The Value of Relationships

Panelists echoed each other’s value of relationship building with first our students and then our parent and guardian community. Dr. Rashmee advised the group that this begins with an examination of self asking the questions, “how do I view people, how do I make sure I am not doing to other people what they are doing to me?”. This set the evening’s tone with the reminder that anti-oppressive teaching and learning begins with self-reflection that examines bias, privilege, power and norms. It’s within this personal journey that we begin to understand that this is not a singular issue, as Hanaa noted, but rather many things that encapsulate the harm. Valuing all individuals, backgrounds, experiences (individual and collective) is paramount to ending harm and achieving equity. 

Resources to Support the Journey and Work

Attendees were reminded that while our literacy practices can serve our goal of greater equity, we are also able to access texts that can support our learning. The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario outlines eight guiding principles that educators and administrators can consider in their work to build anti-oppressive learning environments (read article here). Jonelle also shared the Canadian School Libraries Collection Diversity Toolkit (view site here) and reminded listeners that the books we select for our school and classroom libraries must be diverse, noting that “Library collections, the stories we select, the way we set up spaces, the displays, the things that say things without saying a word...this is how we move forward, how we challenge bias, dismantle and break down systems.”

Forward with Intention

Supporting teachers is a multi-faceted process that requires various tools and strategies that equip teachers to refine their pedagogical practices, speak to their decisions and select appropriate texts. Michael reminded attendees that of utmost importance is student learning and we need to think about how we, educators, garner an understanding of what students know. This might mean abandoning traditional demonstration of learning (ie: written response) and having conversations with our students. To this, Dr. Rashmee reminded the group that there are both individual and collective experiences, and that in our pursuit of educating children, we need to “value the family, where they come from and where they will return”. Teaching with intention, then, begins with the educator examining self, reconsidering traditional practices, learning from others and above all, valuing the roles all adults have in shaping the life of children. 

Theory to Change

The evening closed with Rabia summarizing the panelists’ experiences and bringing the group back to Dr. Rashmee’s earlier reminder that relationships are of utmost importance in our pursuit of equitable learning environments. The work of equity will be both quiet and loud but all is in relationship to one another. Capturing the thoughts of the attendees, Rabia noted, “it was a beautiful honor to listen”, and indeed it truly was. As a former classroom educator and current school administrator I’m convinced all education stakeholders can play a role in achieving the goal of greater, all-encompassing equity. While literacy practices naturally lend themselves to this work, we shouldn’t forget that all curriculum and classroom practice can be examined, challenged and transformed through anti-oppressive teaching and learning.