Monday, November 8, 2021

Listening to Grow in Equity Understanding

 Last week, I was part of the VoicEd broadcast of ONEdMentors called "The Mentoree Lounge". It was an enjoyable episode to record because of my fellow panelists - Noa Daniel, Ramona Merharg, Rolland Chidiac, Elisa Waingort, and Greg Farrell. 



During the conversation, I questioned my own use of the word "paralyzed". I was concerned that it might have been abelist, and so I rephrased my sentence. I'm not pointing this out because I want praise, because it's a long process to monitor yourself and do a better job at being an anti-oppression educator.


I have to say that I do it more by listening than by speaking. Someone once wrote (I'll look for it in my Twitter history - ETA I found a version of it) that if you want to do better, follow more Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour on Twitter and other social media platforms - and just pay attention. Don't feel the need to add in your own $0.02; just listen and think about what you've heard.


This tweet below is an example of "listen".


I'm not a big holiday observer (despite loving costumes, I don't decorate the library for any holidays). However, I am teaching Grade 2 social studies this year, both as a prep subject and as collaborative partner delivery. Traditions and celebrations are part of the curriculum. This social media post made me much more aware about using care when selecting resources to use, especially when this is a celebration that is unfamiliar to many of the students. I chatted with another teacher who is doing her own Grade 2 social studies lessons, and she both spotted the Twitter thread and considered how to alter her approach. (Both of us used Lights for Gita, written by Indo-Canadian author Rachna Gilmore - I just learned as I was composing this blog post that she passed away in February 2021; I'm so sorry to hear this!)

It's so nice not to be wrestling with decisions like this alone. I'm partnering with Connie Chan and Jennifer Cadavez and their virtual kindergarten students on a Community Helpers inquiry. Our goal is to disrupt some of the classist and gendered assumptions around occupations. It's always good to look twice at things - at first, I thought a relevant resource we could use was Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, because it talks about what kind of roles actors can play and addresses both race and gender. Fortunately, I reread the book before I decided on using it, and unfortunately, there are some problematic elements that stopped me from using it. (One, the book is thirty years old; two, the author is white and writes about a black girl's experience; three, in one of the pictures, Grace is seen as pretending to be Hiawatha [possibly the Longfellow poem version] and is shown topless with an "Indian" feather headdress.)

Social media has actually been so helpful for me in my learning and unlearning process. There was a tweet that I forgot to like/RT/save about a deaf conference presenter who explained why it is inappropriate to thank the sign language interpreter in the same group as the presenters. I hadn't considered her perspective and it definitely was a valid one. What I might have thought was being appreciative actually negates the work of the deaf expert and aligns his/her accomplishments with that of the translator.

The more I learn, the more I discover that I have so much more to learn. I'm working with our Curriculum Coach, Kin Irving, to help set up the conditions for the staff to revise the SIP (school improvement plan). There are three categories on a SIP: student achievement, equity, and well-being. Kin and I had some great discussions about how to begin these conversations, that need to start with self-reflection and frank observations, in a way that invites honesty and willingness along the journey. I look forward to seeing where this will take us in my school community. 


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