxim Jean-Louis, ​ ​ has been President and CEO of Contact North | Contact Nord since 1996. Contact North runs 116 online learning centres across Ontario, providing 600 small rural, remote, Indigenous and Francophone communities with access to post-secondary education and training ​ . The main concerns were around the mandatory online course credits for secondary schools. Truly there were many more questions than answers in the end the consensus was that e-Learning could serve remote communities and non-traditional students, if designed and run with care. However, it was also agreed that the new policy should not be implemented hastily and that the planned ratio of 35 students per online teacher, was too high. The highlight was a student trustee from Toronto who gave compelling feedback about his experience as a first-hand user which he noted was not even remotely close to beneficial, not engaging, questions were geographically in appropriate etc. There was resounding applause to his feedback and it was noted that student voice is a critical component and often missed. Some commented that this was like building a 747 airplane while it is already in flight. Many felt like it is just too soon, too fast and needed a lot more preparation, thought, study before rolling out to students. Lisa - (morning breakout session) INDIGENOUS EDUCATION: ​ ​ "How can we move away from thinking of Indigenous Education as an add-on, and make it central to all K to 12 education?" This session was facilitated by Falen Johnson, co-host of The Secret Life of Canada (CBC Podcasts), and panelled by Colinda Clyne, Curriculum Lead, First Nations, Metis, Inuit Education, of the Upper Grand District School Board, and Gregory Querel, Education Policy Analyst,of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres. https://trc.journalism.ryerson.ca/land-acknowledgement/

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Toronto and Ryerson University are in the “Dish With One Spoon Territory.” The Dish With One Spoon is a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples, Europeans and all newcomers, have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect. The “Dish” or sometimes it is called the “Bowl” represents what is now southern Ontario (from the Great Lakes to Quebec and from Lake Simcoe into the U.S.). * We all eat out of the Dish – all of us that share this territory – with only one spoon. That means we have to share the responsibility of ensuring the dish is never empty; which includes, taking care of the land and the creatures we share it with. Importantly, there are no knives at the table, representing that we must keep the peace. The dish is graphically represented by the wampum pictured.

(*This was a treaty made between the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee after the French and Indian War. Newcomers were then incorporated into it over the years, notably in 1764 with The Royal Proclamation/The Treaty of Niagara.) The purpose of the acknowledgement started in British Columbia, where there are no treaties at all. So people are actually living, working and meeting on stolen land. Its popularity has spread as an acknowledgment of Indigenous presence and assertion of sovereignty. People use it in different ways, such as at opening events and meetings. Sources Burrows, John. 1997. “Wampum at Niagara: The Royal Proclamation, Canadian Legal History and Self-Government” in Asche, Michael, ​ Aboriginal and Treaty Rights in Canada: Essays on Law, Equity, and Respect for Difference ​ . Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. Hall, Anthony. 2003. ​ The American Empire and the Fourth World: The Bowl With One Spoon, Part One ​ . Montreal: McGill-Queens. Johnson, Darlene. 2005. ​ Connecting People to Place: Great Lakes Aboriginal History in Cultural Context ​ . Prepared for the Ipperwash Inquiry. Simpson, Leanne. 2008. “Looking after Gdoo-naaganinaa: Precolonial Nishnaabeg Diplomatic and Treaty Relationships.” ​ Wicazo Sa Review 23 ​ (2): 29-42.

Although there had been a land acknowledgment in the welcome, we started this session discussing the "Dish with One Spoon" Treaty, the importance of pronunciation, the hope that we would find ways to better incorporate Indigenous Culture within education, and the fear that we've lost honour and respect. All of the original treaties included education, but got 'lumped in' with equity. We were asked to reflect on "How are (we) honouring the treaty, and how are (we) reciprocating the relationship?" Marie Battiste's quote "You can't be the doctor if you are the disease" was used to highlight that we must make visible the educational infrastructure that Indigenous Cultures had, which colonizers did not recognize; increase student achievement, close gaps, increase public confidence, develop partnerships with Friendship Centres and school boards. We need to bring in Elders to teach, and to fight "Indigenous fatigue". In boards with a dedicated Indigenous Lead, only 25% are identified as Indigenous. We need to follow an inquiry model, where teachers learn along with students (be humble - "let's learn together.") Re: Parent Engagement, we have to recognize intergenerational trauma, and that school buildings themselves are triggers - and so, meet the parents where they are. ************************************************************************************************************* Lisa - (afternoon breakout session) BUILDING REAL COMMUNITY IN SCHOOLS: "How do we need to change to ensure that all of Ontario's diverse students have equitable opportunities at school?" This session was facilitated by Eloise Tan, Research Director, People for Education, and panelled by two teams: First, from the Toronto District School Board, two K-12 Learning Coaches: Farah Rahemtula and Sharla Serasanke Falodi (also a Doctoral Student at Boise); and then Yvonne Kelly, Chair, SPNO (Social Planning Network of Ontario), and Sharma Queiser, Researcher and Policy Analyst, Social Planning Toronto. "HOPE IS NOT A COURSE OF ACTION" "EDUCATION IS AN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHT" (The OHRC was quoted in "Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present," by Robyn Maynard) The first team's presentation focused on microaggressions, a term coined by psychiatrist and Harvard University professor Dr. Chester M. Pierce in 1970 to describe insults and dismissals which he regularly witnessed non-black Americans inflicting on African Americans. The term is now applied to the casual degradation of any socially marginalized group, including LGBTQIA2S+, people living in poverty, and people that are disabled.

Description ​ [ Wikipedia] Microaggressions have been defined as brief and common daily verbal, behavioral, and environmental communications, whether intentional or unintentional, that transmit hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to a target person because they belong to a stigmatized group. ​ [9] ​ Although these communications typically appear harmless to observers, they are considered a form of covert racism or everyday discrimination. ​ [10] ​ Microaggressions differ from what Pierce referred to as “macroaggressions”, which are more extreme forms of racism (such as lynchings or beatings) due to their ambiguity, size and commonality. ​ [11] ​ Microaggressions are experienced by most stigmatized individuals and occur on a regular basis. These can be particularly stressful for people on the receiving end as they are easily denied by those committing them. They are also harder to detect by members of the ​ dominant culture ​ , ​ [12] ​ as they are often unaware they are causing harm. ​ [9] ​ Sue describes microaggressions as including statements that repeat or affirm ​ stereotypes ​ about the minority group or subtly demean its members. Such comments also position the dominant culture as normal and the minority one as aberrant or pathological, express disapproval of or discomfort with the minority group, assume that all minority group members are the same, minimize the existence of discrimination against the minority group, seek to deny the perpetrator's own bias, or minimize real conflict between the minority group and the dominant culture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microaggression (sorry, missed the full citation for this one - Rina 2018 p.335) Reference guide asks: Is it covert? Does it perpetuate? Is it repetitive? Is it micro or macroaggressive? Is it oppressive? https://www.utsu.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/UTSU-Equity-101-Guide-Web.pdf