Archive

• Visible Learning Plus Institute

  October 31, 2019 4:03 PM Comments Off on Visible Learning Plus Institute

  The Visible Learningplus Institute in Newfoundland and Labrador is a two-day institute with John Hattie, designed to provide you with practical activities and take-away tools. This institute is the first step that will help you create Visible Learning Schools that systematically examine effective instructional practice in order to determine the “impact” on student learning.

• 3 Steps to Districtwide Staff Well-Being

  October 21, 2019 3:02 PM Comments Off on 3 Steps to Districtwide Staff Well-Being

• Beyond the Cone of Silence

  2:51 PM Comments Off on Beyond the Cone of Silence

• So you want me to talk?

  2:43 PM Comments Off on So you want me to talk?

• How can parents and teachers help K-12 students enter careers in the skilled trades?

  October 8, 2019 2:49 PM Comments Off on How can parents and teachers help K-12 students enter careers in the skilled trades?

  Canada has been experiencing a shortage in skilled trades workers for several decades – from jobs like plumbers, auto mechanics, and construction workers, to hairstylists, estheticians, bakers, and many more. Historically, schools have favoured academic courses (i.e. learning concepts from textbooks) over vocational courses (i.e. hands-on training for specific jobs). For example, in the late 1800s in Ontario, working-class boys had to learn the rules of the factory and, by the late 1960s, vocational programs had gained a reputation as a dumping ground for low-achieving students. While high schools today are providing more opportunities for students to explore different career options, both schools and Canadian society still have a long way to go in moving away from seeing the skilled trades as “low status” jobs.

  There are two main challenges with high school apprenticeship programs:

  1. Schools are often hesitant to tell employers how to train students, which can lead to varying quality of learning experiences. Some employers have been known to exploit students.
  2. On-the-job training isn’t usually well integrated with school curriculum, which can lead to perceptions that it’s less important and that vocational courses don’t belong in schools.

  HERE ARE KEY TIPS TO PROMOTE THE SKILLED TRADES AMONG YOUTH:

  Tips for teachers and schools

  Provide opportunities for students in different grades to explore a variety of education and work options. Implement employment equity principles (e.g. respect for diversity and inclusion) in vocational programs to ensure all youth are encouraged to explore the skilled trades. Ensure your students know their rights at work (e.g. workplace hazards, health and safety, fair treatment). Build partnerships that are beneficial for both schools and employers to ensure high quality placements (e.g. employers lead classroom lessons alongside teachers; teachers go into worksites to see how curriculum is applied on the job).

  Tips for parents

  Reflect on whether you hold any stereotypes about what you consider “high status” and “low status” jobs, and what are “gender appropriate” jobs. Remember that a “good job” is one where your child feels valued and challenged. Be an advocate for your child – there is often less support in schools for pursuing careers in the skilled trades versus going to university. Learn more about what’s required to enter different skilled trades and the diversity of careers that are available.

  A rich and meaningful vocational education requires parents and teachers to help students see how school and work are complementary, and that “good jobs” take a variety of forms. One way of closing the gap between academic courses and vocational courses is by having all students participate in hands-on learning opportunities, including community service projects that can have real impact. Teachers, school administrators, employers, and community organizations all have important roles to play in encouraging students to learn “about” and “through” work, rather than simply “for” work.

  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RESOURCES

  Most provinces have high school apprenticeship programs, so check Ministry of Education websites. Below are some websites in Alberta and Ontario.

  ALBERTA

  The Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP)

  Careers the Next Generation

  Careers is a charitable, industry sponsored organization that works with schools to connect students to employers in apprenticeship and other occupations.

  Aspen Foundation

  The Aspen Foundation for Labour Education is dedicated to providing citizens with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that empower them to contribute fully to a healthy, just, and democratic workplace, ​ community, and society through participation in labour and social justice initiatives.

  ONTARIO

  The Ontario High School Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)

  Dual Credit Programs

  Dual credit is where students participate in apprenticeship training and postsecondary courses, earning credits that count towards both their high school diploma and their postsecondary diploma, degree or apprenticeship certification.

   

   

  REFERENCES

     

  Akkerman, S. and Bakker, A. (2011) Boundary crossing and boundary objects. Journal of Educational Research, 81(2): 132-169.

  CBC. (2019, May 15). Skilled trades workers wooing youth as shortage looms. Accessible from:  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/skilled-trade-exhibit-targets-youth-1.5135521

  Hager, P. and Hyland, T. (2003). Vocational education and training. Education: Book Chapters. Paper 5. Retrieved December 2014. Accessible from: http://digitalcommons.bolton.ac.uk/ed_chapters/5

  Hunter, J. (2013, October 27). B.C. eyes boosting trades in curriculum overhaul. Globe and Mail. Accessed online December 2014. Accessible from:

  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-eyes-boosting-trades-in-curriculum-overhaul/article15108656/

  Lazerson, M. & Dunn, T. (1977). Schools and the work crisis: Vocationalism in Canadian education. In H. Stevenson & D. Wilson (Eds.), Precepts, policy and process: Perspectives on contemporary Canadian education. (pp. 285-303) London: Alexander Blake Associates.

  Taylor, A.  (2016). Vocational education in Canada. Toronto, Oxford.

  Young, M. (1998) The curriculum of the future: from the “new sociology of education” to a critical theory of learning. London: Falmer.

  WITH THE GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: 

            

• My Back-to-School Educator Resiliency Story

  September 24, 2019 10:57 AM Comments Off on My Back-to-School Educator Resiliency Story

  Now that September is here, educators are back to school.  We can quickly forget that we’ve had two months to recharge as we fall back into the daily school routine as summertime slips out the door and we re-enter into our classrooms. 

  It’s amazing how swiftly everything piles upon us as educators. There are big ideas and new curriculums to understand, new assessment strategies, new ways of learning and teaching with an Indigenous lens, new social-emotional language to support our ever-changing and ever-challenging student body, and always new pedagogy that can be implemented. Not to mention the planning, marking, and meetings that are a part of our every thought throughout the school year. Sometimes it feels as though there’s never enough time, energy, and space to get through everything.        

  As educators, we often work through a lens of scarcity because we have felt the pinch of financial loss, the strain of our oversized classrooms, the demanding needs of each individual student, and the political climate frequently shifting to and from supporting teachers. 

  And because of all of this, educators across Canada are tired. 

  My name is Lisa. I’m a high school counsellor and trained secondary PE and English teacher. I also wear other hats. I’m a mindfulness instructor who teaches a program (Mindfulness for Educators) that first seeks to support an embodied mindfulness practice for educators before then teaching the practice to our students. I also teach an eight-week course called Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC). I have an emerging company called AWE – (Awaken Wellbeing for Educators) where I run day and weekend retreats enabling educators to nourish themselves. Most importantly, I’m a mom to two beautiful kids who remind me to practice patience and kindness daily. 

  

  Trying to maintain life and its many roles – including finding ways to meet everyone’s needs, including my own – can be really challenging.

  I know first-hand what burnout feels like: it’s panic attacks, it’s the resentment of students and colleagues, it’s physical pain, it’s being on the verge of crying and not knowing why, and it’s feeling edgy and frustrated without reason.
  

  This year the World Health Organization officially added burnout as a legitimate medical diagnosis. This allows medical providers to diagnose burnout if individuals meet the following symptoms:

  1. Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
  2. Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job
  3. Reduced professional efficacy

  Like in many other high-stress occupations, educators are burning out quickly. We need to find ways to repair and awaken our resiliency so that we can continue to do the work that we love: teach kids, ask questions, and inspire change.

  My burnout started when I learned that I had an autoimmune disease. Ongoing pain can be debilitating, it can be exhausting. For me, learning to optimize my well-being became a priority.  As educators, putting ourselves first can be a challenge. But in order for us to sustain our well-being in schools, we have to make this a priority.

  Through a few small adjustments and behavioural modifications, I was able to sustain my well-being so that I could continue doing the work that I love.

  I came up with a mantra that supports my well-being: Go slow. Stay present. Trust.

  Go slow.

  In a world where “being busy” is glorified and there’s a never-ending “to-do” list, the idea of going slow seems counterintuitive. We go quickly because we think we may get more opportunities, more money, more school supplies, better students, and so on.  Fearing the scarcity of time drives us to move faster and do more.

  

  But I’ve started to see the fallacy. In fact, there is more to go around than ever.  We live in a world of abundance. When we go slow we start to recognize all of the opportunities, the gifts, and the learning that is available to us.

  

  I like to think of this era in education as a slow down education movement. We have time to get to know our kids, to get to know our colleagues, to get to know ourselves. When we slow down we see more. We’re enabling ourselves not to hurry. It’s giving ourselves the opposite of an over-glorified busyness and, instead, giving ourselves permission to take our time, to learn slowly, to teach slowly.
  

  When we go slow, we become more aware. This has been the first part of my ongoing resiliency building.
  

  Stay present.
  

  Learning to be present is a gift that few of us were taught. When we slow down, we start to build our awareness: we see more, we smell more, we hear and we listen more.
  

  Life pulls us in so many directions. One of the reasons why burnout happened in my life, other than physical illness, is this feeling of being pulled: everyone and everything needed my attention, and so I gave everyone and everything my attention all at the same time. I was left with no energy for myself. 

  I learned that we can’t do it all.  Life is not a computer screen with many tabs open as we multitask and try to complete everything all at the same time.  In fact, it’s the opposite. Life is more like a symphony: everything can’t be loud at the same time or the music doesn’t sound lovely.  Sometimes you need to turn down the horns so you can hear the strings. 

  When I gave myself permission to stay present these things happened: when I was at school I was fully present with my students, when I was teaching mindfulness I was fully teaching mindfulness, when I was leading retreats I was just leading retreats, and when I was home with my kids I was completely spending time with my kids. 

  Learning to be present is the opposite of multitasking. It’s called monotasking. It means doing one thing at a time. It also means prioritizing the things that are important to us. We can’t do everything, but we can do some things really well. One of those things that we need to learn to do well as teachers is to prioritize our well-being.

  Giving ourselves permission to practice self-care compassion and well-being doesn’t come naturally for many of us. For many teachers, we’re really good at caring for others.

  

  But putting ourselves first is a really difficult priority.
  

  What does self-care look like for you? Only YOU can answer that question. But here are some ideas: find a mindfulness class, learn more about self-compassion, go on a retreat, try a yoga class, do more of what you love and learn to say NO to all the extra stuff.

  Trust.

  Rebuilding resiliency can be challenging, especially when we are depleted and we’re not sure how to awaken our well-being when there seems to be little energy or time to do so. I rebuilt my resiliency and I took the time to go slow and be present, but the most impactful piece for me was learning to trust. 

  Trust in myself, trust in my family, trust in my students, trust in my colleagues, trust in the community and in the culture that would support me.

  

  And most importantly, to trust myself in the process of expanding my mindful self-compassion practice. I learned to talk to myself, to treat myself as I would treat my best friend or a student that I loved: with care, tenderness, kindness, and love. I learned to ask myself the quintessential question of mindful self-compassion: “What do I really need right now?” And I learned to answer honestly.

  

  Because I was slowing down and becoming more present, I could hear what I needed:

  • More exercise and healthy food 
  • Time with friends, a date with my partner, or a dance party with my kids
  • Space to meditate
  • Less pressure on myself to be perfect

  The biggest part of learning to trust was leaning into the vulnerability that came with it.  “Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity,” explains author and professor Brene Brown “It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.” 

  When I gave myself permission to go slow, stay present, and trust, I opened up a world of vulnerability and connection—and this has been one of the greatest pathways into my resiliency building. 

  Let’s talk about educator resiliency. Let’s bring the discussion to the foreground. Let’s remind people that if we want our students to be well, we need our teachers to be healthy, present, open, and well.  As educators, we model and inspire our youth and when we do it from a place of kindness and compassion, we will all grow to be healthier and happier human beings.

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  Photo: Adobe Stock

   

• Like Being Pecked to Death by a Chicken

  10:56 AM Comments Off on Like Being Pecked to Death by a Chicken

  This blog post is part of a two-part series on teacher moms.
  Missed out on part 1? Turn back here. 

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  If you’ve ever written a major academic paper like a thesis or dissertation, you’ll know how painstaking it can be to summarize years of your life’s work into a snappy elevator pitch when all you have is mere minutes to convince people why you’re worth their time. But my PhD dissertation was a completely different story. When I think about the numerous women I’ve met over the course of my research – women who are juggling the demands of being both a mom at home and a teacher in the classroom – it’s pretty simple to sum up my 400-page dissertation in just eight words. Being a teacher mom is, quite frankly, “like being pecked to death by a chicken.”

  

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  WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE PECKED TO DEATH BY A CHICKEN

  

  A peck or two from a chicken is annoying but it won’t kill you. Similarly, teachers and other caregiving professionals are typically able to manage a few demands on their time and energy without losing their cool. But when demands pile up and begin shooting from left-right-and-centre, teacher moms are likely to burnout – just like how getting pecked by a chicken a thousand times over will likely leave you dead. 

  Teachers regularly work with children who are experiencing stress and trauma at home. Emotional pain and distress have no boundaries, and teachers – out of necessity and out of their heart for children – inevitably serve as emotional caregivers on top of the usual demands of schooling, like instruction and lesson planning. When students express their social and emotional needs through disruptive behaviour, an entire lesson – if not an entire day – can get derailed. Although teachers play a crucial role in the lives of students experiencing trauma, they’re also at high risk themselves of second-hand traumatic stress where working alongside and listening to the experiences of distressed students can actually damage their own mental health and well-being. 

  

  TEACHERS AND CAREGIVERS AGREE – WE ARE BEING PECKED TO DEATH BY CHICKENS

  Let’s not forget that teachers are also held to standards of practice that dictate how they’re expected to express their emotions. While in the classroom, it’s frequently expected that teachers suppress how they truly feel – either by hiding behind a “workplace appropriate” façade, or by literally attempting to change their emotions altogether by, for instance, filtering their frustrations into acts of kindness as they work alongside a struggling student. Given the energy required to control how they feel, combined with other demands including meeting tight deadlines, strained interpersonal relationships, and other pressures from outside the workplace, it’s no wonder that teachers often feel overwhelmed and depleted. 

  

  It’s also no wonder that the metaphor “a death by a thousand pecks” resonates so strongly with teacher moms and other caregiving professionals, many of whom have told me point-blank that caring for other people often leaves them drained and irritated long after they’ve left the workplace and rejoined their families. I’ve also heard stories from brilliant scientists about how they, too, return home after long days at the lab only to find that they’d much rather be left alone in solitude. Simply put, caregivers know what it’s like to be continuously pecked – and sometimes obliterated – by a chicken. 

  

  Even parents who aren’t typically considered “caregiving professionals” are required to tend to other people’s well-being while at work, where they’re expected to be cautiously considerate of other people’s feelings in their communications. Caring is almost always about “the other” – another person or even an idea – that we view as having some sort of potential or possibility for growth and development. This means that we are all caregivers in some way regardless of the job or role we may find ourselves in. Conversely, this also means that “caring” should be valued in the workplace and viewed as a demand worthy of professional development, support, and additional resources just as any other demand.    

  ‘WORK-LIFE BALANCE’ ISN’T ENOUGH TO SUPPORT TEACHER MOMS AND OTHER CAREGIVING PROFESSIONALS

  We often talk about maintaining “balance” between home and work, but I believe there’s a more appropriate term that truly encapsulates what it’s like to successfully manage our personal and professional responsibilities – and that’s “equilibrium.” 

  

  Work-life balance is like tinkering with a weighing scale where our personal life is on one side and our work life is on the other. We’re constantly striving to adjust and readjust how much weight we’re putting on either side so that one part of our lives doesn’t tip over and crash. “Balance” also implies that the different parts of our lives can be separated like different drawers of a wardrobe. The reality is that how we feel in our personal lives can impact how we feel in our professional lives, and vice-versa. For caregivers especially, we can’t expect teachers to “shut off” the care they have for their students just because they’ve left the schoolgrounds. In other words, there is no perfect balance. 

  

  Equilibrium, on the other hand, allows for some flexibility where new demands and additional stress create mere shifts in our lives rather than a total collapse. It means accepting, for example, that the amount of time, energy, and focus we dedicate to certain aspects of our lives will constantly change depending on what our priorities are or where our attention is most needed at a given point in time. In other words, teacher moms can prioritize caring for their own children without ceasing to care deeply for their students who are suffering from difficult personal circumstances – they may just accept that they can’t do it all, that they can’t do it alone, and that not every challenge or problem requires their fixing.  

  In brief, teacher moms and caregiving professionals who set boundaries, accept their limitations, and build up their resilience are able to absorb stress rather than take it on completely. As care is so inherent to being a teacher, schools can better support teacher moms by investing in the caring aspects of the profession and encouraging resilience training on the job. 

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  This blog post is part of a two-part series on teacher moms. 

  Missed out on part 1? Turn back here. 

   

  Dr. Shirley Giroux’s Ph.D. dissertation is entitled, “Like Being Pecked to Death by a Chicken: Resilience and Work-Family Equilibrium in Teacher/Mothers.”  Check out a recap on her research here.

  Author note: All of the teachers who participated in my research self-identified as cisgender female. Except for limiting my sample to female teachers, this lack of diversity was not intentional.

   Photos: Adobe Stock 

   

   

• How to Awaken Well-Being for Educators

  10:56 AM Comments Off on How to Awaken Well-Being for Educators

  More and more educators are realizing the importance of taking the time to invest in their well-being, and they’re starting to prioritize self-care for both personal and professional development. Practicing self-compassion is the ultimate act of self-care and, as educators, this means prioritizing our own well-being and learning to treat ourselves kindly in times of stress and overwhelm. This allows us to be our best selves, and therefore positions us to better support our students and develop meaningful relationships with them. 

  Over several years, I researched, observed, and brainstormed, and I came up with a solution – the AWE method, short for “Awaken Well-Being for Educators.” AWE takes you through the ABC’s of reclaiming and reviving your joy in teaching. Through this method, I help organizations and individual teachers create school and classroom environments based on resiliency, self-compassion, and self-awareness. AWE is unique because it creates a “ripple effect of well-being” by putting educators first. Educators develop healthy habits for themselves, and then go on to develop healthy habits to use or emulate among their families and in their classrooms. 

  The AWE method walks you through the WHY, the HOW, and the WHAT of educator well-being and, if followed consistently, will allow you to take charge of how you respond under pressure. While educators may have little control over their working conditions, they can nevertheless be role models who inspire those around them to invest in creating a positive and supportive school environment where everyone looks after their own well-being and that of their colleagues. 

  
  WHY educator well-being is important.

  Do you often feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and weary at the end of the school day?

  Do you find yourself counting down the days to every long weekend, holiday or break in your very busy week?

  When is the last time you gave yourself permission to pause and ask yourself, “What can I do to truly care for myself?” 

  The first step in building up our well-being is understanding why self-compassion – being kinder to ourselves – is important in bringing back well-being into any area of our school, classroom, or personal life.   

  Self-compassion entails being mindful, or more aware of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This allows us to pause and pinpoint what’s stressing us out, and therefore better control how we respond to other people and other things that are happening around us. This can be challenging, especially since our nervous system is trained to execute a “fight or flight” type of response – to become stressed or to avoid difficult situations rather than ignore them, accept them, or respond tactfully. In short, when we’re not paying attention to how we feel, we’re less able to manage our stress, which leads us to become overwhelmed, sick or – ultimately – burnt out. 

  Embodying the HOW of educator well-being.

  Below is an exercise called the “Self-Compassion Break,” which you can try right now to practice being more aware and kinder to yourself in times of stress. This exercise can be found in the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) course, and is backed by research conducted by Kristin Neff and Chris Germer.

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  Self-Compassion Break

  Think of a situation in your life that’s difficult and causing you stress. Call the situation to mind, and take stock of whether you begin feeling physically stressed or emotionally upset. Now, say to yourself… 

  1. “This is a moment of suffering”
     That’s practicing mindfulness. Other options include:
     
     • “This hurts”
     • “Ouch”
     • “This is stress”
  2. “Suffering is a part of life”
     That’s realizing that suffering is a normal human experience. Other options include:
     • “Other people feel this way”
     • “I’m not alone”
     • “We all struggle in our lives”

     Next, put your hands over your heart, and feel their warmth and gentle touch on your chest. Now, say to yourself…

  3. “May I be kind to myself”
     You can also ask yourself, “What do I need to hear right now to express kindness to myself?” Use a phrase that speaks to you in your particular situation, such as:

  • “May I give myself the compassion that I need”
  • “May I learn to accept myself as I am”
  • “May I forgive myself”
  • “May I be strong” 
  • “May I be patient” 

  This “Self-Compassion Break” can be used at any time – day or night – and will help you to pause and reflect on how you are thinking and feeling. By practicing these types of exercises, you can begin to meet difficult situations with self-compassion, and be strategic in how you approach your relationships with colleagues, students, and other people you interact with at work.

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  WHAT we need to do to awaken educator well-being.

  To truly support our well-being, we need to take stock of the strengths and values that embody being well, which I call… 

  “The Seven C’s of Wellbeing” 

  Courage. According to author and professor Brene Brown, “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” If we want to make well-being a priority for ourselves and within our school communities, then we need to take a step of courage by allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and ask for help when we need it. 

  

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  Curiosity. Educators these days are in love with leading inquiry-based projects with their students. Let’s flip the script by practicing inquiry on ourselves where we ask, “What do I REALLY need right now?” Self-care doesn’t necessarily mean having a glass of wine or taking a bubble bath; rather, it’s often deeper and something that takes discipline. Let’s get curious about what we really need to stay well, such as more love and connection, time in nature, or space to connect spiritually. 

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  Community. This one’s relatively simple: find a team of supporters, friends, a coach, or a mentor whom you can ask for help. We don’t need to care for our well-being all on our own. In actuality, it’s important to collaborate and build community, and motivate and support each other. Educators rarely have enough time to do this, but it’s important to make this a priority as much as possible. 

  

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  Clear Your Way. We need to let go of the expectation that we can do it all. We can’t. We can only do one or two things well at a given time. To improve our well-being, we need to learn to set boundaries, realize that “less is more,” and practice “going slow to move fast.” When we let go of this expectation, we also let go of things that don’t contribute to our well-being, such as low priority things on our to-do lists, unhealthy relationships, and the list goes on.   

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  Cultivating Care. Give yourself permission to care for yourself. As I’ve mentioned, when we do this in a kind and loving way, we’re better able to care for other people – including our students.   

  

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  Creating Culture. As educators, we create space for our students (and our colleagues) to feel valued and authentic. When we prioritize well-being as part of our culture – how we do things and how we say things – our actions and words become contagious and we inspire others to do the same. 

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  Compassion. Lastly, be kind to yourself, and show yourself the compassion that you would to those entrusted in your care. 

  
  The Takeaway

  Educators are also caregivers, and they often suffer as a result of the emotional investment they put into ensuring other people’s well-being. They’re exhausted and can often feel undervalued in today’s culture. As professionals – and as human beings – what educators want is to be seen, heard, valued, and understood. We want to feel like we’re giving back to our schools in a meaningful and purposeful way, as well as having an impact in the lives of each of our students. While improving working conditions is a long-term effort that can be difficult for one person to change, everyone can play a role in changing how they think, speak, and act each day, and the AWE method is a great way for you to start taking your first steps regardless of the situation you may find yourself in. 

   

   

  Connect with Lisa to learn how to awaken the wellbeing of educators in your school’s culture by practicing the ABCs!  Find Lisa at www.lisabaylis.com  to learn more about upcoming workshops and retreats that she offers, or to have her speak with your staff and school.  And look for her book in the spring that dives deeper into this method

  Photo: Adobe Stock

• The Life of Teacher Moms

  10:56 AM Comments Off on The Life of Teacher Moms

  This blog post is part of a two-part series on teacher moms. 

  Ready for Part 2? Continue here. 

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  Upon coming to the end of my maternity leave after having my first child, I found myself torn between my love for teaching and my desire to be there for my newborn son. I had set my aspirations on obtaining a new teaching position close to home and in my hometown, which eventually narrowed me down to two choices: pursue a part-time continuing contract in my preferred teaching area (secondary science), or a full-time continuing contract in a less preferred yet still enticing subject.

  I DEBATED TEACHING PART-TIME TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF BEING A MOTHER AND A TEACHER

  

  The decision seemed pretty obvious at first—what early career teacher would turn down a full-time continuing contract in her hometown, especially in a large school district the size of New Brunswick? I remember going to a colleague’s retirement party and excitedly telling people how I would be taking on this new, full-time adventure in the same school where I had completed my teaching practicum only three years earlier. Yet someone at the party suggested that I might be better off taking the part-time gig to allow me extra time with my new baby boy. From that moment forward, a seed had been planted that got me thinking about my long-term professional goals and how this could fit alongside the demands of motherhood. The year I’d spent at home with my son was indeed gratifying and wonderful in many ways, yet at the same time I didn’t find it stimulating to be home alone all day while my husband was out working. I left the house regularly and had a great circle of friends, yet I missed teaching and having conversations with my colleagues about the ups and downs of teaching.

  

  I eventually took the leap and decided to take the part-time job. It probably had something to do with the chronic scarcity of available childcare spots, or the enticement of being able to teach science all the time. Or, maybe that friend at the party had an influence on me. Whatever the reason, I was fortunate enough to be able to choose to teach a full slate of science courses part-time at the school district’s adult education centre for the next seven years. The decision to take on this “smaller” job is something I’ve never regretted.

  I WAS HUNGRY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TEACHER MOMS AND HOW THEY SEEMINGLY “DO IT ALL”

  

  Ultimately, this experience of choosing between my family and my professional goals brought about some fundamental shifts in how I viewed my career. I had an aching desire to dig deeper, which led me to pursue Ph.D. research into the lived experiences of women who were simultaneously teaching and raising children of their own. Working part-time and in a setting that didn’t require the immense prep work and grading that are typically part of a teacher’s workload, I was able to leave work at work and spend my time at home being truly present with my son and — three years later — with my youngest daughter. I was also fortunate enough to have the opportunity and security, thanks to my husband’s work, to work part-time. Yet, even without the additional strain of a “typical” teaching job, I nevertheless found it stressful and exhausting to meet the demands of my family.

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  So I seriously wondered: How are teacher moms who are working full-time hours able to work with children all day and then come home to once again “work with” their own children (in different but no less challenging ways) — without getting overwhelmed by it all? And, on the flipside: How are female teachers without children managing their work responsibilities, and do they have different demands to attend to?

  

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  I began having conversations with colleagues at our children’s birthday parties to see if I could identify any common themes in how these women, who were seemingly “doing it all,” were able to stay afloat. All of my teacher friends seemed to feel that they were neither working nor parenting to the best of their abilities. They felt like they were “sucking at everything all the time” and that they were likely the only ones having this experience, yet they continued to be able to somehow continue on in their multiple roles. How was it that so many teacher moms were feeling like they were inadequate, yet found it within themselves to keep going, to keep teaching despite continuous demands on their time and resources? In other words, how is it that so many women are able to care for children all day and all night without losing their s***?

  

  I REALIZED THERE’S A LOT TO LEARN FROM FEMALE TEACHERS ABOUT RESILIENCE — AND MUCH MORE WE CAN DO TO SUPPORT THEM AT SCHOOL

  I used my research to look at whether there are any differences between the stress levels, resilience strategies, and work-life equilibrium routines (i.e. being able to meet demands at work and at home) of teacher moms versus female teachers without kids. The simple verdict — not really. It turns out that maintaining your well-being as a teacher requires similar strategies regardless of whether or not you’re a parent. In fact, teachers’ well-being seems to depend on things like maintaining healthy relationships, keeping perspective, and taking part in healthy activities like regular exercise.

  But I’m still left with larger questions about working conditions and demands under which teachers continue to operate:

  • As people who work in so-called “caring professions” like nurses, social workers, and teachers are prone to burnout, how can schools and school districts support the caring and emotional aspects of teaching just as any other aspect of the profession that’s covered in ongoing professional development and/or occupational health?
  • What can school systems do to help support teacher well-being at a systemic level through things like policies, continuous professional development, and district-wide action plans, so that we’re not putting full responsibility on teachers to sustain their own well-being?

  I hope that by sparking and engaging in discussions around these questions, we might one day better recognize and support teachers’ work-life equilibrium.

  ---

  This blog post is part of a two-part series on teacher moms. 

  Ready for Part 2? Continue here.

  Dr. Shirley Giroux’s Ph.D. dissertation is entitled, “Like Being Pecked to Death by a Chicken: Resilience and Work-Family Equilibrium in Teacher/Mothers.”  Check out a recap on her research here.

  Author note: All of the teachers who participated in my research self-identified as cisgender female. Except for limiting my sample to female teachers, this lack of diversity was not intentional

  Photos: Adobe Stock

• Teacher moms are doing it all

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  RESEARCH IN BRIEF

  In news that will surprise no educators, teaching is challenging work. Besides planning for and facilitating student learning, there are a number of other demands on teachers’ time and energy, many of which — like volunteering for a staff committee, staying in at lunch to help a student, or providing students with flexible options to demonstrate their knowledge — can seem small or unnoticeable on their own. However, when demands like these begin to add up, teachers may feel that they have too many demands on their time or that their efforts are not being recognized or appreciated, which can then contribute to impaired health.

  It‘s partly because of these potential negative consequences that I called my Ph.D. dissertation “Like Being Pecked to Death by a Chicken.” While a single peck (or demand) might be tolerable, an amassment could lead to impaired health, and it’s often an accumulation of relatively small things that wear down a person’s resilience.

  As part of my research, I had 182 female teachers in B.C. complete a survey to see whether there are any differences between women who are both moms and teachers, in comparison to female teachers who don’t have kids. Most helpful to my research were the group discussions I led, where these teachers were able to meet and share what were often emotional stories alongside their colleagues about the ups and downs of managing family and work. I specifically wanted to find out whether an “increased burden of care” (i.e. the pressures of being a caregiver both at school and at home) was hurting the well-being of teacher moms, and what they were doing to remain resilient through it all.

  WHAT WE MEAN BY “RESILIENCE”

  But what exactly do we mean when we talk about “resilience,” and what seems to make the biggest difference for teachers? Resilience is well-backed by research as key to sustaining teachers’ well-being, and it mainly refers to things that enable them to continue teaching despite the challenging conditions they may find themselves in. There are typically three factors that contribute to resilience:

  1. Personal factors: a person’s skills, abilities, and personality
  2. Contextual factors: a person’s environment, such as their workplace, and how this influences their ability to stay healthy
  3. Interactional factors: the stress of dealing with other people

  HOW FEMALE TEACHERS COPE WITH SCHOOL AND FAMILY DEMANDS

  By helping teachers better understand resilience and how their emotions affect their health and their work — and by being supported to build their resilience while at school — teachers can potentially improve their well-being, health, and quality of life, while also promoting a healthy learning environment where they role model resilience strategies among their students and colleagues.

  In general, I found that teachers have similar challenges regardless of whether or not they were moms, and that they seem to use similar resilience strategies to support themselves as caregivers both inside and outside of school. The majority of teachers I surveyed shared stories clearly describing the ways that so many women are able to sustain themselves while working with people all day and simultaneously raising their own children. For those women who weren’t raising children of their own, they described how they worked through challenging circumstances in their professional or personal lives. Through recounting their lived experiences, I learned six key things about how female teachers manage to stay afloat and stay resilient:

  1. Being aware of their emotions. By being able to stay aware of their emotions and work through them in positive ways, teachers are able to support their own resilience and help their students learn to do the same. For example, instead of suppressing their emotions (e.g. keeping a smile on when they’re angry), teachers who are able to acknowledge and deal with their emotions in appropriate ways tend to be more resilient.
  2. Working with people. This can actually pose a challenge to teachers’ resilience, mostly because of the emotion and care that’s required. However, it can also be an important source of resilience where teachers have healthy relationships with their colleagues and therefore find their work more meaningful and enjoyable.
  3. Perspective. This means being able to look at the “whole picture” and see things in appropriate proportion to other demands. Teachers talked about reframing problems to focus on things that they’re able to control or on things about their work that give them a sense of meaning or purpose.
  4. Staying healthy. This includes taking part in activities or behaviours that help maintain physical health (e.g. exercise, healthy eating, and avoiding substance abuse).
  5. Time. While this is often outside a teachers’ control, time can be a source of resilience when it allows teachers to do their work without feeling rushed or otherwise lacking the opportunity to invest deeply in their relationships and interests.
  6. Family. Having strong and supportive family relations was very important to those teachers who were fortunate enough to have access to them.

  “Relationships” was also a keyword that teachers used — whether or not they were moms — when talking about how they’re able to sustain their work and home responsibilities. For teacher moms in particular, maintaining relationships and reaching out to other people seemed to become a more important resilience strategy as their children got older.

   HOW SCHOOLS CAN HELP EASE THE PRESSURE

  Research has shown that relationships are crucial to resilience, and I’ve seen this in my own observations where teachers were overwhelmingly receptive to filling-in my survey and, most notably, actively taking part in our group discussions. I’m therefore proposing that teachers be provided with more opportunities to build relationships with each other, and I’m convinced that similar group discussions that allow teachers to talk openly about their stories, express their emotions, and share strategies could be valuable in supporting teachers’ resilience.

  It has often been said that teachers bear the brunt of criticism in our modern area of accountability. They receive pressure from administrators, parents, and society to increase student achievement while, in many cases, receiving fewer resources to do so. By providing even a small opportunity for teachers to meet and work through emotional stories alongside their colleagues, it’s clear that there’s potential for similar meetings to be useful in enhancing teacher well-being while creating a dedicated support network in schools.

  To avoid teachers having to find ways to do this themselves, these meetings should ideally be done at a systems level so that the caring and emotional aspects of teaching can be supported just as any other aspect of teaching is covered in ongoing professional development. Alternatively, if we only focus on promoting resilience strategies for individual teachers and don’t allow for this sharing to happen in a group setting, we will potentially neglect the bigger picture of the demands that teachers face as caregivers — at home, at work, and in between.

   

   

  Dr. Shirley Giroux’s Ph.D. dissertation is entitled, “Like Being Pecked to Death by a Chicken: Resilience and Work-Family Equilibrium in Teacher/Mothers.”

  Author note: All of the teachers who participated in my research self-identified as cisgender female. Except for limiting my sample to female teachers, this lack of diversity was not intentional.

  References and Further Reading

  Brunetti, G. (2006). Resilience under fire: Perspectives on the work of experienced, inner city high school teachers in the United States. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22, 812-825. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2006.04.027

  Bullogh, Jr., R. V., & Hall-Kenyon, K. M. (2011). The call to teach and teacher hopefulness. Teacher Development, 15, 127-140. doi:10.1080/13664530.2011.571488

  Cinamon, R. G., & Rich, Y. (2002). Gender differences in the importance of work and family roles: Implications for work-family conflict. Sex Roles, 47, 531-541. doi:10.1177/0894845309345849

  Cinamon, R. G., & Rich, Y. (2005a). Reducing teachers’ work-family conflict. Journal of Career Development, 32, 91-103. doi:10.1177/0894845305277044

  Davydov, D. M., Stewart, R., Ritchie, K., & Chaudieu, I. (2010). Resilience and mental health. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 479-495. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.003

  Day, C., & Gu, Q. (2014). Resilient teachers, resilient schools: Building and sustaining quality in testing times. London, UK: Routledge.

  Day, C., & Kington, A. (2008). Identity, well-being and effectiveness: The emotional contexts of teaching. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 16, 7-23. doi:10.1080/14681360701877743

  Day, C., Kington, A., Stobart, G., & Sammons, P. (2006). The personal and professional selves of teachers: Stable and unstable identities. British Educational Research Journal, 32, 601-616. doi:10.1080/01411920600775316

  Day, C., Stobart, G., Sammons, P., Kington, A., Gu, Q., Smees, R., & Mujitaba, T. (2006). Variations in teachers’ work, lives and effectiveness. Final report for the VITAE Project, DfES. Retrieved from dera.ioe.ac.uk/6405/1/rr743.pdf

  Doney, P. A. (2013). Fostering resilience: A necessary skill for teacher retention. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 24, 645-664. doi:10.1007/s10972-012-9324-x

  Ebersöhn, L. (2014). Teacher resilience: Theorizing resilience and poverty. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 20, 568-594. doi:10.1080/13540602.2014.937960

  Gu, Q. (2018). (Re)conceptualizing teacher resilience: A socio-ecological approach to understanding teachers’ professional worlds. In M. Wosnitza, F. Peixoto, S. Beltman, & C. F. Mansfield (Eds.), Resilience in Education (pp. 13-33). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-76690-4_2

  Gu, Q., & Day, C. (2007). Teachers resilience: A necessary condition for effectiveness. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 1302-1316. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2006.06.006

  Hansen, D. (1995). The call to teach. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

  Hansen, D. T. (1994). Teaching and the sense of vocation. Educational Theory, 44, 259-275. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1994.00259.x

  Herman, K. C., Hickmon-Rosa, J., & Reinke, W. M. (2018). Empirically derived profiles of teacher stress, burnout, self-efficacy, and coping and associated student outcomes. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 20, 90-100. doi:10.1177/1098300717732066

  Howard, S., & Johnson, B. (2004). Resilient teachers: Resisting stress and burnout. Social Psychology of Education, 7, 399-429. doi:10.1007/s11218-004-0975-0

  Le Cornu, R. (2013). Building early career teacher resilience: The role of relationships. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol38/iss4/1

  Lindström, B., & Eriksson, M. (2011). From health education to healthy learning: Implementing salutogenesis in educational science. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 39(Suppl 6), 85-92. doi:10.1177/1403494810393560

  Luthar, S. S., & Ciciolla, L. (2015). Who mothers mommy? Factors that contribute to mothers’ well-being. Developmental Psychology, 51, 1812-1823. doi:10.1037/dev0000051

  Mansfield, C. F., Beltman, S., Price, A., & McConney, A. (2012). “Don’t sweat the small stuff:” Understanding teacher resilience at the chalkface. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 357-367. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2011.11.001

  Palmer, P. J. (1998). The courage to teach. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

  Reivich, K., & Shatté, A. (2002). The resilience factor. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.

  Schwarze, J., & Wosnitza, M. (2018). How does apprentice resilience work? In M. Wosnitza, F. Peixoto, S. Beltman, & C. F. Mansfield (Eds.), Resilience in Education (pp. 35-51). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi:10.1007/97

• Are schools more stressful places to work?

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• Belonging in the Education Workplace

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  Did you know that something as simple as feeling like you belong can impact your health, happiness, and success? The science is clear – if we feel valued by and connected with our colleagues, then we work harder and more effectively while experiencing more fun and more success at work. What’s more, belonging is contagious – when we’re happy at work, then our colleagues are likely to be happy at work, too. 

  

  This is important in any workplace, but it’s of absolute importance in schools where educators have the privilege and responsibility of impacting children’s development. Educators know the power of belonging within the classroom, and they’ll often tell you about the impact small gestures can have on students’ engagement and well-being – things like greeting students at the door and connecting class activities with students’ individual, unique passions. Inversely, educators can also tell heartbreaking stories of students who are rejected or excluded, and the impacts this can have on their engagement and self-esteem.  

  

  The same is true in the adult world. Think about the best teams and the best workplaces you’ve ever been a part of. What made these teams and workplaces stand out? My guess is that your first thoughts don’t revolve around comfortable furniture or an environment where you can get a whole lot of paperwork done. You’re probably thinking about PEOPLE, and – if you were to tell me about these people – you’d probably use words related to ‘belonging’ and ‘connection’ such as “family,” “friendship,” and “trust.” 

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  BELONGING IS BASIC HUMAN BIOLOGY 

  Our need for belonging is wired into our biology. Human beings aren’t the strongest nor the fastest animals on the planet and we could’ve never survived as a species if we didn’t find a way to get along and work together. To survive, we’ve evolved over millions of years to eventually become a deeply social species. Social psychologist Matthew Lieberman, for instance, tells us that our need to belong is so powerful to the point that it’s one of the primary drivers of human behaviour. If you think about the early days of evolution, then this makes total sense. If we didn’t cooperate with each other and form communities instead of hunting each other down, then we wouldn’t have survived. Period.

  The Secret to Health, Happiness and Success Together | Gail Markin | TEDxLangleyED

  Earlier this year, I did a TEDx presentation about the power of belonging and connection. In preparation, I explored simple gestures that can promote belonging and impact workplaces in powerful ways. For example, did you know that when you perform an act of kindness towards another person, ‘feelgood’ chemicals are released in YOUR brain, in the OTHER PERSON’s brain, and in the brains of ANYONE ELSE who just so happened to witness the interaction? Essentially, we have the power to impact each other’s brain chemistry through our words and actions.

  ---

  Try this short experiment: 

  

  Turn towards someone near you, look directly at them, and give off a big smile. You’ve literally just messed with their brain chemicals! 

  

  STRESS IS CONTAGIOUS – BUT BELONGING AND HUMAN CONNECTION ARE ALSO CONTAGIOUS

  Just as smiling and acts of kindness release ‘feelgood’ chemicals, stressful circumstances can have quite the opposite effect. An interesting study on stress contagion in the classroom was conducted by UBC researchers Dr. Eva Oberle and Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, who measured teachers’ stress levels and the cortisol levels (i.e. stress hormones) of their students taken from saliva samples. Unsurprisingly, there was a significant correlation between the two – as teachers’ stress went up, so did students’ stress levels, and vice versa. Instinctively, teachers know that if they’ve had a stressful morning at home (or if one of their students has had a rough start to the day), then stressful energy is likely to spread throughout the classroom. 

  

  But there’s also good news. If you lower your cortisol levels – through, for example, feeling a sense of belonging and connection with other people around you – then you can actually boost your immune system. Most people already know that when our stress levels go up, then we’re also more susceptible to illness and long-term stress, which can have a huge impact on both our physical and mental health. Yet, belonging and social connection are actually more powerful predictors of life expectancy than other important health measures like levels of smoking and obesity. So, if you want to stay healthy and live longer, cultivate belonging!   

  

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  SUCCESSFUL TEAMS LEVERAGE “BELONGING CUES” TO CREATE A WORKPLACE THAT ENCOURAGES CREATIVITY AND RISK-TAKING

  Belonging and social connection are also powerful predictors of team success. When we feel valued and cared for by our colleagues, then we also feel safe. When we feel safe at work, then we feel empowered to be creative, to take risks, to ask questions, and to share ideas. To be truly successful, we need to know that our teams have our backs and will not embarrass, reject, or punish us for speaking up, trying new things, or doing things differently.

  

  Let’s go back to the classroom again for a moment. Educators want students to know that it’s okay to ask questions, to be curious, to take risks, and to make mistakes. They work tirelessly to setup structures and conditions that create a safe environment for students to do their best work. Once again, we need to apply this wisdom from the classroom within our workplaces.  

  

  In his book The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle tells us about certain behaviours which he calls “belonging cues.” These are powerful cues that allow people to know that they matter while having big impacts on how they feel and perform in group settings. Daniel had the opportunity to study some of the world’s highest performing teams, and found that simple things like working in close proximity to your colleagues, eye contact, taking turns, and other small gestures communicate three key messages: 

  1. That your INTERACTIONS matter. You show your colleagues that you’re invested in them and that your interactions are valuable.  
  2. That THEY matter. You show your colleagues that they are unique and valued. 
  3. That the RELATIONSHIP will continue. You show your colleagues that your interactions aren’t one-off and that you’re committed to developing strong relationships with them in the long-term. 

  

  This research is compelling and, once again, it fits with what we already know instinctively as human beings – that we crave positive social interaction and connection with other people. Think back again to the best workplaces and the best teams you’ve ever been a part of, and I bet you can remember laughing with your colleagues and having a lot of fun throwing out creative ideas. You can probably also remember times when you struggled through something or messed something up, and how your team was there to support you. These are the types of workplaces that are needed more than ever in our schools and school districts. If we want to engage, retain, and inspire people in the education profession, then – just like students in the classroom – educators need to feel safe in their workplaces and on their teams in order to be happier, healthier, and more successful. 

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  Photo: Adobe Stock

   

  References and Further Reading

  Oberle & Schonert-Reichl, 2016, Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teachers’ burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students, Social Science & Medicine.

  Daniel Coyle, 2018 The Culture Code. Random House Books.

  Matthew Leiberman, 2013, Social: Why our Brains are Wired to Connect.  Crown Publishing Company.

• Who’s taking care of YOU?

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• The Teacher Mom Struggle is Real

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• The Secret to Healthy, Happy Educators

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• Bringing Multiculturalism to the Classroom

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  When I first started school, I spoke half English and half Cantonese. I didn’t really understand either language very well. In Kindergarten (English & Chinese school) I basically cried, slept, and peed my pants. After Kindergarten things got better, as I understood more about school life. In the end, school saved me by providing me with the routines and opportunities I needed to succeed in life. I appreciate the music, sports, leadership, and French Immersion programs that were offered to me. I feel fortunate to have had such great teachers in my life, which is why I decided to become a teacher myself.

  In Victoria, B.C. French Immersion programs of that time, there were not many visible minorities. My friends were mostly blond-haired and blue-eyed, and I saw myself as a “banana,” yellow on the outside, but white on the inside. I wanted so badly to blend in and be Caucasian like all my friends. I felt that they were better than me and that they looked down on me because of my cultural heritage. There wasn’t much taught about different cultures at school, so I didn’t feel proud of who I was or where I came from.

  Today I have two boys, also in French Immersion. They are half Chinese and half Australian. We live on the Saanich Peninsula, where there are even fewer visible minorities. When my older son drew himself as a blond-haired blue-eyed boy (he has brown eyes and dark brown hair), I realized I needed to start teaching more about multiculturalism and diversity.

  Today, celebrating multiculturalism is woven into my class, starting with sharing my own cultural heritage. We do a novel study of White Jade Tiger, by Julie Lawson, about Chinese immigrants and the building of the railway. As part of the unit, we go on a wonderful tour of Chinatown that is based on this novel, and eat at a Chinese restaurant there. We also celebrate Chinese New Year, where students learn about traditions such as sweeping the old luck out of their house and letting the new good luck come in. I also let students cut my hair to start the new year off fresh. Students learn how to write the Chinese characters “Gung Hay Fat Choy” (“Wishing you great happiness and prosperity”) and learn how to count to ten in Cantonese. My boys and I make wontons to share with many classes and staff. I’ve noticed that since I have started making Chinese New Year a regular celebration at our school, my boys are prouder of being part Chinese.

  This unit includes a project on the students’ own cultural heritage, where they interview their family to learn about where they came from, make poster projects and bring a traditional dish for a potluck. We also invite a parent immigrant panel to come to tell their stories and answer questions.

  My school recently held a school-wide multicultural dance performance. There were dances from all around the world, including Israel, China, the Philippines, India, the Caribbean, and more, all woven into a beautiful story. Students helped at recess making the costumes and sets, while parents and I worked nights and weekends, to make the show a success!

  Now, we are focusing on integrating Indigenous perspectives and environmental stewardship into our teaching. We make totems, we release salmon, we take nature walks and pull ivy. We also promote environmentally conscious living through recycling, composting, gardening, learning about sustainable energy and using less plastic.

  I feel blessed to be able to live in a country with so many different cultures. I am incredibly lucky that my parents chose to come to Canada 50 years ago. I am also happy that I can share my cultural heritage with many youngsters, and that they can share theirs with me. We live in such a rich land with such interesting backgrounds. We can learn so much from each other.

   

  Photo: courtesy Candice Lee

  First published in Education Canada, September 2019

• Culture Matters

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  Culturally responsive education goes far beyond an initial welcome. It’s about learning to identify and question our own cultural assumptions, and to not just make room for but actively invite in and learn from our students’ varied and rich cultural perspectives.

  Two years ago we published an issue on Welcoming Newcomer Students, looking at how schools can provide sensitive and reassuring support to immigrant and refugee students and their families. That was an important aspect of cultural diversity to address, but it is only part of the picture.

  Culturally responsive education goes far beyond an initial welcome and orientation. It involves recognizing that our entire education system was built around a culturally specific model, and that this model tends to discount and disadvantage the “cultural capital” of a large and growing number of students whose roots are not Western European. Many educators who come from similarly diverse backgrounds are all too aware of this fact. For the rest of us – those who fit comfortably within Canada’s dominant culture – it’s about learning to identify and question our own cultural assumptions, and to not just make room for but actively invite in and learn from our students’ varied and rich cultural perspectives.

  As Stephen Hurley notes in his article describing one school’s committed work toward providing “culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy” to their diverse student population, this isn’t something we can accomplish in a single professional development workshop. It requires grappling with issues of privilege, marginalization and oppression – uncomfortable, challenging and sometimes very personal work.

  Policy and curriculum are also important, of course. We have seen, for example, the harm caused by omitting Indigenous perspectives and realities from Canadian history (and other) courses, and most provinces and territories have or are in the process of revising curricula to include a more complete and fair accounting of our colonial history. But policy can’t substitute for awareness and sensitivity on the part of all school staff – what Joanne Mednick Miles refers to as “intercultural competence”. Latika Raisinghani has developed a comprehensive framework for what she terms “(trans-multi)culturally responsive education,” but even here the first step is personal: “an ideological and pedagogical commitment that requires a teacher to first become a (trans-multi)culturally responsive person”. We are challenged to not rely on formal policy and curriculum, but to do what can be done here and now to acknowledge, honour and include our students’ cultural identities, and to work toward a more equitable education experience for all.

  P.S. With this issue, we also launch our new department, Well at Work. Watch for more EdCan Network initiatives around workplace well-being in the year to come!

   

  Photo: Dave Donald

  First published in Education Canada, September 2019

• Religion in the classroom

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  While many Canadian teachers believe that religion does not belong in the classroom, the authors argue that religion already is in the classroom. Therefore, developing our own and our students’ religious literacy is an important aspect of multicultural education.

  “If you ask me, religion is just a can of worms that you don’t want to open in the classroom.” This comment from a well-intentioned and well-educated colleague was met by nods of agreement by other teachers in the staff room, many offering up anecdotes about how problematic religious issues are and swapping strategies for shutting down these conversations. This seasoned teacher’s comment is a common view, one that we’ve heard repeatedly in our careers as educators: Religion just doesn’t belong in the public school classroom.

  Yet, religion is in the classroom. It is in the curricular content students engage in, it is brought into the classroom through current events, and it is represented among the diverse student body. Religious diversity in Canadian classrooms is growing, and so is the potential for thoughtful, deliberate discussion and reflection about religion. Due to a range of factors that include growing Indigenous populations, increasing immigration, and rising numbers of those who identify as non-affiliated, Canada’s contemporary (and future) classrooms include a greater range of religious and non-religious worldviews than ever before. A recent study suggests that by 2036, the number of people in Canada who practice a non-Christian religion could almost double, with numbers reaching up to 16 percent of the population. This is a dramatic increase compared to 2011, where non-Christian religious practitioners represented only nine percent.¹

  Religiously motivated hate crimes are also on the rise. Internationally, the recent religiously motivated attacks in New Zealand, Pittsburgh, and California are stark reminders of how religious minorities are increasingly targeted. Unfortunately, this trend is also apparent in Canada, where religiously motivated hate crimes have risen dramatically in the last five years alone. (See Figure 1.)

  Figure 1

  (A compiled graph of data from Statistics Canada)

  

  The current popular strategy among many educators of ignoring students’ religious identities has consequences. First, the failure to acknowledge or address students’ religious identities forms part of a “hidden curriculum” and may suggest that this aspect of student identity is not valued. This risks further marginalizing religiously identified students, especially those belonging to religious minorities, and encouraging religious bullying.² In teaching children to respect diversity, we cannot simply omit those aspects that make us uncomfortable. Doing so perpetuates a cycle of ignorance: teachers don’t understand religion well or are uncomfortable with it, so we don’t want to discuss it or acknowledge it in the classroom. Students then complete schooling with very little understanding of religious differences and/or with the perception that religious identities are unimportant. This lack of understanding can lead to greater polarization of views.

  However, a wide body of research tells us that many K-12 teachers are apprehensive about addressing or acknowledging religion in the classroom. Some fear that acknowledging the religious identities of students paves the way for conflicts with parents who may have strong views, either for or against addressing religion in the classroom. Research suggests that many teachers feel ill-equipped to deal with religious issues because they themselves lack religious literacy. (As described below, religious literacy is an understanding of the diversity of religious and non-religious worldviews held by individuals and communities.) Others may believe that because their own school district is not religiously diverse, considering religious identities has little relevance in their classrooms. Still others may have their own belief systems, either atheistic or religious, that impact their views on the place of religion in the classroom. This article unpacks each of these concerns, ultimately arguing that religious identities deserve consideration, now more than ever, and offers concrete suggestions for doing so.

  1. What if there is parental backlash?

  This is a common and realistic concern. We suggest considering both preventive and responsive approaches to dealing with parental concerns.

  At the beginning of the year or term, get to know your students’ parents.

  It sounds almost impossible at some schools, but we’ve encountered many teachers who do this every term. For instance, one teacher called each parent to introduce herself and describe her teaching approach. This built rapport and gave the parents a chance to see their concerns addressed before their fears arose in class. Realistically, we all know that this is good practice for any type of teaching. It is exceptionally helpful in paving the way for controversial topics.

  Listen to parents’ concerns and speak with them one-on-one, ideally in person, and in a manner appropriate to your usual school and/or district protocol.

  Concerns about religious issues can be addressed like other parental concerns, but it may require a greater degree of empathy because beliefs and values are exceptionally personal to some individuals. Parental concerns may be based on personal experiences of discrimination or fears of religious influence, so the more you understand their position, the better chance you have of resolving the issue. Take a deep breath and try to understand what is driving their concern.

  Protect yourself legally and understand your professional rights and boundaries under your local human rights code.

  This will help you and your administration confidently create the space to discuss and teach about religion. In Canada, there are territorial and provincial terms and guidelines for teachers to follow (see “Teacher Resources,” below).

  To understand the root of a concern or to empathize in the discussion, teachers need to think from a parent’s perspective first. For further support, we encourage you to contact your school district’s equity and inclusive education coordinator, who will be familiar with the culture of your district and school community.

  2. What if I don’t have knowledge about (different) religions?

  It’s unrealistic to expect K-12 teachers to be experts in religion. However, there are considerations that can help all educators approach religion in the classroom.

  Understand that diversity exists in and between religious, spiritual, non-religious, moral, and other worldviews, and among individuals, groups, and traditions.

  This helps us recognize that a worldview may be experienced differently by each person. For example, just because you have a Jewish student who believes that keeping Kosher is essential to their religious identity, you should not assume that all your Jewish students will place importance on this practice.

  Develop an awareness of how we all tend to judge another’s worldview through our own worldview lens.

  For example, for someone from a Judeo-Christian faith, it may be difficult to understand the eclectic nature of some Eastern traditions such as Buddhism (as practiced in some areas) or Hinduism. So, although a student may identify themselves as Buddhist, they may also engage in practices from other traditions, or even identify themselves as belonging to multiple traditions, perhaps as Shinto or Daoist – or both! Another example:  while we may find it inconvenient when students are absent because of a non-Christian religious holiday, we tend to forget that our own Saturday/Sunday weekend is based on respecting the Christian holy day.

  Recognize that any discussion of spirituality must include Indigenous spiritualities, and that we should work to understand the specific Indigenous communities where we live and teach.

  Canada has over 600 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, with great diversity in beliefs. So if you teach in Southern Alberta, for example, first learn about Blackfoot spiritual beliefs and practices.

  Recognize that all individuals associate or affiliate to a tradition based on belief, belonging, or behaviour.³

  This means that some students identify with their tradition mostly through belonging and behaviour, not belief. Asking them to explain their beliefs or speak on behalf of their community’s beliefs can be very uncomfortable for them. Always avoid singling out a student to serve as a representative of a particular tradition.

  Recognize that individuals have multiple identities at the same time, but that some individuals face more social harm than others.

  For example, a black Muslim girl who wears a hijab in your class is of a minority race and religion and has a higher probability of being discriminated against due to this intersectionality of identities and her hijab, compared to a white atheist man. She is a minority within a minority. Understanding how social inequity exists within students’ intersectional identities allows teachers to gain insight into the complex issues facing these students.

  3. What if my students are not religiously diverse?

  Teachers may feel that because their own classrooms are relatively homogenous, there is no need for them to be concerned about religious issues. However, there are a number of reasons why religious literacy should be a tool in all teachers’ toolkits.

  Students don’t need to be personally attached to different religions to learn about difference.

  Religion comes up in many places in the classroom: in stories, in contemporary and historic events, in the arts! In these instances, drawing attention to religion instead of ignoring it opens up the possibility for expanding one’s worldview, such as learning how Judeo-Christian traditions and Indigenous spiritualities inform Canadian history. Inviting this dialogue supports students’ development of religious literacy, their understanding of world events and their social development.

  Learning about different religions is useful to all students because it opens up the possibility for civic dialogue and engagement.

  When students are engaged in questioning and even constructively debating various philosophical and moral dilemmas connected to religious perspectives, they may reflect on their own and others’ perspectives more deeply, creating the possibility for civic dialogue.

  4. How do I handle discriminatory aspects of a religion that could negatively impact another student(s)?

  A more complicated issue arises when it comes to the question of discriminatory aspects of religions. Every religion has within it great internal diversity and part of this diversity may include religious beliefs or practices that do not uphold the values of a liberal-democratic society. This can be a delicate situation because of the various stakeholders involved: children, parents, community, and school.

  It’s important to check our own biases before rushing to judgment about the nature of a religious belief or practice. For example, while there are those both outside and inside the Muslim community who maintain that head coverings are a sign of female oppression, there are also many from both sides who argue it is not. But what if a religious practice or belief is genuinely discriminatory and infringes on the human rights of another student? For example, a student may express the view that homosexuality is a sin, which may be very harmful to LGBTQ2+ students in your class. What should a teacher do in these difficult situations where human rights are at the heart of the issue? Each case will need a unique response, but there are some general principles that can be followed:

  A. Communicate between all parties.

  Teachers should discuss the situation with school administration to understand what school policies are in place and what their legal responsibilities are. Open communication with the parents to understand why a particular issue is important to that family. Finally, teachers should always discuss the incident or request with the student/s involved to understand their perspective.

  B. Balance the need to create a culture of acceptance and belonging for all students with the right to freedom of expression and freedom of belief.

  Creating class guidelines for a safe learning environment that respects everyone’s human rights should be done in collaboration with students at the beginning of the year to set the right tone. And if a student does express a discriminatory view, instead of just shutting down the student, a teacher might say, “Well, that may be one perspective, but that is a view that doesn’t respect the Canadian Charter of Human Rights, which tells us to value diversity and show every person the same amount of respect.” Depending on the grade level, it may be appropriate to use it as an opportunity to remind the class that there is great diversity of opinions within traditions, thus not everyone who practices that faith will hold that belief.

  C. Educate yourself.

  Although teachers can never be fully prepared to deal with every tension that may arise in their classes – including those related to religious views – they have a responsibility to educate themselves about their own rights and responsibilities and those of all their students. A basic level of religious literacy will go a long way in building understanding of religiously diverse students, just as understanding your legal responsibilities as an educator will give you confidence to address discriminatory views in your class. And finally, developing skills in civic dialogue and debate is a cornerstone to creating an equitable classroom that is inclusive of all forms of diversity.
  As a group of scholar-educators with a keen interest in the intersection of religion and education, we are well aware that dealing with religion in the K-12 classroom can present unique challenges that may not always have simple solutions. However, we strongly believe that developing religious literacy is a first step to building teachers’ confidence to address students’ religious identities, and any subsequent conflicts that may arise related to religion in the classroom. As noted earlier, we cannot expect K-12 educators to be religious experts, but we can offer tools that will contribute to building a healthier and safer classroom community.

  Developing religious literacy may seem like a daunting task. Remember that as educators, we are lifelong learners, and becoming religiously literate is just one more step on our learning journey. By a) developing an awareness of the religious and non-religious perspectives and intersectional identities of our students and ourselves, b) teaching the discussion and deliberation skills needed to create openings in our classrooms for real dialogue, and c) equipping ourselves with a sound knowledge of our legal responsibilities as educators, we can begin to create classrooms that are truly welcoming of religious and non-religious diversity.

  Teacher resources

  Provincial guidelines:

  • Yukon
  • NWT
  • Nunavut 
  • British Columbia
  • Alberta
  • Saskatchewan
  • Manitoba
  • Ontario: link 1, link 2
  • Quebec
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • PEI
  • Newfoundland and Labrador

  Teaching about diverse religious traditions:

  • The Religious Literacy Project at Harvard Divinity School has created a set of guidelines for teaching about religion in K-12 public schools. Note that these are developed for the US context.
  • RLP also has a series of excellent videos for teaching about religious diversity.
  • The Tannenbaum Centre has a wealth of resources including this page of websites, videos, and handouts for teaching religious diversity.
  • Pluralism Project at Harvard University.
  • The United Religions Initiative has created lesson plans for teaching about religious traditions.

  Teaching about religion in the public sphere:

  • http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Living-with-Our-Deepets-Differences-Religious-Liberty-in-a-Pluralistic-Society.pdf

  Teaching about controversial subjects/civic dialogue:

  • http://www.voicesintoaction.ca/Learn
  • https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/lessons

  Teaching about Indigenous spirituality:

  • http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/
  • The University of Saksatchewan has an Indigenous Studies research portal with many links to resources about Indigenous spirituality.
  • Provincial teacher’s federations may have excellent resources, such as Learn Alberta’s Guiding Voices.

  Teaching about Humanism or other non-religious beliefs:

  • https://understandinghumanism.org.uk/themes/

  Professional development opportunities:

  • https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/for-educators/summer-institute

  Understanding intersectionality:

  • https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality?language=el

   

  Photo: iStock

  First published in Education Canada, September 2019

  EXPLORE THE LATEST EDITION OF EDUCATION CANADA, POWERED BY VOICED RADIO (MARCH 2022)

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  Notes

  1  Jean-Dominique Morency, Éric Caron Malenfant and Samuel MacIsaac, “Immigration and Diversity: Population Projections for Canada and its Regions, 2011 to 2036,” Statistics Canada (2018).

  2 Alice W. Y. Chan, “Educating Against Religious Bullying:  Considering one root to the issue of religious extremism,” Religious Education and Security (Blog) (2016). https://blogs.mcgill.ca/religiouseducationandsecurity

  3 Benjamin Marcus, “Six Guidelines for Teaching About Religion” Education Week Blog (2016). www.edweek.org

• Staff Well-Being in Schools

  6:00 AM Comments Off on Staff Well-Being in Schools

  A plethora of research demonstrates a strong rationale for addressing school staff well-being. The author shares initial learnings from an initiative in three B.C. school districts, where he is a Coach with newly created district well-being teams.

  This article launches a long-term focus on workplace well-being in K-12 education. Watch for our Workplace Well-Being theme issue in December 2019. For more information on the EdCan Network’s workplace well-being initiative, visit www.edcan.ca/wellatwork

  “When services and schools support staff well-being, it has a positive impact on staff retention, job satisfaction and productivity as well as on children and young people’s outcomes. The responsibility for staff well-being, like the benefits it brings, is shared between the learning community and individual staff.

  No matter what your role – student, educator, sports coach, maintenance servicing, or administration – everyone needs to look after their own mental health. That means everyone is responsible for doing what they can to manage their own stress and build their own sense of positive well-being. A culture of good mental health for everyone starts with the individual.

  The responsibility for staff well-being also rests with leadership – when the whole learning community is aligned in its understanding and practice of mental health promotion, real change is possible. When there’s a shared language around well-being, and structures and processes to minimise work-related stressors, then individual staff feel supported and part of positive community.

  Staff need to work together to create an environment and culture where all members of the learning community feel supported and have the opportunity to flourish.”¹

  While many school districts support addressing students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) and mental health initiatives for students, far fewer districts have a significant focus on the mental health of their staff. Yet a plethora of research shows that there exists a strong rationale for addressing staff well-being. Poor staff mental health may impact students’ well-being and ability to learn, so supporting staff well-being benefits students. In addition, the human and financial costs incurred from treating staff psychological disorders in Canada are significant. Sisak et al argued:

  “If teachers’ own mental health needs are neglected, they may be unable or unwilling to consider mental health problems of the young people they teach. When teachers’ emotional health is in jeopardy, it reduces their ability to support and respond to pupils appropriately, which creates further difficulties within the classroom and more emotional distress for pupils and teachers alike.”²

  So why the focus on all staff?

  A school district is a highly interactive community. All staff members should be a focus of well-being approaches, because each person is one part of the whole and each can impact or be impacted by other staff, students and parents at different times. Whether a teacher, an administrator, a special education assistant, a bus driver, a janitor, or a secretary, each person interacts to varying degrees with students, other staff and parents. We need the whole community to be healthy.

  Educators and others working in K-12 systems are not health-care professionals. We do not diagnose or treat physical or mental health issues. But what we can do is to maximize the well-being of staff by creating supportive and caring communities in which we work, thereby reducing the possibility of negative mental health issues arising. It’s possible to build on the positive and address some issues that may be problematic in a variety of ways in order to improve staff well-being.

  The B.C. experience

  British Columbia has multiple government, union, and employer well-being/mental health initiatives, and what I will share is a very small piece of that overall picture. What follows are some initial learnings from three B.C. school districts where I have worked as a Coach with district well-being teams. These teams, consisting of one senior administrator, one district-wide staff person, and one health authority representative, are part of an initiative funded by the McConnell Foundation, and led by DASH Dedicated Action for School Health, to support B.C. school districts in their approach to promoting mental well-being for students and staff.

  This infrastructure of external funding and support has been crucial, and a major factor supporting staff wellness approaches.

  • The Coach is a “critical friend” to the district team, aiming to support and enhance staff well-being by providing a neutral perspective, asking critical questions, and ideally engaging in dialogue with management, unions, Professional Development Chairs, and a range of committees.
  • Funding for Coaches’ time and travel, at no cost to the districts involved, has created tangible supports for several school districts.

  Key findings and early action steps

  Figure 1 summarizes priorities for action based on data from four focus groups in one B.C. coastal school district.

  

  While a range of staff identified what might be considered traditional well-being approaches like resilience, addressing seasonal challenges and work-life balance, we were surprised by the focus on improving professional relationships across all four focus groups. This suggests that with the high levels of staff interaction, staff felt that communications and dialogue could be significantly improved, and that such improvement would promote well-being. From elementary teachers there was a strong focus on the need for greater support in addressing student behaviour.

  While the focus group data and staff’s recommendations for priorities provided a foundation for action, we also had to consider how to proceed.

  How to move forward?

  If you have ever been surveyed or participated in a focus group, you may have felt that once you had provided your input, some action might reasonably follow. You may have been frustrated that action did not happen as you’d expect. So having asked close to a hundred staff what helps or hinders their well-being, and what they would like to see happen, we as a district team were keen to avoid the “We told them but nothing happened” scenario. What we came up with emerged in part from the early, wide-ranging discussions about approaches to well-being with unions and management. It’s simply this: It’s not just up to the individual teacher, administrator or support staff worker to become more resilient. Neither is it up to the district to “fix” everything. It’s a combination, with individuals, groups and the district playing different roles but all having the potential to take some action. So we have proposed:

  Individual approaches: what each person might consider

  One example of this was a teacher who read the Educational Assistants’ (EAs) Focus Group report, outlining some data showing that EAs often did not feel included in their school. He added the EA’s name alongside his name on a label on his classroom door. It’s a simple step that takes no time and costs nothing, but addresses the issue and potentially supports EA well-being.

  Collaborative approaches: what a group may choose to explore

  One small elementary school group started an inquiry group to address well-being. Other options could be a group starting an exercise program or having more social events in their school, like lunches where all staff are invited.

  Collective approaches: what might be supported by a district

  In one district, where professional interactions were stated as problematic in all focus groups, the district provided some funding for participation in a university Symposia series³ offered by Simon Fraser University, which aims to improve dialogue in public education, and to enable any staff to engage more productively in conversations and dialogue with peers.

  What may evolve from these approaches is that all staff could be encouraged to consider what actions they can take as individuals or in groups. School districts might enable actions of their staff through funding and support. Everyone can play a role, and there is no expectation that someone else will fix everything. Participation in any actions to address staff well-being would be voluntary. Stress-inducing issues such as student behaviour and professional interactions would be addressed with district financial support, but with staff leading the changes taking place.

  Because of district budget cycles and timelines, there was a priority focus on collective approaches (district actions) in one district, with the focus on individual and collaborative steps coming later. However, in the two other districts where I work, there are significant steps to create collaborative actions in schools, with a wide range of learning groups in one district and the creation of “wellness champions” in each school who act as conduits for information and catalysts for action in a second district.

  By sharing the learning across all three districts, we hope to avoid reinventing wheels already created and working effectively. By sharing our ideas with other interested parties across Canada we hope to learn from the work and experiences of others while sharing what we have learned. As a staff member in one of the school districts stated, in order to address staff well-being in Canadian schools and education systems, “we are better together.”

  Getting Started with Workplace Well-Being: What we have learned

  • Start slow. Listen to teachers, administrators, educational assistants and other staff to build a foundation of understanding about issues and perspectives.
  • Engage with both management and unions to gauge perspectives, interests and concerns so that both become allies in addressing staff well-being.
  • Collect data. In two school districts, we conducted a total of nine focus groups with elementary and secondary teachers, school administrators, and other staff. I think the focus groups were a better way to collect data in these projects than surveys, as they not only provided rich data but started multiple and widening conversations in schools about staff well-being.
  • Think through how you move from data to action. What do the data tell you? What to do as a result? One school district has formed a Data Action Group to access a wide range of data to support district decision-making.
  • School, district and community context and culture are crucial to understand. While context is relatively straightforward, culture is less easily defined or agreed on. One school or district may have a very positive and supportive culture, while another may have deep differences and divisions. Asking five people to describe a school or district’s culture may result in five different answers, yet in some case we have found genuine levels of consensus in describing cultures less than ideal and which could be improved.
  • Build safe spaces where staff can speak freely and be respected for their views, but build in critical challenges if needed once those safe spaces are created, so that everyone in meetings feels able to challenge ideas while also maintaining respect and civility.
  • Communication is important. As well as the Focus Group Reports (5-9 pages) we produced one-page graphics to summarize both process and data in one district, so that anyone could quickly access the key information while also having access to the full reports should they wish to read them. After the focus groups in this district, any participant from the focus group, and any interested teachers, administrators or support staff workers, were invited to a follow-up dinner meeting to identify priorities for action. This kept more people involved and talking about actions to support well-being.
  • Consider partnerships and collaborations with external agencies such as health authorities, municipal governments, and/or community organizations.

  Free Discussion Kit

  Download the pro-learning session, Your Role in Promoting Staff Well-Being in Your School: Reflecting on lessons learned from three B.C. school districts at www.edcan.ca/discussionkit

   

  Illustration: iStock

  First published in Education Canada, September 2019

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  Notes

  1 https://beyou.edu.au/fact-sheets/your-wellbeing/staff-wellbeing

  2 M. Sisask, P. Varnik, et al., “Teacher Satisfaction with School and Psychological Well-Being Affects their Readiness to Help Children with Mental Health Problems,” Health Education Journal 73, no. 4 (January, 2013): 1-12.

  3 http://www.sfu.ca/education/cselp/past-events/RPED-symposium.html#main_content_text

• Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy

  6:00 AM Comments Off on Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy

  A brand-new school embraces the opportunity to include culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy (CRRP) in its founding mandate. How did they do it, and what factors were essential for success? What does Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy mean and why is it important?

  There was a time when Canadian students weren’t asked to leave very much at the door when they came to school each day: their collection of hockey cards, a baseball bat, an occasional slingshot. Once, if the story is accurate, a white-fleeced lamb. Like most public institutions, Canada’s schools were originally designed to reflect the cultural values and worldview of a largely white European society and, for the great majority of students, this meant a comfortable continuity between home, school and community.

  Since the 1970s, we have seen a relatively rapid demographic shift and a major change in the cultural make-up of many communities. Yet in many important ways, school systems have not responded to this significant cultural shift.

  Nowadays, in addition to leaving their personal belongings behind, many students are also asked to check some crucial aspects of their culture at the school door: their family stories, their language, their sense of community connection and their unique perspectives and ways of knowing the world.

  It’s not you, it’s the system!

  For decades, Gloria Ladson-Billings and Geneva Gay have been arguing, in separate bodies of work, that the reasons traditionally used to explain the persistent failure of black students in the United States do not suffice. Through their work, both began to insist that the answer to the thorny problem of race-related school success was not to be found by blaming the students or their family context. Instead, the mirror needed to be turned to reflect both the problem and the solution to this essential equity challenge: the systemic realities that ignored or even actively suppressed the cultural capital that students brought to school.

  When Nicole West-Burns came to Canada from the U.S. to work with Jeff Kugler in the Centre for Urban Studies at University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE/UT), she brought her deep knowledge and experience of this research to add to Kugler’s many years of working as an educator/administrator in Toronto’s Regent Park. Combining the theories of Ladson-Billing’s Culturally Relevant Pedadogy and Gay’s Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, they framed an approach many Canadian educators now know as Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy (CRRP).

  At first their intensive work with educators was concentrated on ten “Model Schools for Inner Cities” in the Toronto District School Board, but in 2013, they were asked by the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Inclusive Education Branch to mobilize the work in a year-long pilot program, centred in two Greater Toronto Area Schools: William Burgess Public School in downtown Toronto, and Irma Coulson Public School in the town of Milton, just northwest of the city.

  A framework for deep transformational work

  CRRP is not a program that can be delivered to schools in a box and distributed at a staff meeting or even on a single professional development day. Instead it is a dynamic framework that provides a set of tools and lenses that, if taken seriously, can lead to thoughtful unpacking, personal reflection and honest dialogue among staff, students and communities. CRRP examines issues of power and privilege, calls participants to challenge the beliefs and assumptions about the students in their class and explores on a very deep level what is necessary to enable all students to be successful in school. It intentionally centres the cultural assets that students bring with them to the classroom and uses those assets as a way to get to know the students and their way of knowing the world, and as a way of engaging all students. But it also forces educators to consider how those assets are put to work to allow students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum and in the life of the school.

  To be sure, CRRP is an approach that takes time, resources, vision and leadership. But under the right conditions, it can significantly impact the way we talk and think about race, culture, identity and equity. The story of CRRP at Irma Coulson Public School (ICPS) offers a grounded vision of how those conditions can come together in a very tangible and powerful way.

  A strong vision for equity and excellence

  In early 2013, Principal Merrill Mathews and Vice Principal Mary Marshall were busy preparing to open the doors of a new school in Milton, Ontario – Canada’s fastest-growing town. The neighbourhood in which Irma Coulson was to be located was also one of the most culturally diverse in the Greater Toronto Area. The ICPS catchment area drew families from seven or eight different schools in the Milton area and included a wide range of religious and ethnic groups.

  It was this diversity that drew Mathews to his first assignment as principal. The belief that all students could and would excel at Irma Coulson was part of the way that Principal Mathews presented his vision for the school – to potential teachers and staff, to parents and students who would call ICPS home, to potential community partners and to district colleagues. The phrase “Equity and Excellence for All” became the official motto for the school, and appeared on the front doors of the school when they opened in the fall of 2013. On most days, members of the ICPS staff could be seen wearing school T-shirts proclaiming their belief in the work in which they were involved. At the heart of this belief was the recognition that every family enrolling at ICPS had a story richly steeped in culture, and the promise that the school would be a place where those stories were valued.

  Vice-Principal Marshall recognized that Mathews’ commitment to the vision ran deep. “His own experiences as a student really played into that and his passion for equity work as an educator from the very beginning of his career. And so, when the opportunity came to be appointed as a principal for an opening school, that vision was front and centre.”

  This dogged commitment to a clear and compelling vision is a necessary condition for CRRP. It was something that Kugler recognized as soon as he began to understand that Mathews’ vision would run through the entire design of the school: “The major criteria in hiring new staff to come to this brand-new building was their openness at least to working around equity issues… And to build a school upon which equity was the foundation.”

  Today’s complex school context provides many challenges, not the least of which is finding the room to focus on what is important. The CRRP pilot was not an add-on, but something that supported and expressed the grounding philosophy of the school.

  Intentional leadership

  In many cases, educational pilot programs revolve around one or two enthusiastic teachers who are provided with the time and resources to engage in the work. By contrast, the CRRP pilots at both William Burgess and Irma Coulson demanded the involvement of all staff from the very beginning. It was a requirement for participation in the pilot.

  In addition to the internal resources available at the school level, the Ministry commitment to CRRP came with extra release time for teachers to participate in monthly sessions with Kugler and West-Burns’s team, and for the “in between” work necessary to deepen the conversations among staff.

  One of the most important words that emerges when Mathews and Marshall talk about their leadership role is intentionality. At Irma Coulson, monthly staff meetings were intentionally planned in advance, ensuring that the work of the CRRP pilot was maintained as a priority. School Council meetings followed a few hours later, so the admin team could intentionally involve parents in some of these same conversations. Schedules for planning time were intentionally organized to allow grade-level teams to meet together weekly. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was important work and that it involved everyone in the building – not just teaching staff – and extended to the parent community.

  Marshall admits that the extra resources provided by the pilot were a luxury, but insists that, if the commitment is there, the work can get done. “I believe that there’s time and space and resources in schools that make a commitment to do this work, to then undertake this work. Now, it may take longer because you haven’t got the richness of resources.” She believes, however, that strategic thinking, a strong sense of direction and the type of intentionality that instills confidence and commitment can make things happen in a very powerful way.

  Support for the important conversations

  Much of the transformational power of CRRP is that it requires a good deal of deep and very personal work. At the core of this identity work is understanding that most Canadian educators have grown up in and have been favoured by the system in which they are now working. It is challenging, if not contentious, to begin the process of unpacking issues of privilege, marginalization and oppression. The work can be emotionally charged and requires participants to come face-to-face with questions and realities that they may be encountering for the very first time.

  ICPS teacher Shannon Morgan doesn’t remember encountering any of these ideas in her own teacher preparation program. She does remember clearly the unease on the part of many in the early days of the pilot. “It was the conversations happening, not just in the groups with Jeff and Nicole, but sidebar conversations as well,” she says. “You could really see how uncomfortable this work was, and some people not wanting to say how uncomfortable it was in a large group.”

  Yet, this personal identity work is necessary if educators are going to be able to truly understand CRRP. Teacher Phil Gibson, an Afro-Canadian male, remembers the day when he realized that his experience of growing up in Burlington, Ont. was different than other staff members from the same area.

  “One of our colleagues was also from Burlington. And when she talked about her experience growing up there, it was like all flowers and roses. It was a great environment. My experience growing up in Burlington was the exact opposite of that. So it kind of jump-started the conversations where people were able to say, ‘I’ve never thought of that!’”

  Many leaders and participants might be tempted to back away from these types of conversations and reflection. But Nicole West-Burns insists that we need to stay with them and live through the discomfort. “We talk (to teachers) about the rumbling in your stomach or the things that stand up on your neck and that this is part of the feeling. But the discomfort sometimes is what helps us push through or figure out. And so that’s what we need.”

  Moving beyond these initial feelings of discomfort is essential to the work of CRRP. The expertise and sense of confidence brought by West-Burns and Kugler helped the staff move to the next level in their conversations – a focus on the students.

  “The intensity of the work built strong relationships with people and established some trust, which is always a challenge in the first year,” says West-Burns. “This wasn’t about jockeying for position, this was about coming together for the good of the kids. This project really allowed staff to establish that from the beginning: This was about the students.”

  From identity to practice

  The personal and group identity work formed the important groundwork for a change in the way that teachers and staff saw students and families at the school. It was noticeable in the way that parents were welcomed into the school and spoken to by office staff and administrators. It was noticeable in what was hung on the walls throughout the school. And it was noticeable in the stories of change that staff began to experience and share with each other.

  Phil Gibson is a Phys-Ed teacher at Irma Coulson. He recalls what happened when, during a unit on baseball skills, he decided to bring in cricket equipment as well, placing the game in a cultural context that resonated with many of his students. Students unfamiliar with the game of baseball suddenly felt empowered and affirmed by the opportunity to teach their peers about an important part of their culture. “They were teaching them how to bowl. They were teaching the rules of cricket, talking about how to hold the bat.” Now, Gibson reports, those same students can’t wait for spring and the opportunity to get outside and play cricket again.

  Shannon Morgan has many stories about the impact of CRRP but one that she remembers fondly was reported to her by a lunchroom supervisor who had listened in on a conversation among Morgan’s Grade 2 students. “They were all sharing the different creation stories from their different backgrounds and families. In a very civil manner, they were actually engaging in a rich dialogue… They were able to listen to each other and respect each others’ differences, and that was huge for me.”

  Bringing it all together

  It could be argued that the extra supports directed toward pilot programs makes operationalization on a larger scale difficult, if not unrealistic. It is true that lighting a pilot light may get things started more easily, but there are lessons to be learned from identifying the conditions that allowed CRRP to take root and drive equity work at ICPS.

  The understanding that cultural change is reliant on focused leadership should open up important conversations about how our school leaders are chosen, trained and supported through their work. Creating the ability for principals and vice-principals to develop and maintain that energetic focus is important for everyone in the building, as is the way that we encourage school leaders to connect with each other across a district and beyond.

  If a staff is going to follow a leader into uncomfortable and challenging work, there needs to be a strong sense of intentionality. One-off workshops or single-day PD events cannot replace the knowledge that this is the work that we are doing, now and throughout the year.

  Finally, outside support and expertise may be necessary to guide the personal work that allows CRRP to take root. Having the resources to draw in that support, especially to facilitate the difficult but essential conversations, cannot be overlooked or taken lightly.

  Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy was originally introduced in Ontario by Nicole West-Burns and Jeff Kugler as a way of addressing a specific group of racialized students proven to be marginalized by the system in Canada’s largest school district. It was soon recognized as a powerful framework that challenges all educators to see themselves and their students differently. Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy insists that we start to understand that success for all students means embracing the cultural assets that they carry with them every day, and refusing to let those assets remain at the schoolhouse door.

  As the two CRRP pilot programs reveal, this is not easy work. It takes vision, time, resources and the courage to stand up to a system that is, too often, supportive of the status quo. At stake is the success of a growing number of culturally diverse students who are marginalized and often alienated by a system built for a different time and place. What’s possible is the nurturing of school communities that reflect, respect and leverage the power of the stories, experiences and ways of knowing carried by all of our students and their families.

   

  Photo: courtesy Halton District School Board

  First published in Education Canada, September 2019

  EXPLORE THE LATEST EDITION OF EDUCATION CANADA, POWERED BY VOICED RADIO (MARCH 2022)

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