A transgender, non-binary student shares the power of a teacher’s support.
My name is Kile. My pronouns are they/them, and I am transgender non-binary. My gender identity can sometimes be difficult for people to understand, but so far I have been very lucky as practically everyone around me has been supportive.
One of the preeminent sources of support has been my school. I remember my heart pounding hard in my chest, my hands shaking as I typed up an email that simply introduced myself and explained my preferred name and pronouns. I took a deep breath before sending it to my teachers. However, all of my worries about my teachers’ reactions were effectively calmed as I received emails back almost right away, all saying that they understood and were glad I let them know. I was beyond lucky to have that happen to me. To immediately be accepted and cared for as any other student is the best situation for any transgender student. So far, every experience I’ve had with my school has been very supportive and exceptional.
But that’s not always the case. I was extremely lucky to be accepted and met with love, but other trans students aren’t so lucky and face discrimination and mistreatment. School can be a huge factor that helps a trans student access support, but it can also be a factor that contributes to the high rates of transgender youth committing suicide. Statistics don’t have to be that way. Schools are the perfect place for a trans child to get the assistance they need, especially if that child is not receiving any at home.
If a school is trying to support a trans student, this is the way to go about it – working with the student to ensure they are comfortable and, more importantly, safe. It might not be the teachers that a student might worry about, but other students. If a trans student is being harassed or bullied, then school staff should be working with the students involved, because it’s important to make sure that all students are safe.
Of course, there is also the question of washrooms. I really believe that trust needs to be given to students to know which washroom is right for them and which washroom they feel most safe and comfortable using. Using the washrooms can be very stressful for some trans people, so if the school can ensure that the washrooms are a safe place for everyone, and maybe even introduce an “all gender” washroom, then that will contribute to protecting young trans students.
Many other things could help to assist trans and questioning students, from educating staff and students to just letting students know that they are valid. I remember the day after I sent that email to my teachers about my name and pronouns, one of my teachers came up to me and told me that she was proud of me, that she would always be supportive, and that if I ever needed anything she would always be there for me. That small, one-minute interaction with a woman I had not really spoken with before literally gave me a much-needed boost. She absolutely warmed my heart and made me genuinely feel like I was loved and I did matter to others.
There was also a point when my teacher was talking about me to the class and she started to say incorrect pronouns, but then she stopped, and corrected herself with the right pronouns. I’m not sure if she is aware of the fact that I will remember that moment for the rest of my life, because it was the first time I had ever heard my pronouns being respected at school.
These minor gestures are so harmless, but make such a difference for a transgender student because it’s more than just accepting them, it’s letting them know that you are there for them, that you are making that effort to show them that they matter. Supporting a trans student doesn’t need to be a big thing. In my experience, my school supporting me has been made up of essentially little actions and the simplest of efforts. I hope for the day to come where all transgender students receive the same support I did. Ultimately, school is just a place for students to learn and transgender students are just like other students, in the sense that we attend school for our education. Being able to have both education and support would be the ideal situation for every trans student. When trans students feel safe and accepted at school, they can be their best – both as students and as themselves.
Photo: courtesy Kile George
First published in Education Canada, June 2019
When sexual health education conflicts with socially conservative faiths and worldviews, educators can find themselves caught in the middle. Is there a way for public schools to provide an inclusive, comprehensive, and consent-based sexuality and health curriculum while remaining sensitive to the diverse beliefs and values of families?
When I was a child, my knowledge of health and sex came from my peers, parents, school teachers and faith leaders. Perhaps, like me, you adopted health behaviours from multiple supports in your life. This article invites you to consider the role of sexuality and health education in your classroom and the lives of your students, with strategies to support families and students of faith along the way.
The sexuality and health education of Canadian youth is currently a flashpoint of controversy in public educational systems across Canada. In Ontario this past fall, Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford, citing Evangelical Christian leaders’ objections, withdrew the 2015 Health and Physical Education Curriculum for Grades 1-8 (HPE), vowing to prioritize the rights of Ontario parents first.1 Around the same time, nearly 200 pastors from Evangelical Christian communities in British Columbia signed a statement denouncing the province’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity curriculum, SOGI 123. On January 10th 2019, Montreal’s Catholic archdiocese faced resistance from Quebec’s Education Minister, after the religious authority endorsed a proposal that Catholic parents who oppose Quebec’s sexual health curriculum receive permission to teach the content at home. At a time of unprecedented visibility and human rights protections for gender and sexual minorities in all provinces and territories, it is clear that public education systems across Canada are encountering the same objection: that an inclusive, comprehensive, and consent-based sexuality and health curriculum may contradict socially conservative faiths and worldviews, and is therefore inappropriate for elementary-aged children being raised in observant families.
Consistent in media coverage on the trans-Canada curriculum controversy is the claim that comprehensive sexuality and health education in public schools usurps the rights of parents to educate their children about sexuality and health. Socially conservative parents and religious communities in Canada have expressed concerns about the age appropriateness of sex education, and the absence of any mentions of love and monogamy in public school curricula. Public school administrators and teachers are pulled in different directions by competing interests, begging the question: how should public schools provide equal access to information and education that is conscious of the needs of today’s youth, while remaining sensitive to the diverse beliefs and values of families, both within and outside of different faiths?
Children and youth, regardless of age, ethnicity or religious background, enter the classroom with knowledge and skills learned from the world around them, and small “e” education about sexuality and health occurs daily in families. This education contributes to how students construct identity, create meaningful relationships, and engage in social interactions where gender identity, gender expression and sexuality are significant. The Public Health Agency of Canada2 maintains that public schools are uniquely positioned to provide children and youth with accessible knowledge they need to make positive health decisions for an improved quality of life. Educators must be prepared to participate in this work in a manner that anticipates the needs and pre-existing awareness of their audience.
Although Canada may be struggling to navigate the controversy within public educational systems, our priority must still be to support the personal health and well-being of all students. While public sexuality and health education has sparked division, a common denominator all can agree on is student health and wellness. Parents across religious and political lines acknowledge the importance of Canadian youth’s sense of health and personal well-being. However, opposition from parents arises from differences in beliefs about the applicability of sexual health education for their children. Effective sexual health education requires educators to understand these social and religious differences and possess the skills to provide inclusive and effective education in spite of them. In what follows, I talk about three strategies for maintaining a healthy and accessible school community that supports students from socially and religiously diverse backgrounds within a sexuality and health program.
At the heart of the sex-ed controversy are the 3 M’s: misinformation, misconception and myth. Teachers, parents and other stakeholders divided over the content of public sex-ed curricula must wade through claims made in the media and in everyday conversation about curriculum content, often without confirming their accuracy. As a teacher, counselor or school support worker, the first step is having accurate information on hand about what, exactly, is and is not contained in the curriculum document. Ask yourself, “Am I able to answer a question from a parent about lessons in the classroom?” For example, a potential question from a parent may be:
Lessons about gender identity and gender expression need to be equitable and accessible to all students and mindful of teachings that may take place in the home. We all have our own beliefs and views— however, when appropriate, they should be presented as such. A potential response to the parent is:
Early discussions about gender identity and gender expression are about supporting your student’s self-identity. Conversations about gender identity and expression focus on a students’ feelings about themselves. Lessons are designed to support students’ personal well-being. The focus is to create an environment where all students are respected and to encourage further discussion within the home.
Note: It may be helpful to outline the specific content being addressed within the class, such as: self-identity, self-expression, how visible differences (clothing, ability, skin, hair and eye colour) and invisible differences (values and beliefs) make a student different.
By familiarizing yourself with the content of your particular curriculum, you can recognize your own comfort level with the subject matter, identify potential gaps in the resources for your students, and address parental concerns about the curriculum using factual information about the document.
As a board member or school administrator, consider what resources your educators may need to effectively deliver sexuality and health education. You may consider inviting school-approved community partners (such as public health professionals) to facilitate a sexuality and health workshop for teachers. Demographic knowledge about the population of your students and their families can help determine the resources educators may need in the classroom. Knowledge of religious and cultural differences in beliefs about sexuality and health in the specific populations served by your school can help you prepare your educators to deliver content that is inclusive and accessible. The development and implementation of a healthy school policy can help facilitate conversations in your school about positive health behaviours for students, staff and teachers.
Effective, comprehensive sexuality and health education should invite students to engage with their values, beliefs and attitudes toward their own sexual health. Understanding your own values as well as those of your students and their families is an important aspect of sexuality and health education. To this end, educators should be cognizant of their own beliefs and biases about sexuality and sexual behaviour – and prepared to answer questions from parents about subject matter that may conflict with family values. For example, a common concern is that the sexuality and health curriculum could “confuse children” or influence/encourage behaviours or attitudes.
Often individuals do not consider all the ways in which their children learn and what sources of information have influence, such as media, peer groups, or the family’s church/community (youth group, Sunday school lessons and sermons). Children still have the teachings of the parent/guardian who models a certain worldview. A potential response to the parent is:
Many factors (including education) may influence whether or not a student discloses their attraction – but these factors do not change a child’s sexual identity. Classroom lessons offer one teachable moment, but other moments throughout the day also contribute to their knowledge about this topic.
Note: Regardless of curricular content, students are familiar with differences before they enter the classroom. Having conversations with parents about curricular content starts with recognizing what their child may already know. As an educator, you are creating a healthy space for children to learn about their personal development. Discussing diverse depictions of relationships in other subjects outside of sex-ed leaves room for children to explore and express what they know and who they are.
Before your lesson, consider what knowledge your students have about sexuality and health. Do they obtain their knowledge through conversations in the school yard or through the media they consume? Or do they talk about healthy behaviours in their home or religious community? Educators should provide opportunities for students to self-reflect and engage with the subject matter in ways that are personal and attentive to who they are and what they bring with them. Allowing students to ask questions anonymously through journaling or using a question box creates an inclusive environment that encourages children and youth to share with you what they know (or think they know), don’t know, and want to know about sexuality. This practice recognizes that a student’s health needs are personal and a broad framework may not always be the most inclusive. The wide range of student questions can also be evidence that sexual and health education is needed, if you have to speak to the importance of the content you are engaging.
Effective sexuality and health education should invite students to engage with their values, beliefs and attitudes toward their own sexual health.
Consider how you can encourage open communication with your students and their families. Inviting parents to ask questions about the curriculum creates the opportunity for fruitful discussion about their (religious) values and beliefs. As an educator, this can help you understand the health goals that are important to the students’ families.
Sending a notification letter to parents prior to instruction provides them with an opportunity to ask questions and review the topics discussed, and can be an effective strategy in reducing parental concern. Further, it clarifies the 3 M’s (misinformation, misconception and myth) while encouraging parents to engage with the curriculum, identify potential cultural or religious sensitivities, and be a support in their child’s learning. A letter may include the following information:
Dear Parent or Guardian,
This year your student will receive sexuality and health education. The Ministry of Education’s curriculum guidelines is designed to support your student’s individual development. The grade [#] sexuality and health curriculum provides students with information on the following topics:
School-based sexuality and health education is one form of positive health promotion. We encourage you to continue to support and teach your student in your home. Prior discussion with your student about the contents outlined in this letter offers the opportunity to discuss your values and beliefs related to sexuality and health development.
We acknowledge that parents/guardians are the primary sexuality and health educators for their student(s). Should you have any questions about the lesson or particular subject matter, or would like additional resources, I encourage you to contact me at ______________________________.
Thank you
When we acknowledge that parents may be an important sexuality and health support for their child(ren), we are saying: together we can promote the development of sexuality and health for all children and youth.
Finally, anticipate the diversity of your students and the unique knowledge they bring into the classroom. When teaching children and youth from faith communities, be supportive of the knowledge they share about sexuality and health that may come from values and attitudes within their home and faith community. Consider the following ways you can support faith-diverse students and parents in your school community:
These strategies outline a few important steps for teaching sexuality and health across religious and political lines. As educators, administrators and parents we must continue to strive toward a curriculum that leverages the needs and voices of today’s children and youth – regardless of difference.
Photo: shutterstock
First published in Education Canada, June 2019
Kids today are already being exposed to information about sexual orientation and gender identity from a young age. It is time to move from the debate about whether or not we should be having these conversations, and consider how we should be having these conversations.
Some of my colleagues who teach primary grades argue that, when it comes to topics like sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI), their kids are too young for “that.” Though perhaps well intentioned, it’s a frustrating perspective. Some students enter our Kindergarten classes already asserting their gender identity. Some students have some awareness of their own same-sex attraction. Students enrolled in our schools have same-sex parents, or other family members who identify as LGBTQ2+.
I started responding to comments like “they’re too young for that” by asking, “Out of curiosity, when I’m on recess supervision, are you going to keep your kids in your classroom?” The first time I did, I got a confused expression in response. I continued, “When I’m presenting at an assembly, are you going to keep your kids in your classroom?” More confusion prompted the question, “Bryan, what are you talking about?” I replied, “You keep, saying that your kids are too young for ‘that,’ and since I happen to be ‘that,’ I’m just curious how you’re going to ensure that they aren’t exposed to ‘that.’”
People in our families, communities, and in the media who identify as LGBTQ2+ are more visible than ever before. Isn’t it a better use of our time to move from the debate about whether or not we should be having these conversations, and consider how we should be having these conversations? Whether intentionally or not, kids are being exposed to information about sexual orientation and gender identity. So, how do we help them understand what they are seeing and hearing?
How do we have conversations with younger children about SOGI?
When a child poses a question, it’s a good idea to make sure we understand what it is they want to know. A simple response like, “Tell me why you are asking that question” can be really informative in determining how to answer it. As adults, our assumptions about kids’ questions can often be incorrect. Sometimes we give a much more complicated answer than is needed because the question we’ve heard isn’t exactly the question that’s been asked. It’s not that we’ve misinterpreted the words, but because we’ve misinterpreted the intent of the question. Children’s questions tend to be naïve, asked out of genuine curiosity, and for younger children, a simple answer is often satisfactory.
Below are some common questions children ask, and some thoughts on how to respond.
Even children who will never identify as LGBTQ2+ can be subjected to homophobic or transphobic harassment. In some cases, it is because of their perceived sexual orientation, and in other cases, it’s because kids use words that they know will provoke a shocked or upset reaction. The child may indicate that someone called them “gay.” Alternatively, the child might explain, “My friend said their uncle is gay.”
In either scenario, a simple statement defining that it refers to a man who is attracted to men instead of women often satisfies the curiosity. Helping students understand the definition of the word and how to use it correctly, and not as an insult, can be practical outcomes of the conversation.
If a child asks “Why are those two men (or two women) holding hands?” it is important to recognize that this question is not an invitation to explain the sexual behaviour of the parties. Consider how you would answer the question if a child were asking the same question about a heterosexual couple. Most of us would simply smile and respond, “Because they’re in love,” or “That’s how they show their affection for each other.” Surprisingly enough, this answer works just as well in a same-sex scenario.
Sometimes children will ask if someone they observe is a girl or a boy. In determining how to answer this, it is helpful to consider what the child’s connection is to that person is. If it’s a stranger encountered in passing, it might be helpful to start with the question, “Why are you asking that?” This helps determine what the child’s investment in the question is. If the child responds with a response like, “She looks like a girl, but she has short hair and boys’ clothes,” you can simply address the fact that “some girls like to have short hair and choose clothes that are comfortable, whether they are masculine or feminine.”
Another option is to answer, “I’m not sure. Does it matter?” If it really does matter and the child is persistent about understanding, you could elaborate on the conversation. Help students understand that we make assumptions about gender based on appearance and behaviour. Sometimes it can be confusing when we assume someone is a boy but we see them dressed in feminine clothing or engaged in activities that we might perceive as being stereotypically “girl” activities. Help young students understand that, in the same way that they might have questions about another boy or girl, that person might be exploring their gender to confirm their own understanding of whether they are a boy or a girl.
One of the reasons for the shift from LGBTQ2+ to the term SOGI is that every person has a sexual orientation and a gender identity. When introducing new vocabulary, it is helpful to use inclusive language. Including the term “cisgender” in conversations to develop understandings about “transgender” is a way of affirming the identity of students. Cisgender (a term used to describe a person whose gender identity is aligned with their biological sex assigned at birth) is relatively new vocabulary in conversations about gender identity, and is regarded as the opposite of transgender. Most students would identify as cisgender, which helps them to understand the definition of transgender.
Currently, one of the most controversial conversations is around transgender identities. Young students are encountering peers who are actively undergoing social transition (where students are typically dressing as the gender with which they identify, despite how they may have been labelled at birth). This process may involve a name change and revised pronouns affirming their gender identity. Some students, supported by their families (and the professionals they’ve consulted), are making this transition in early stages of their school experience. Students are sharing classrooms with students who’ve undergone these adjustments, prompting teachers to facilitate lessons focused around acceptance and the respectful treatment of others. Some teachers (and parents) feel unprepared to respond to the resulting questions.
A common question students ask is, “How did he go from being a boy to being a girl?” I have found that the best way to respond is, “In some ways, she’s always been a girl.” If necessary, there could be a more extended conversation about what transgender means, but I encourage adults to focus more on aspects of gender expression than on genitalia.
The first conversation I had in my classroom about sexual orientation involved a lot of preparation, and a lot of fear. I worried whether students would understand and make connections. I worried whether they had already learned to hate or fear gay people. I worried they would automatically make the assumption that I was gay. I worried there’d be a line-up of angry parents who wanted their child removed from my class.
I began the conversation in my Grade 5/6 classroom by commenting that, as a teacher, I had concerns about messages students might be getting from the conversations that adults were having in their communities, on their local broadcasts, and in their local papers. I explained my concern for students who identified with the gay or transgender students whose protections were being argued about in policies that school boards were considering implementing. I said that the negative messaging could be damaging to a student who was questioning their attraction or their identity. I worried that a student could be sitting in a classroom and feel that they could not talk to anyone about those feelings.
I shared with students that, statistically speaking, approximately ten percent of the population is gay or lesbian. It is difficult to determine precise numbers as the statistics rely on people self-identifying and there are situations, where, even when the measurement tools are anonymous, people do not feel comfortable or safe in revealing this aspect of their identities. It also depends on which populations are surveyed. Younger generations who’ve grown up where attitudes towards the LGBTQ2+ community have been more favourable, appear to be more comfortable claiming and declaring their identities. I settled on ten percent in part because it made for quick and easy mental math calculations.
To put it into context, in a classroom of 30 students, approximately three students might eventually identify as LGBTQ2+. In a school of 600 students, that’s approximately 60 students. I asked my class to avoid speculating as to who those individuals were, because there could be more or less: the number is based on a larger sampling of a population. To continue the conversation, I shared an article that had been in our community paper and asked students to respond.
The first hand that went up in response was a Grade 6 student who stated that she was taught that being gay was a choice and that it was a sin. I paused to reflect on how to respond to her comment, considering how to avoid undermining her faith and to maintain her dignity. Interestingly, in the time in which I paused, one of the boys on the other side of the room responded, “It’s not a choice. They’re just born that way.” He then proceeded to share the story of the son of a friend of his mother’s who had come out and been rejected by his father. He shared that he thought it was unfortunate, because the son was “pretty cool.” This was followed up by another boy stating “My uncle’s gay. It’s not that big a deal.”
Teachers I work alongside who were initially reluctant to raise the topic with their primary students have been similarly surprised by how their students handle these conversations. In a Grade 2/3 classroom, a colleague was facilitating a conversation about diverse families when a young girl volunteered that her aunt had married her girlfriend. In a Kindergarten class, an argument erupted over a kitchen play centre where two students fiercely debated who would play the role of the mother. Not wanting to invest a lot of time in problem solving, the teacher responded, “Why don’t you just have two moms?” to which one of the girls responded, “Oh, like my friend, Philip?”
Kids are already exposed to SOGI and to LGBTQ2+ identities. Skilful adults are creating environments where it’s safe to share anecdotes about families without shame or ridicule. Constructive, respectful, and informative conversations that are SOGI-inclusive expand our understandings of the diverse communities in which we exist. I’d much prefer that kids had these conversations with informed, caring adults in classrooms and in homes, than learning misconceptions about the LGBTQ2+ community from rumours and innuendo on the playground.
Photo: iStock
First published in Education Canada, June 2019
People with autism are far more likely than the general population to have non-conventional gender identities and sexual orientations. Here’s how to support them.
Note: This piece uses both person-first and identity-first language to reflect the different ways that autistic people like to be identified.
Educators are more aware than ever of the need for inclusion for students on the autism spectrum. They are also learning how to build LGBTQ2+ inclusive classrooms. But are they aware of the intersection between autism and sexual and gender diversity? Research shows that autistic people are far more likely than the general population to have non-conventional gender identities and sexual orientations.1 Yet most media representations of autistic people fail to reflect this sexual and gender diversity, leaving many service providers, professionals and family members unaware of these intersections. What do teachers need to know about autistic LGBTQ2+ teens, and what can they do?
Like other minorities, LGBTQ2+ and autistic teens face instances of marginalization and misunderstanding in various contexts, including within their own families. Both groups may struggle while negotiating common social situations such as dating and sexuality. The impacts of stereotyping, social exclusion and lack of self-acceptance place them at increased risk of mental health issues. Teens on the spectrum who do not conform to sex and gender norms have an additional set of challenges. Autistic LGBTQ2+ youth are more isolated and have fewer peer connections to discuss, share and ask questions about their sexual orientation and gender identity. They are more likely to have their gender dysphoria or same-sex attractions dismissed or challenged by people close to them. They also have more difficulties navigating systems and getting healthcare and other supports. Missed social and contextual cues can place autistic youth at high risk for victimization, bullying, sexual assault, and risky sexual behaviour. This is especially true for autistic females, who experience three times the rate of sexual victimization as their neurotypical peers.
Here are four practical strategies that teachers can use to support autistic LGTBQ+ students.
The first and most important step for teachers to take is to build their own awareness of autism and sexual and gender diversity so that they can challenge stereotypes and build supportive, inclusive classrooms. Just knowing that students with autism are less likely to conform to a heterosexual sexual orientation and cissexual gender identity is the first step. The next step is to include diverse representations of autistic people in curriculum materials. Education about the sexual and gender diversity of autistic individuals can help normalize and support their experiences.
Difficulties reading social cues can mean missed opportunities for social connection for students on the spectrum. Teach students the signs of what it might look like when someone might be attracted to them, and what are the signs that the person is not interested. Consent education is key, where autistic students are empowered to say “yes” or “no” in sexual encounters and learn to notice and respect the boundaries set by others. Proactive strategies can enhance personal safety by informing students of the risk and teaching assertiveness. Some students on the spectrum are not at the same point of readiness as their neurotypical peers to learn explicit details about sexuality. If you notice a student who is uncomfortable about the content, try to provide an adapted individualized curriculum that is focused on basic facts and personal safety.
When Sex Ed is Overwhelming
Kathy noticed that the girls around her were “boy crazy.” She had no interest in romance and wondered what was wrong with her that everyone else was boy obsessed. She was developing increasing anxiety about going to health class. They were talking about sex and other disgusting things but she didn’t want to miss class because she was a conscientious student with a perfect attendance record. She could feel her stomach hurting before health. After a few minutes in class the teacher began demonstrating how to put on a condom, using a banana. She couldn’t stand it much longer. Why were they forced to learn such private and disgusting things at school? She couldn’t bear it anymore. She ran out of the class and vomited in the bathroom.
Teachers may need to first alter their own attitudes so that they can see autistic teens as emerging sexual beings who are figuring out who they are and what they want, just like any other teen. By recognizing autistic students’ autonomy and capacity to define and express their sexual orientation and gender identity, teachers can empower autistic teens to understand their own gender and sexuality, social norms around same-sex and opposite-sex dating, sexual consent, and healthy sexual behaviour. Identities may shift and change during adolescence but it is still important to recognize and support the sexual orientation/gender identity and pronoun choices of students with autism.
When Pronouns Aren’t Respected
Stella always felt different from her peers and was bullied throughout elementary and middle school. She had her first crush on a girl in Grade 7 and immediately told the girl, who ridiculed and rejected her publicly in front of another group of girls, and on Instagram. Stella felt even more isolated and hated going to school. Things improved in Grade 9, when she met a group of peers through the LGBTQ2+ club at school and formed friendships for the first time. Many of them were questioning their gender identity. It confused her – if her friends identified as trans, maybe she was too? Although she wasn’t sure, Stella changed her name to Sly and asked her peers and teachers to use “they/them” pronouns. When a favourite English teacher refused to use Sly’s new name and pronouns, they began skipping class and engaging in risky sexual behaviour.
Teachers must maintain confidentiality about autistic students’ sexual orientation and gender identity when interacting with family members or health professionals outside of the school. The decision to “come out” or disclose one’s sexual orientation or gender identity belongs to the individual. LGBTQ2+ students who are out at school, may not be out in other contexts. Outing them, whether accidentally or intentionally, may put them at risk.
When Teachers “Out” Their Students
Michael was diagnosed with autism at age two. In middle school, Michael became friends with Jared, who shared his love of science fiction. They watched science fiction movies together, swapped their favourite books and kept up on the latest astronomy research. Their relationship began to change in high school. Michael was ecstatic when Jared expressed feelings for him that were more than just friendship. Michael and Jared began making out every chance they could, including in the classroom and bathroom at school. Their behaviour made the other students uncomfortable and it was brought to the attention of one of Michael’s teachers. In a parent-teacher interview, the teacher told Michael’s parents about the relationship. His parents were surprised and unhappy to learn that Michael might be gay. They had always been very protective of him and questioned his ability to make good decisions about dating and sexuality. They forbade him from seeing Jared anymore and threatened to have him moved to another school. Michael thought that he would die if he couldn’t see Jared.
Teachers are often the first to notice behaviour changes that may indicate that a student is at risk. They may notice changes in students’ hygiene and social behaviour, such as withdrawal or acting out. Reach out and talk to the student to find out if they are struggling and if they need additional support.
Photo: shutterstock
First published in Education Canada, May 2019
Notes
1 K., Simon, “Is There a Link Between Autism and Gender Dysphoria?” Huffpost (Feb. 2, 2016), www.huffingtonpost.com/kyle-simon/is-there-a-link-between-autism-and-gender-dysphoria_b_3896317.html; J. Strang, “Why We Need to Respect Sexual Orientation, Gender Diversity in Autism,” Spectrum (Nov. 27, 2018), www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/need-respect-sexual-orientation-gender-diversity-autism/
While Canadian society is growing more diverse and inclusive, there is still resistance when it comes to supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2) youth in schools. Although recent research indicates that the vast majority of Canadian teachers (85%) now support LGBTQ2-inclusive education, many report not yet having the knowledge or training to feel confident in creating safer and more inclusive schools for LGBTQ2 youth.
Visibility matters. LGBTQ2 students need to see themselves in their textbooks and in the halls and walls of their schools to feel welcome and included. Where appropriate, incorporate sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression topics into classroom discussions, lesson plans, curricular outcomes, and library collections.
Teachers can be a supportive lifeline to help LGBTQ2 youth move from being at-risk of bullying, discrimination, and violence to developing a resilient mindset to overcome adversity in their lives. Staff can volunteer to serve as a “safe contact” at school – providing valuable sources of support for LGBTQ2 students and families.
School boards that pass comprehensive LGBTQ2 policies set clear expectations and authorize all staff to meet their legal obligations and become proactive in creating respectful, welcoming, inclusive, and safe working and learning environments. These policies need to be supported with high quality professional development and robust implementation plans.
Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) help break the silence of inaction or indifference that still surrounds LGBTQ2 identities. Given the educational, health, and safety benefits of GSAs, Alberta, Ontario, and Manitoba have passed legislation supporting their start-up in schools. Teachers can become a GSA advisor and display safe space stickers and posters to show that they are allies. Establishing clearly visible all-gender universal washrooms and updating school forms, websites, and communications to become more gender inclusive recognizes that gender exists on a spectrum, not as a male/female binary. Educators have a responsibility to address homophobic and transphobic bullying and derogatory language whenever they see or hear it. LGBTQ2 information nights for families also help to dispel negative myths and stereotypes while creating awareness.
Combined, these actions represent important first steps for all school community members – including teachers, administrators, staff, students, and families – in building safer and more inclusive schools for all students, regardless of how they identify.
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Genovese, M., Rousell, D., & The Two Spirit Circle of Edmonton Society. (2011). Safe and caring schools for two-spirit youth: A guide for teachers and students. Edmonton, AB: Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities. Retrieved from http://www.safeandcaring.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Two-Spirited-Web-Booklet.pdf
Grace, A. P., & Wells, K. (2015). Growing into resilience: Sexual and gender minority youth in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Luecke, J. C. (2011). Working with transgender children and their classmates in pre-adolescence: Just be supportive. Journal of LGBT Youth, 8(2), 116-156.
Mayo, C. (2017). Gay-straight alliances and associations among youth in schools. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Russell, S. T., & Horn, S. (Eds.). (2017). Sexual orientation, gender identity and schooling. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ryan, C. L., & Hermann-Wilmarth, J. M. (2018). Reading the rainbow: LGBTQ-inclusive literacy instruction in the elementary classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.
Short, D. (2017). Am I safe here? LGBTQ teens and bullying in schools. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Taylor, C. & Peter, T., with McMinn, T. L., Paquin, S., Beldom, S., Ferry, A., Gross, Z., & Schachter, K. (2011). Every class in every school: The first national climate survey on homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Canadian schools: Final report. Toronto: Egale Canada Human Rights Trust. Retrieved from https://egale.ca/every-class/
Taylor, C., Peter, T., Campbell, C., Meyer, E., Ristock, J., & Short, D. (2015). The Every Teacher Project on LGBTQ-inclusive education in Canada’s K-12 schools: Final report. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Teachers’ Society. Retrieved from http://news-centre.uwinnipeg.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/EveryTeacher_FinalReport_v12.pdf
Travers, A. (2018). The trans generation: How trans kids (and their parents) are creating a gender revolution. New York: New York University Press.
Wells, K. (Ed). (2015). GSAs and QSAs in Alberta schools: A guide for teachers (2nd Edition). Edmonton, AB: Alberta Teachers’ Association. Retrieved from https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Human-Rights-Issues/PD-80-6%20GSA-QSA%20Guide%202016.pdf
Wells, K., Roberts, G., & Allan, C. (2012). Supporting transgender and transsexual students in K-12 schools: A guide for educators. Ottawa: ON: Canadian Teachers’ Federation. Retrieved from http://gendercreativekids.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Supporting-Transgender-and-Transsexual-Students-web.pdf
Getting to know Jacob taught me that every child deserves education designed with their needs in mind.
“Alright, everyone. Remember, tomorrow is Crazy Hair Day. Bring in your loonies and rock the craziest hair-do you can think of! I’ll see you all tomorrow, class dismissed!”
“Miss Coleman, Miss Coleman!” Jacob calls after me as I walk down the hall. “Are you going to have crazy hair tomorrow too, Miss Coleman?”
“I think so, Jacob,” I reply. “How about you?”
“It’s a surprise! You’ll have to wait and see!” Knowing nine-year-old Jacob as I do, I can’t wait to see what he will come up with.
The next morning Jacob arrives with a Ninja Turtle lunch bag in one hand, a toonie in the other, and a huge grin from ear to ear. I break into an equally wide smile, for he has truly outdone my wildest expectations.
“Miss Coleman, Miss Coleman! Look!” Jacob’s bright blond hair is expertly gelled into numerous spikes. But that’s not all. Attached to those spikes are tiny clothespins, each bearing a colour image of a different MineCraft character – Jacob’s absolute favourite thing in the world.
“I’ve got Steve, and Alex, and the Pig, and, and, and..!” He starts pointing out all the different characters, very excited at his mini show and tell. I’m barely able to contain the absolute joy I’m feeling in seeing him express his passion in this way.
I was at a Teacher Education placement in a Grade 4 classroom, during the second year of my program. I’d been offered a chance to work very closely with Jacob, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Through my program, I had gained a basic but theoretical understanding of Autism. I jumped at the chance to learn more through practical experience.
I spent the first few weeks as any new teacher would: developing routines, fine tuning schedules, and most importantly, getting to know the students in the class. As I spent time with Jacob, I worked to build a positive, supportive relationship with him. I got to know him as a person, not just as a student who has Autism. Jacob could tell you literally anything you wanted to know about cars, light switches and especially Minecraft. He had a marvellous imagination, often creating elaborate stories about airports or train stations, and his attention to detail was impeccable. He was incredibly kind and a wonderful friend.
Jacob faced daily challenges in the classroom, too. His motor skills were still developing, so he had difficulty with tasks such writing and drawing, or participating in physical activity for an extended period. He would often request breaks if he was feeling overstimulated from the noise level in the room, which meant he sometimes did not accomplish very much during class time. Furthermore, Jacob required a highly structured program. When routines were disrupted, he could easily become distressed, flapping his arms or rocking back and forth in his chair. Knowing this, I wanted to do everything I could to ensure Jacob’s success while I was working with him, whether one on one, in a small group, or during whole class instruction.
It was through planning for Jacob that I realized how important differentiated instruction (DI) and assistive technologies can be – for students with ASD specifically, but also for all students. Because I had already built a relationship with Jacob, I knew he would have greater success if he was given input into which activities he participated in and how he could demonstrate his understanding. For each learning experience I planned, I incorporated ways in which I could differentiate, not only for Jacob but for everyone. I created opportunities for Jacob to move around the classroom or find a quieter space if needed. I researched a variety of online applications that would allow him to write assignments, create multi-modal presentations and draw artistic posters on his iPad that he was proud of. The classroom’s iPad camera was also incredibly useful for documenting his understanding and collecting assessment data. These assistive technologies were key in helping me differentiate my teaching to create inclusive and exciting learning experiences for everyone. Working with Jacob was essential in helping me understand this.
As I reflect upon my time with Jacob, I begin to see how this experience will impact on my future practice as a teacher. Planning with every student in mind is not easy, but it is essential. I believe the fundamental goal of teaching is to do all that we can to help each student we come across be the best they can be.
Students like Jacob should not be defined by their diagnosis and it is our responsibility as educators to ensure that they are not. Jacob taught me that.
Illustration: Dave Donald
First published in Education Canada, September 2018
Makey Makey is an invention kit that can be used as an assistive technology that overcomes barriers and increases motivation because of its playful and user-friendly possibilities.
A number of years ago, I was teaching a class to enthusiastic certified teachers who were working on obtaining specialist qualifications in special education. One of my students had quadriplegia, and he insisted that I must look into a product called Makey Makey. I did look it up online, but did not feel motivated to investigate further – until I did. While teaching a series on iPads to group home support workers caring for, and teaching, adults with complex physical and developmental disabilities, his words came to mind. I looked more – and purchased it, and learned how to use it.
21st century teaching and learning highlights the constructivist value of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) inquiry: makerspaces, coding apps (like Scratch) and invention kits such as Makey Makey, which has garnered a steady stream of rave reviews in the STEM educational market as one the best tech toys.
What is Makey Makey? It is a deceivingly simple, hands-on tech tool created in 2012 by MIT graduates Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum. It’s an invention kit that “convert[s] physical touch to a digital signal, which is interpreted by a computer as a keyboard message.”1 Makey Makey Original, Classic, and Go all have the same design premise: teachers, parents and students can construct interfaces that turn conductive objects into computer keys and buttons. Alphabet soup becomes a drum kit, bananas transform into piano keys, and measuring cups turn into game controllers. “It’s a different way of connecting the physical world with the computer,”2 says learning expert Mitchel Resnick. Using Makey Makey as a standalone STEM or invention activity presents endless possibilities for student learning – and more! As it enters the mainstream, possibilities appear not just for curriculum and instruction, and but for accessibility.
How can Makey Makey change and improve the world of accessibility? Picture a student who has difficulty with pressing and clicking traditional keys. Or perhaps an adult with a hand tremor or visual disability finds it difficult to manipulate the tiny keys on a laptop keyboard.
Stephens, Chalaye, and Parkhouse (2014) used Makey Makey in a segregated school for students with complex needs.3 They saw improvement in areas such as cause-and-effect, trial-and-error problem-solving, interpersonal contact, and person-to-person contact. Lin and Chang’s (2014) study in a self-contained Kindergarten environment showed that Makey Makey could overcome barriers created by the students’ physical disabilities, such as waning interest in using traditional switches, and that the novel interface motivated children to increase their physical activity – both important attributes for this type of resource.4 Rogers, Paay, Brereton, et al. introduced Makey Makey to a group of retired individuals to empower and enable them in the world of technology.5 Their project focused on the power of interactive learning, playfulness, and exploration – experiences that learners of all ages can appreciate.
Makey Makey has few parts: a specialized circuit board, colourful cables, and small alligator clips. Users connect the circuit board and cables with clips. Then, the circuit board plugs into a computers’ USB port. Next, the other ends of the clips are fastened to items with a small electrical charge. You will be amazed at what you can use! Try chocolate, bananas, gelatin, tape, aluminum foil or:
These objects take on the role of “up” and “down” computer keys or other inputs, such as touchpads or mouse clicks, allowing navigation of the online world using almost anything in the “in real life” world that has even mild conductivity.
While accessibility applications are an “off-label” use of the invention kit, the Makey Makey website includes an assistive resource guide that offers many possibilities.
For example, a wheelchair can be used as the interface by its movement over two inputs. First, connect tin foil to a coat hanger hung on the back of a wheelchair and connect it as the ground on the Makey Makey device. Next, place two large tin foil squares on the floor and indicate what the function of each square is (e.g. up/down arrow keys, W A S D keys, or other inputs). Then, connect each square with the alligator clips to the inputs on the Makey Makey device. Now as the wheelchair is moved over each of the squares, the keys are controlled. Another example is found in Silver and Rosenbaum’s demonstration video. Makey Makey Classic is clipped to large chunks of play clay. Essentially, this clay makes large, pliable buttons for children or adults with fine motor difficulties or other motor challenges. From directional head movements, head tilts, shoulder shrugs, forearm or hand movements, or torso leans, using Makey Makey as an assistive device can open up a new way of interacting with technology so that new, exciting, experiences can be enjoyed. Another possibility: If a child is not motivated by or is unable to access traditional augmentative communication devices, MakeyMakey could be set up to widen communicative opportunities, by linking spoken words or short phrases to specific items.6
Always keep the voice and interests of the Makey Makey user in mind! Some further considerations include:
Makey Makey is a lower-cost alternative to other custom assistive technologies presently on the market. It has built-in novelty for the user since the input material can be changed easily and it is compatible with many web games and apps. This invention kit is hands-on, intuitive, creative, and encourages innovation. To learn more, check out the Makey Makey website, the vast number of demonstration videos on YouTube, or follow on Twitter at @makeymakey.
Photo: Makey Makey
First published in Education Canada, September 2018
1 Chien-Yu Lin and Yu-Ming Chang, “Increase in Physical Activity in Kindergarten Children with Cerebral Palsy using MaKey-MaKey-Based Task Systems,” Research in Developmental Disabilities 35 (2014): 1963.
2 Tom Cheshire, “MaKey MaKey: Who wants to use bananas as a computer keyboard?” Wired (blog), November 12, 2012. http://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-magic-fruit
3 Liz Stephens, Clare Chalaye, and Charlotte Parkhouse, “Exploring the Use of a ‘MaKey MaKey’ Invention Kit with Pupils in a Special School,” SLD Experience 20, no. 1 (2014): 10-14.
4 Lin and Chang, “Increase in Physical Activity in Kindergarten Children.”
5 Y. Rogers, J. Paay, M. Brereton, et al., “Never Too Old: Engaging retired people inventing the future with MaKey MaKey,” Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2014): 3913-3922.
6 Stephens, Chalaye, and Parkhouse, “Exploring the Use of a ‘MaKey MaKey’ Invention Kit,” 13.
“It’s a pleasure having your son in my class; he is a positive influence in the classroom.”
The high school teacher who sent this email probably had no idea what a relief it was to read these few kind words.
Before landing in that teacher’s classroom, my son had been on a learning journey that was as unique as he is. With his twice-exceptional profile (he is gifted and has Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD), Calum has never been a typical student. His first four years of public school were challenging, ending in a tough decision to try an online learning program, hoping that it would be flexible enough to meet the needs of my quirky son.
At some point in Grade 7, though, something changed. Calum’s interest in learning was ignited, and he discovered a passion and talent for math and science. With the help of tutors, Calum moved up three grade levels in math, then in science. But alongside his clear academic strengths, he struggled with many things a typical student might do without a second thought. Calum needed help to break down large projects into manageable tasks, or he would find himself unable to get started. He refused to watch the videos for his online pre-calculus course, citing frustration with the slow pace of the material, but would then struggle to complete assignments because he didn’t know how else to learn the concepts. He seemed incapable of keeping track of textbooks or the schedules he and his study skills tutor created to track what he should work on each day. If he didn’t understand the expectations for an assignment, he had a tendency not to ask for help, and to fall further and further behind. I wasn’t sure whether he knew what resources were available to help with his assignments, or how to make use of them. And yet when he could overcome these obstacles and get his work done, he got excellent grades.
No, Calum was not your typical student, but with university clearly in his future, it was time to develop some non-academic skills that he would need. If he was going to get used to the routines and expectations of a classroom, better that he do so in high school than struggle with these demands during his first year at university.
By Grade 10, Calum felt ready to try school “in a building” again – I just wasn’t sure that I was ready for the stress of making that transition! How would my outside-the-box learner, with his uneven set of learning skills, taking courses at three different grade levels, fit back into a school system that is designed for more typical learners?
My hands were shaking as I picked up the phone to call the local high school and ask if we could visit. But the secretary who answered couldn’t have been kinder. In fact, from the day of our first visit to the school, every person we talked to helped to make the transition smoother, from the secretary who kindly answered my first hesitant questions, to the vice-principal, resource teacher and counsellor who made time in their busy schedules to meet with us when we came to tour the school, to the classroom teachers who took a couple of minutes to check in with my son and ensure he was settling in well after classes started. Every single person in that building communicated that my son was welcome there and that they were genuinely pleased to have my quirky teen as part of their school community. Our distance learning teacher was equally kind and supportive – she made it clear that Calum would be welcome to come back if our school experiment didn’t work out, and even called a few weeks into his first semester at his new high school to find out if things were going well.
Educators are busy people, with many students to support. But the willingness of this school’s staff to make time for me and my son made his transition smoother; it made us feel cared for. The time they took to reach out, ask what we needed, and give us reassurance made all the difference for one teenager and his anxious mom.
Photo: Kati York
First published in Education Canada, December 2017
Linguistic diversity has become a defining feature of Canadian classrooms today. Multilingual students, who speak different languages at home and at school, have become the norm rather than the exception, particularly in major urban centres. Take the Toronto District School Board and the Vancouver School Board: they both report over 120 languages spoken by their students and their families. It’s not uncommon for teachers today to have classes filled with students who speak many different languages at home. At a time when people are constantly on the go and technology makes it relatively easy to communicate around the globe 24/7, researchers have observed that children navigate their different language and literacy practices with natural ease; they have grown up in a world that depends on flexible language and literacy practices. Many teachers, however, don’t share students’ diverse linguistic backgrounds or experiences with growing up in a digitally mediated world. And teacher preparation programs often offer little required work with English learners and their families. Yet as classroom populations continue to diversify, the need to develop inclusive multilingual pedagogies also grows.
Are there ways to bridge this divide? How can teachers draw on students’ diverse cultural assets and build on the linguistic expertise that students bring into today’s classrooms, rather than constraining it? Surely, all students should leave school with more expansive linguistic repertoires rather than losing their home languages in the process of acquiring the language of instruction. Further, how can teachers engage parents in their children’s language and literacy development if parents don’t speak the language of instruction? Teachers, naturally, don’t speak all of their students’ home languages!
Dr. Jim Cummins has advocated that teachers engage multilingual students in the creation of what he calls “identity texts”: students are encouraged to use their home languages and cultural understanding alongside the language of instruction to produce multimodal texts for academic purposes that reflect students’ identities in positive ways.[1] Over the past decade, researchers and teachers across the country have been putting this idea into practice through the creation of a range of dual-language books, documentaries, installation art exhibits and dramatic performances.
Beyond the ESL classroom, identity text work can offer mainstream teachers a powerful strategy for building all students’ appreciation of linguistic diversity and for leveraging students’ and their families’ multilingual literacy expertise. Over the past seven years, I have collaborated with classroom teachers across English and French schools in Canada, France and the U.S. to explore the affordances, challenges and outcomes of engaging students collaboratively in multilingual project-based learning (MPBL). Most recently, I’ve partnered with elementary teachers in Toronto in English, French immersion and French language schools, as well as a private school, to design and implement MPBL across content areas such as social studies and science.[2] Over a two-year period, we worked with children in Grades 4-6 to produce collaborative multimodal and multilingual books using English, French and students’ home languages. Examples of students’ work can be seen on the project website: www.iamplurilingual.com.
Across these school partnerships, five principles emerged that can guide teachers and administrators seeking to cultivate a multilingual orientation and to design collaborative multilingual inquiry projects to enhance learning and to build social understanding of linguistic diversity:
1. Draw on the diverse languages of the school community, including but not limited to incorporating students’ home languages, local Indigenous languages, and the language(s) of instruction. Even if your student population does not include many speakers of other languages, teachers can always incorporate Canada’s official languages – English and French – local Indigenous languages and other languages represented across the wider community. Investigate language resources in your community so you can cultivate a rich language ecology in your classroom.
2. Invite parents, families and community members to contribute their language and cultural expertise to help students bridge diverse home, school and community language and literacy practices. Parents, grandparents and other family members may be hesitant to volunteer in a school where they don’t speak the language of the classroom. Invite them in to share their languages and experience as multilingual role models, not only for their children but also for the entire class.
3. Group students of different language backgrounds to work collaboratively on content-based projects, as a context for developing language and literacy skills along with content knowledge and understanding. While having students who speak different languages work together may seem counter-productive at first, keep in mind that the goal is not that they become fluent in all of the languages represented, but rather to develop a welcoming curiosity about languages and one another.
4. Build students’ metalinguistic awareness explicitly by actively comparing different languages and how language(s) function, and identifying patterns for cross-linguistic transfer. Draw students’ attention to how languages work and how they are related. Bridge from what students already know in their home and community languages to the language of instruction.
5. Publish collaborative multilingual projects for authentic audiences through an end-of-project celebration, and through the use of technology to reach broader audiences. Celebrate students as creative, multilingual producers rather than consumers. Plug into other schools, community groups and families to share the multilingual work that students generate to extend it beyond your classroom and to receive feedback and inspiration to keep on.
Students’ reflections about themselves and their work speak to the importance of inviting students’ languages into the classroom. One student said about her group’s multilingual book, “No one knew I can speak Swahili before. It’s like now they know me for real.” Another student commented, “My work makes me feel original. I am the only person in the class who can read and write these three languages and that makes me special.” And yet another student remarked, “Before this project, I never liked reading and writing. Now I think I like it!” These powerful identity statements highlight how supporting students’ use of their home languages within the classroom increases their engagement; consequently, they produce high-quality work in which they take pride.
Beyond the students’ positive responses, teachers consistently report that doing multilingual work with students shifts how they see culturally and linguistically diverse parents.
MPBL creates an authentic opportunity to invite parents into the classroom and the school as language and literacy experts. This positioning of multilingual parents as having valuable language expertise allows parents who might otherwise feel marginalized because they don’t speak the language of the classroom, to feel welcome into the school. Furthermore, when teachers host celebration events to present students’ multilingual work to their families, teachers have noted that they have greater turnout and that in many cases, parents and extended family members have come to the school for the very first time. As one teacher explained, in reference to newcomer families:
“I’ve seen a greater confidence of parents in school… the fact that we valued their home language and culture within our French class allowed parents to be involved in the learning of French in some way. Even if it may seem paradoxical, the fact that we purposefully drew on their family’s language created a reassuring context for engaging in learning. They knew that we were not trying to exclude their culture or their identity.”
In my interviews with parents, I’ve found myself surprised by parents’ expressions of appreciation that the school affirmed to their child the value of their family’s home language and culture through MPBL. The sense that has emerged is that MPBL builds reciprocal relationships among teachers and families. One mother, for example, who had compared trying to get her daughter to learn Farsi to forcing her to eat her vegetables, recounted:
“[My daughters] weren’t curious about this ‘other’ language for a long time and the writing the translation in Farsi was a good thing and [my daughter] was happy that I could actually do it for her… it kind of opened up the door a little bit. Like she now thinks she’s more interested in the language.”
When schools affirm students’ home languages and cultures, parents become language and literacy experts in the eyes of their children, and multilingual parents are empowered to actively participate in their child’s learning at school and at home.
Another parent further explained how valuable it is for parents to have their children’s home languages affirmed by the school:
“I think the project has been good for [my daughter] because I think sometimes you need to mirror back to a child what they have… It hasn’t been apparent to them as a gift possibly and so having the school… pay attention to that is a way of saying to them, ‘You guys have gifts! [It’s] a really lucky thing that you have access to another language!’ It’s also powerful when it comes from teachers… As a parent when you hold the mirror up to your child to say, ‘This is the wonderful gifted person I see you are,’ it’s like, ‘Whatever, Mom.’ I think [kids] dismiss it. I think they’re pleased on one level but you as a parent sometimes don’t have as much weight. But when an external person validates that, it gives them a level of thoughtfulness about themselves that they don’t necessarily get when it’s just a parent mirroring back… When it’s valued elsewhere it’s a solid reinforcement!”
This parent’s reflection highlights that MPBL can forge mutually beneficial relationships among teachers, students and parents that multiply opportunities to affirm children’s identities as they integrate creatively their home and school language and literacy practices.
My current research investigates MPBL as a school-wide strategy for building multilingual language awareness and intercultural understanding with a local elementary school in Madison, Wisconsin. In this work, parents’ reflections about their children’s collaborative multilingual work continue to affirm that teachers and parents must be partners in raising children to become thoughtfully engaged citizens in our diverse world. In closing, listen to the responses of parents following the creation of multilingual class books with five Grade 1 classes as part of a science unit about plants:
• “I was so pleased with the book I was almost brought to tears. Particularly considering the xenophobia in our culture today, it’s a wonderful way to promote the inclusion of different languages and cultures. Thank you!”
• “I think it was great to have [children] working on something together. This book is definitely something we will keep and reflect back on and share with other family members.”
• “We wished we could have contributed with a foreign language of our own! [Our son] can recognize the different languages (mostly) on sight. He was very proud of being able to say a few sentences in Arabic.”
• “My sense is that seeing… languages together in the book gives children the visual reminder of other classmates’ perspective. This project seems original, creative and useful!”
Around the world where racial, linguistic, religious and political differences threaten to divide communities, the need to build bridges among teachers, students and families from diverse backgrounds is critical. Affirming and leveraging students’ cultural and linguistic assets helps move towards building more inclusive schools and gives students an opportunity to learn how to work together across their differences, within the microcosm of their classrooms.
Image: courtesy Gail Prasad
First published in Education Canada, December 2017
There’s the usual chatter and giggling as the students in this rural Ontario high school fill the bleachers on a Friday morning. They quiet down quickly when another high school student walks to the centre of the gym, lit by a spotlight. With her golden-brown skin and white hijab, 15-year-old Noura Alshaher looks very different from most of the students in the audience. She’s joined by 15-year-old Assem Esmail. Noura is small for her age, and she smiles shyly as she picks up the microphone. As she talks, telling the story of her journey to Canada, the screen behind her flashes photos of the city she and Assem once called home: Damascus, Syria. The first images are of a lush and beautiful city, bright with flowers. Then they change to shots of homes damaged by bombs, walls reduced to rubble, streets clogged with the remnants of people’s lives.
“I want to show people how Syria used to look,” she says later. “They see only the photos of the demolished buildings and they don’t know how beautiful it used to be.” You can hear the grief in her voice.
There are ten students who have come to share their stories through spoken word, song, dance and video presentations on this spring morning. They are part of the Crossing Borders program organized and facilitated by ESL teacher Lynn Schulze, of Waterloo Collegiate Institute in Waterloo, Ontario.
Noura has been in Canada just four months, and she struggles a bit with English. She talks about the day that she went to school and found the building surrounded by buses. The students were sent home: no more school. “Nowhere was safe,” she recalls.
Indicating the photo of students in a war-ravaged classroom, Assem says, “This is not what schools are for.” Then he tells how his family fled to Egypt, but found life there to be violent and hopeless.
Later, Abdulrahman Mohammed sings about his love of his homeland, and even though few in the audience will understand the words, the emotions are clear. Ahmad Al Mahmood, also 15 and from Syria, is accompanying him on the tabla (a drum). When he smiles, deep dimples appear in his cheeks. The audience smiles back.
Mona Alatia, 14, describes how relaxing at home with her family turned to sudden terror when a helicopter began dropping bombs on their street. “We moved the next day,” she says. “We eventually got to Jordan, but the people there didn’t want us. It took four years, but eventually we were accepted to go to Canada. Being a refugee in some places is almost worse than living in the middle of the war. But in Canada, we are accepted.”
This is her very first time telling her story to a Crossing Borders audience. As the group enjoys bagels and drinks at Tim Horton’s after the presentation, she says: “When people clapped for me, it was amazing.”
Lynn Schulze has been teaching English as a Second Language at Waterloo Collegiate Institute (WCI) for 14 years, and is now head of the department. The Crossing Borders program, she says, started almost by accident. A Canadian student had the experience of volunteering with some newcomers and was so moved that she wanted to shine a light on them to help other students understand them a little better. She created a documentary featuring newcomers telling their stories in their own words. When that was a success, Schulze encouraged some of her other students to find creative ways to reach out, share their stories and express themselves, and shared them with fellow WCI pupils. “Right from the beginning, it made a difference in our school,” she says.
Schulze recognized that other schools and other groups such as school boards, teachers and community organizations would also benefit from having the opportunity to hear the stories of these newcomers.
Some of the first performers were refugees from Burma and Rwanda; those graduated a few years ago. Next came refugees from Iraq. Huda Al-Obaidi is one of the Child and Youth workers working with Schulze, and also a Crossing Borders alumna. (The other is Canadian-born Katia Myers; both are supported through a partnership with the Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support.) Huda was born in Iraq and was just eight years old when the U.S. began bombing her city, Baghdad. Her family fled to Syria. “We wanted to go home but it was all rockets, guns, bombs and dead bodies.” Her gratitude for Canada’s welcome and acceptance is heartfelt.
Over the years Schulze has built a team of about 30 students, plus the two child and youth workers who assist with the presentation and help calm the nerves of the more anxious performers.
“It’s hardest to present to teens,” confides Noura. “I used to be afraid they would laugh at us.” They don’t. In fact, on this particular morning the audience is quiet and focused, and their applause after each song or recitation is enthusiastic. They may have read about the war in Syria or seen it on TV, but hearing the on-the-ground experiences of kids their own age hits home.
Schulze puts together one to three presentations each week, and will select from her team so that no one student misses too much class time. Each year some of the star performers will graduate and move on, and Schulze will coax and cajole new arrivals to take part. As she says: “I have a reputation for pushing people to do things they don’t think they can do. Most people wouldn’t think of putting newcomers on stage, but we do. And they do well.”
Crossing Borders is more than just a performance. Schulze and her students see the impact Crossing Borders has on everyone involved. Close to home, Noura says the teachers treat her differently since seeing her share her experiences on stage, and that kids who never talked to her before now come up and say hi.
Abdul says: “Sometimes we are invisible in school, but after we show our talents and tell our stories, people come and talk to us and we make new friends.”
The student performers are changed, too. Ahmed says Schulze “helped me discover my talent.” Others speak of feeling more confident when they do presentations in class or when other kids ask them about their pasts.
And for the people in the audience, as well as a deeper understanding of the experiences of Canada’s newcomers, there’s a new appreciation for living in Canada. Hearing how much Canada’s welcome means to these refugees, and how grateful they are to live in a peaceful country, creates a sense of gratitude – not just to the country’s commitment to acceptance but to Lynn Schulze, who created the route for these teens to tell their stories.
For more information about the EdCan Network’s Educator Well-Being: A Key To Success Students Symposium
Photo: no credit for this photo
First published in Education Canada, September 2017
Dr. George Sefa Dei is the co-winner of the EdCan Network’s 2016 Whitworth Award for Career Education Research Excellence, awarded in recognition of his profound impact on the development of equitable and inclusive schooling in Canada. For this article, he spoke with his student and colleague Andrea Vásquez Jiménez about the fundamental understandings that are required in order to move forward with transformative anti-racism work.
Andrea Vásquez Jiménez: I’d like to start off with something that you say in class, and that I find to be imperative for all who are pursuing anti-racist work. Can you expand on, “Racism is what makes race real” and “It’s the material consequences on people’s bodies and lived experiences that matters.”
George J. Sefa Dei: What you have brought up is very important. I think the whole idea of, “It’s racism that makes race real” is to counter the argument that somehow race is meaningless, it lacks scientific status, and therefore we have to move away from it. We need to recognize that the only reason we are talking about race, is because racism is the problem – so we need to look to solve it, we need to address it. Racism works the hierarchy of race, so it is very hypocritical to argue to move away from race, when we haven’t dealt with the problem of racism. I think it also speaks to the fact that we cannot simply spend all our time theorizing race. We need to address the problem of racism, and we only address the problem of racism if we understand how race continues to be of material and political significance in our societies. I think it also speaks to the question of theory and practice. It is one thing to talk rhetorically about, “This is a problem and we don’t know what it means.” Well if you don’t know what race means, you know racism when you see it, so let’s work on that, let’s address it.
Andrea Vásquez Jiménez: You have stated that first and foremost there must be a sincere recognition and acknowledgement that racism and also, as an extension, anti-Black racism, exists in our everyday lives and that it permeates all spaces, including our classrooms, schools and school boards. We must not get caught up in being colour-evasive, and must recognize how racism, including anti-Black racism, impacts our students, teachers, administrators, caretakers, trustees, etc. It appears in multiple ways, such as the eurocentric curriculum and the mainly eurocentric faces on the pictures of the walls of our classrooms and schools. It is seen when mostly students who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) are streamed into courses that are not academic, when students are disproportionately receiving detentions, suspensions, and expulsions, and when they are disproportionately negatively impacted by police presence in schools (School Resource Officers) – yet their voices are often ignored, dismissed and even silenced. Even if you have the luxury to never have experienced racism yourself, believe those who state they have, and understand that this is a systemic issue. Schools and classrooms must be committed to address these issues. We must not only have courageous and bold conversations, but also link that talk to calls-to-action.
Moving forward with fundamentals to create, support and sustain transformative anti-racist work and change, can you explain what you call the “integrative anti-racism lens” and the “saliency of Blackness”? How can these concepts inform policies and practices at the school board level and the everyday classroom?
George J. Sefa Dei: The term integrative anti-racism comes from the argument and fact that no one is one thing. Our identities are not just all about race, just as we are not all about class, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, etc. In order to understand the full effects of race, we have to see how race intersects with other forms of differences. Talking about intersections is necessary. This is the integrative lens and that’s where the integrative anti-racism is coming from. In the discourse of anti-racism it is important to talk about the integrativeness, but also to recognize the saliency of Blackness. It speaks to the fact that there’s a hypervisibility of Blackness, and that Blackness is consequential. That Blackness, when it is seen as transgressive, is punished, and that Blackness is coded for punishment, just as whiteness is for privilege and power. While we talk about the intersections, let us know that there are aspects of race and racism that also speak about the saliency.
Regarding the relevance of this for school board policy and classroom practice, it signifies that school boards need policies that take up these intersections and look at the integrative nature of oppressions. For example, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism, racism, heteropatriarchy, etc. are all integrated in powerful ways, so we need to have a policy that deals with the integrative aspect of that. Just as important, school board policies need to target these specific sites. School board policies shouldn’t address just one or the other. Policies and practices need to work with the integrative nature or dimensions of oppressions but at the same time target the specificity of oppressions, so racism, anti-Black racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia and so forth can be addressed. Just as board policies should deal with both the integrative nature and specificities of oppressions, classroom practitioners also need to teach about how our oppressions intersect, and the simultaneity of those oppressions. They need to be aware that although oppression comes in many forms, they are not equal in their consequences, and we must address this in the classrooms.
Andrea Vásquez Jiménez: So this is another fundamental for anti-racist work to flourish: acknowledging that all of us are not just one identity as you mentioned. Being aware that we have different identities that intersect, while acknowledging the importance of skin colour and that not all identities are fluid. For instance, Blackness is a permanent marker and this creates a distinction in how anti-Black racism impacts people. Therefore, the act of naming and differentiating racism and anti-Black racism is vital to this work.
In your recent book, Reframing Blackness and Black Solidarities through Anti-Colonial and Decolonial Prisms [Springer Publishing, New York, 2017] you make a distinction between a “Black-white binary” and a “Black-white paradigm.” Can you elaborate a bit on these, and explain why this is a useful distinction?
George J. Sefa Dei: It builds on some of the works of people like Andrea Smith, Sexton, Johnson, and there are other people who have talked about the question of the Black-white prism and binaries. I don’t think we can get into this simplified reading of our world in strictly Black and white terms. It is important to move away from dichotomous thinking, which is itself a part of eurocentric thinking, but how do we move away from that? When considering the fluidity of identity, we must not lose sight of the saliency of Blackness. The Black-white prism allows us to grasp that; it signifies how different gradations of skin colour have meaning. So while I want to move away from the Black-white binary or Black-white dualism, I want to hang onto the Black-white prism, because it allows us to talk about the hypervisibility, permanence, and saliency of Blackness.
The Black-white prism is very important because it is a recognition and lens into how our society is organized, and acknowledges, as people like Da Silva have said, that close proximity to whiteness is rewarded in our society. As such, it is given privileges and currency. It speaks to how certain bodies are read, and based on that reading are accorded privileges and/or punishments. Sometimes, even Black bodies are seduced, and there are critical white scholars who speak about this, they can be seduced by whiteness, seduced by the attraction of whiteness. While keeping in mind that multiple sites of oppression and multiple sites of privilege exist, we need to recognize and acknowledge the position of the colonial dominant, the position of privilege and power and how it’s accorded on different bodies.
Andrea Vásquez Jiménez: As a light skinned Afro-Latina, I definitely can attest to this. My experiences are not the same, and won’t ever be the same as any other person from the African diaspora, including Afro-Latinxs* whose skin marker is Black. In a white supremacist society, my skin colour being closer to white brings me automatic rewards and privileges and we must be conscious of this. We must be aware that because of white supremacy, BIPOC folks can also internalize racism and invest into whiteness in multiple forms. As you mentioned though, we must never disregard the reality of white privilege and the colonial dominant. For anti-racism work we all must be aware of our own privileges, and not only how we are implicated in, but also how we are complicit into a system that we reap benefits from – and then consciously and continuously divest from it.
Lastly, now that we have these few fundamentals as a primer – definitely not an exhaustive list – can you speak about the dangers when people within the educational system do not recognize the importance of anti-racist work or dilute it by merely giving it lip service?
George J. Sefa Dei: Some of the lip service around anti-racism is where people: 1) don’t work with the notion of the saliency, 2) don’t work with the variations and intensities of oppressions for different groups, and 3) don’t address the severity of issues for certain bodies. Anti-racism needs to work with, and address, the above three. I think to me, anti-racism has to move from rhetoric to action. Anti-racism is about critiquing the state, colonialism, structures, power and privilege, and how they play out in society. When anti-racism practice fails to centre these questions, it becomes a problem, and people become cynical of anti-racism.
* The “x” in Latinx makes it inclusive to gender nonconforming, gender non-binary, and gender fluid peoples, instead of the gender-binary Latino, Latina and Latin@ (Scharron-Del Rio & Aja, 2015).
Photos: courtesy OISE
First published in Education Canada, September 2017
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I volunteer at an English class held at our local settlement agency. In our community, as in many others, this past year has seen the arrival of a number of refugees from Syria. Many of them have no English at all, and some are not literate in their first language.
I can hardly grasp the enormity of the challenge facing them, as they start from scratch in a world where just about everything is different: the language, the alphabet system, the food, the social customs. In an interesting modern twist, the common denominator is the cell phone, brokered by language apps like Google Translate.
The chance to give their kids a good education is of huge importance to many families who come here. But that doesn’t make it any easier to leave their children in the hands of strangers with whom they can barely communicate, in a school system they don’t understand. As educators, we need to be sensitive not only to the needs of the newcomer children coming into our schools, but to their families as well. For this issue on welcoming newcomer students, I spoke with a family who arrived three years ago from Peru. Esther, the mom, shared with me some of the anxieties she experienced in their first months, and how small gestures of welcome “gave us hope that we can be part of this community.” (p. 16).
An understanding of best practices for supporting newcomer students is emerging, and two of our authors are on the leading edge of this endeavour, especially with regard to students who arrive as refugees. Caroline Lai worked with her staff at the Surrey Schools English Language Learner Welcome Centre to paint a compelling picture of one student whose past experience includes having to flee two different homes and becoming a soldier when he was just 15. The authors explain the importance of providing a “soft landing into Canada” with their program, which gives students from a refugee background a chance to feel safe and begin to re-orient (p. 10). Jan Stewart discusses how we can create trauma-sensitive schools, and takes us inside an extraordinary Winnipeg school where the principal has set out to create a compassionate community where all students “can be safe, feel cared for, and be open to learning.” (p. 20).
Finally, I’d like to thank the Surrey Schools English Language Learner Welcome Centre for guiding us in the creation of the “10 Best Practices” list you will find on p. 13. It is available as a free printable poster on our website: cea-ace.ca/newcomers. A French version is also available: cea-ace.ca/immigrants. Please share it with your colleagues!
Photo: Dave Donald
First published in Education Canada, March 2017
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“I had a child at one of my schools this year who was a refugee who didn’t have an OHIP card and the teacher came and said to me that the child had a terrible earache and was really suffering. She had taken him to the hospital and the hospital said it was $500 upfront or ‘We won’t see your child.’ The teacher then got hold of me and said, ‘Isn’t there somewhere we could send this kid where he could get his ear looked at?’ And that is exactly what we did. We did an emergency connection to the Sprucecourt [in-school] clinic and he was seen.” – TDSB Social Worker
Newcomers are integral fibres woven into the fabric that makes up Canada. As the largest school system in Canada and one of the most multiracial, multicultural, and multilingual school boards in the world, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) serves a sizable proportion of students from immigrant and newcomer backgrounds.
According to TDSB’s 2011-12 Census, at least two-thirds of its students had both of their parents born outside of Canada. These families, especially the more recently arrived, face many migration- and settlement-related challenges that may hamper their children’s well-being and educational outcomes.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has reported that students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, including newcomers, are half as likely to achieve either their educational potential or a basic minimum level of skills (e.g. literacy, numeracy, communication). Societies have a shared responsibility to prevent such educational defeat, and public schools provide an ideal hub to partner with pertinent institutions or agencies to help mitigate these inequitable circumstances for marginalized students.
In 2006, the TDSB launched its system-wide initiative, called Model Schools for Inner Cities (MSIC), to address the needs of students who are disadvantaged by family poverty, unemployment and insecure housing. One hundred and fifty schools were identified as having the most external challenges and designated MSIC schools. Extra funding, resources, programming and community partnerships are granted to these schools as a systemic approach to narrowing the opportunity and achievement gaps for their disadvantaged students. One MSIC program is the Model Schools for Paediatric Health Initiative (MSPHI).
A health-education partnership
The MSPHI grew out of research revealing that, despite the existence of a universal health system in Canada, inequities and accessibility barriers related to health care do occur among disadvantaged families for a number of reasons. For example, the lack of health insurance (uninsured) in the case of newcomers or refugees, the lack of associated family doctors (unattached), as well as financial, language and cultural barriers, make accessing or navigating the health care system difficult.
To address this difficulty, the MSPHI was launched in 2010 with the opening of two in-school health clinics. Based on the success of these two pilot sites, a number of MSPHI clinics were subsequently added in different high-needs neighbourhoods. By 2015-16, a total of seven MSPHI clinics were established.
A cost-effective model
This integrated health and education model has proven to be highly cost-efficient and replicable. Its operational costs are minimized, as it leverages already existing resources:
Even though these clinics are open only one to three times per week, together the seven MSPHI clinics served over a thousand appointments in the 2015-2016 school year, from not only the host schools but also students from neighbouring schools. Hundreds of their student patients were either uninsured or unattached.
By bringing health and education together under one roof, the in-school health clinics not only remove many accessibility barriers faced by these marginalized students, but also afford them more timely, comprehensive, and socially/culturally sensitive health care than they could normally access through regular channels.
For instance, wait times for developmental assessments, which would typically take two to three years, are notably expedited owing to the intra- and inter-sectoral partnerships between MSPHI clinic staff, their health agencies, and school staff – all of which allow for early identification, developmental assessment, diagnosis, and appropriate educational modifications within the same academic year.
Impact on students
According to MSPHI’s tracking records, the clinics diagnose and treat a wide range of acute and chronic physical health issues. Over time, these in-school health clinics also witnessed a steady shift from addressing mainly physical health issues to mental health concerns related to developmental, behavioural, and psychological health. As one secondary student put it:
“[The MSPHI clinic] basically helped me overcome the depression and gave me many options to heal… I’m feeling good… I feel like a totally different person.”
Aside from improving the health and well-being of student patients, a four-year study1 also shows reduced absenteeism, greater attentiveness to learning, and improved school performance for these students. They became more informed of their health status and learned how to navigate health services available to them. In fact, these in-school health clinics serve as an information hub and gateway to promoting health advocacy skills and medical autonomy, especially for secondary school students.
Ripple effects on schools and families
“Ripple effects” of the program are also positive. Educators testified that the in-school health clinics build capacity among school staff to better understand, recognize, and handle students’ well-being concerns. Some teachers have adapted their teaching strategies and learning environments accordingly. MSPHI health care professionals also support educators and students through their participation at school Support Team meetings, by identifying, triaging, and referring students to their MSPHI clinic.
As well, the MSPHI supplements the roles of TDSB Professional Support Services (school psychologists, social workers, counsellors, etc.) by helping to bridge the gap for timely mental health support for students in need. As explained by a school guidance counsellor:
“There’s medical support for us because a lot of it is beyond our training and ability… I can only do so much for the students and so this gives us the reassurance that we’re doing everything we possibly can to support them.”
Families, too, benefit from the in-school health clinics. The research shows that the MSPHI helps raise parents and caregivers’ awareness, knowledge, and understanding of their children’s health concerns. Interviews revealed that they are more engaged in learning about and leveraging support services in the community, and are eager to share their knowledge with other parents in their community.
Different stakeholder groups also observed that the in-school health clinics reduce the burden placed on families by making health care accessible and comprehensive – and not just for families who are uninsured. A school guidance counsellor observed,
“In a lot of cases too, the parents appreciate the fact that we have the clinic here because they’re working two jobs or they’re working night shifts… They don’t have time to take time off work or they don’t have a job that allows them that flexibility to take their child to the doctor.”
The in-school health clinics remove many accessibility barriers faced by these marginalized students.
Improved family dynamics is an additional benefit. For instance, MSPHI staff foster positive parenting skills among parents and caregivers, who reported being better able to support and engage their children at home. One new mother to Canada shared the impact of the in-school health clinic on her interactions at home:
“I am treating [my son] differently now. I am controlling my anger. I am talking to him more. I am praising him more. So I did see changes at home when I started to act differently, after I got to know what’s going on with him and that he has ADHD.”
The MSPHI Program has demonstrated many benefits, not just to students’ physical health, but to their overall well-being and learning. This is particularly the case for inner-city students who often face adverse determinants of health along with accessibility barriers to medical services. These in-school clinics offer more accessible, timely, thorough and holistic health care support for students from underserved communities, and also provide valuable support to students’ parents and to school staff. As starkly remarked by a newcomer high school student who came to Canada without her parents and experienced physical health and emotional difficulties due to her settlement issues:
“The clinic has saved my life; otherwise, I would be dead by now!”
En Bref : Les élèves des quartiers urbains défavorisés et les élèves nouveaux arrivants font souvent face à des déterminants négatifs de santé ainsi qu’à des obstacles d’accessibilité aux services médicaux. Cet article traite de l’initiative de santé pédiatrique dans des écoles modèles (Model Schools for Paediatric Health Initiative) de la Commission scolaire de Toronto, qui a ouvert un certain nombre de cliniques médicales dans des écoles de quartiers défavorisés. Ce programme innovateur intégratif offre du soutien médical plus accessible, opportun, complet et holistique aux élèves de collectivités mal desservies, que les mailles du filet des services médicaux existants auraient sinon pu laisser échapper, nuisant à leur parcours éducatif.
Photo: Courtesy Stefanie De Jesus
First published in Education Canada, March 2017
[1] M. Yau, S. De Jesus, G. Tam, and L. Rosolen, “Model Schools Paediatric Health Initiative: In-school health clinics, phase IV: Summative evaluation,” Research Report No. 15 (Toronto: Toronto District School Board, 2015), 16-14.
We have to be connected together as human beings. We have to spend time working side-by-side with each other, talking to each other, having connections that link the head to the heart… once you have that, then you can reveal a good space to receive the learning. – Tam Dui
We are living in a time of unprecedented mass displacement due to conflict, persecution, and natural disasters. As the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports on its website, there are 65.3 million displaced people worldwide – the highest number since World War II – and 21.3 million of them are refugees who are fleeing conflict, violence or persecution. Most alarming, however, is that more than half of the world’s refugees are children.
The experiences of refugees are diverse and complex and the situations they have left may be riddled with violence, fear, loss, and extremely stressful living conditions. The desperate search for safety can have perilous consequences, as families risk everything to flee danger. Children are frequently separated from their families, denied access to education and health care and targeted with violence and human rights violations. Literature documenting the refugee experience records loss, trauma, violence and an overwhelming sense of uncertainty. Studies relating to refugees and mental health indicate a prevalence rate of 30 percent for post-traumatic stress disorder. While not all refugees have a traumatic past, it is generally assumed that there is a degree of adversity simply as a result of forced displacement. Relocation into a host country such as Canada represents hope for a better future, but the challenges and obstacles persist and the trajectory for some refugee children and their families is punctuated with feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty about the future. Barriers such as discrimination, limited employment opportunities, poverty, lack of appropriate housing and low educational achievement are just a few of the issues complicating adjustment.
Adjusting to schools in Canada
From 2005-2014, Canada settled a total of 233,861 refugees,[1] making it one of the top countries of resettlement. The demographics of Canadian classrooms are changing and becoming increasingly more diverse, but diversity itself is not a guarantee that different cultural groups are included in a system. While some schools and school districts in Canada have implemented exemplary programs to encourage social inclusion and intercultural understanding, there are others that offer little in the way of practical or pedagogical accommodations for some of Canada’s most recent citizens.
While some refugee students excel and thrive in their new host country, others experience great difficulty with adjusting into a new school system. Academic difficulties may be a result of language barriers, disrupted schooling, distress from forced migration, or financial difficulties (e.g. food insecurity or having to work long hours while also attending school).
Research has also identified significant gaps in both teacher preparation and school readiness to support successful integration for newcomers, particularly children who have come from conflict-affected countries.[2] Teachers may even inadvertently contribute to the continuing struggles of students or their re-traumatization, simply by not knowing about their pre-migration or trans-migration experiences. For students who have experienced trauma, something as simple as displaying a poster that triggers past memories may result in distress. Although identifying all of the potential triggers would be difficult, there are certain precautions teachers and school leaders can take to create trauma-sensitive classrooms and schools.
Nhân đạo: Trauma-sensitive schools and safe classrooms
The Vietnamese term nhân đạo – used as an overarching phrase to capture “the state of being humane in caring for and loving others” – is an axiom guiding the practice of inner-city middle school principal, Tam Dui. In a three-year research program carried out in Manitoba, Alberta and Newfoundland, we explored best practices for supporting the integration of refugee students. During phase one, our participants frequently told us to go and talk to Tam Dui* and to see what his school, Anthony Graham Middle School* in Winnipeg, was doing to support refugee students. [*NOTE: The names of both the principal and the school in this article have been changed, in accordance with the ethical requirements of Dr. Stewart’s research.] We decided to take a more in-depth look at how Tam and the staff have created a culture where all students feel connected to the school community and where families feel welcome to come into the building to share and collaborate with school staff. The school, and Tam’s unique leadership style, provide an exemplar model on which to guide future practice and inform school improvement to better meet the needs of refugee youth.
If a student is feeling threatened in your classroom, there will be little learning.
Tam was himself a Vietnamese refugee who arrived in Winnipeg as a child in 1979, and he knows first-hand the reality of what it means to be relocated to another country. Referring to himself as an “old newcomer,” Tam reflects that 35 years ago, when he first arrived in Canada, his family stayed at the Memorial Hotel just two blocks down the street from where he now serves as the principal. He states, “So the route is really circular, it’s the cycle of life in some way, it’s a series of opportunities. Just as I received a lot of service and a lot of opportunities, this is now part of that circle that I give back to the next generation of people.” Guiding his practice is a desire to build a solid connection with students, their families and the community. That’s why each morning, staff and students know where to find Mr. Dui: at the bus drop-off at the front door of the school as he personally greets each student, staff member and visitor, even in -40 degree temperatures.
Tam and the Anthony Graham staff have created a culture of care and compassion that informs their day-to-day interactions. They aim to provide a welcoming and safe space where refugee youth and their families come together to learn, interact and engage with each other and their new culture. When Tam learned that many of his newcomer families missed eating certain vegetables from their homeland and that many were in need of activities to keep them busy, Tam’s family donated farmland and there is now a robust gardening club where students and parents farm together and learn about growing food from around the world. Each weekend a school bus transports parents and students to a farm south of the city to work together looking after the crops and while doing this, the newcomers practice speaking English and learn about local farming practices. Through Tam’s connections in the city, local organizations and businesses have donated seeds, equipment and start-up funds to help assist the gardeners.
Within the school, staff and students are uniquely divided into four teams: Team Humility, Team Wisdom, Team Courage and Team Truth. Each team has three homeroom teachers and specific core teachers who teach the same students from Grades 7 to 9. Tam believes this organization allows the teachers to form more meaningful relationships with the students and to monitor more closely students who are dealing with adverse situations or challenges. With carefully chosen staff and school leaders, Tam stresses the need to have teachers try a term or two at his school before he is convinced they have what it takes. Tam notes, “When it comes to inviting staff into our community, they have to have compassion, the heart has to be there and there needs to be a trusting relationship that creates a safe place where conversations can occur – and you cannot always see this in an interview.”
Tam believes that providing a safe place where students feel respected and honoured is essential for learning to take place. “We know the trauma is there, we recognize that students have had horrific experiences and it is our job to create a space where they can be safe, feel cared for, and be open to learning,” he says.
Guiding principles for supporting refugee students
A trauma-sensitive school is not intended to be therapy-focused; rather, it is an environment that acknowledges the potential for traumatic experiences in the lives of students and creates universal supports that are sensitive to the unique needs of each student, while being attentive to avoiding the possibility of re-traumatization. When we took a closer look at the activities, support programs and teaching strategies offered at Anthony Graham, and combined these with the literature on supporting refugee students, we uncovered some unique approaches and best practices that we believe are necessary for creating safe, trauma-sensitive schools.
Know your students: Take the time to learn about where your students come from and acknowledge their past. Be open to hearing their personal story, but remember that behind the trauma story is the story of survival. See students with an “asset perspective” instead of a “deficit perspective.” Help reorient students to focus on the skills, resources and power that they have to get through difficult times. View each student who comes to school as having unique experiences and backgrounds that are worthy of celebrating.
Know and build your community: Teachers, school staff, students, and the community need to collaborate with each other, have a willingness to hear different perspectives, and a readiness to take risks to try new approaches. Invite community members in to organize after-school clubs or a lunch-hour activities. Have a designated “community room” where staff, students, and the community can come together to discuss current issues and plan future events.
Know the signs: Students who are coping with distressing events and experiences might display hyper-arousal, avoidance, withdrawal or disassociation. They might be easily over-stimulated and lack a readiness to learn. Communicating and self-expression may be difficult and problem-solving and decision-making may be compromised. Students who have experienced trauma may have difficulty regulating emotions; you might see a state of calmness one moment and anxiety or anger the next. Fear and concern for their own safety or the safety of their family members may occupy their thoughts. If a student is feeling threatened in your classroom, there will be little learning. As a colleague once said, “You can’t teach away trauma.” A sense of security and trust are the foundation for providing support to students; once safety has been established, the process of healing can begin. Healing takes time and the process of settling and adjustment can take years. Listen to what students and parents tell you they need, and know that some will talk and others will not. Be open to listening and providing comfort and support.
Know who can help: If you have concerns about the safety of the student or the safety of others, refer to the next level of care. If you have a “gut feeling” that something is wrong, trust your instincts and get additional support. A counsellor or therapist may need to be involved when you see serious changes in behaviour, or when the student talks or writes about death, dying or suicide. Significant substance abuse and heightened aggression or protectiveness are also signs that the student needs more support. Work with the student’s family or caregivers and ensure that you are working together to support the student.When there are cultural issues that you may not fully understand, seek out the help of a cultural broker or support worker. Settlement agencies and community groups can be a tremendous support to school staff and when the various systems work together, a more holistic and supportive environment is created. Link to mental health professionals in your community and know who you can go to for help or guidance. Welcome assistance into your school and classroom – there are many support people in the community who are ready and willing to help out.
Know yourself: Working with refugee students can be rewarding and also extremely difficult. There is a personal impact from hearing about the trauma, torture, violence and persecution inflicted on others. It is common to feel helpless and overwhelmed. It can be extremely distressing to hear about violations to children and the impact this has had on a child’s life. For many teachers, it can seem like an overwhelming task to support the increasing numbers of students coming who are dealing with various forms of trauma. In some cases, you may be the only support in a student’s life and this can be a tremendous feeling of responsibility. Know your personal signs of stress and distress and know when, and how, to look after your own mental health.
Supporting children from refugee backgrounds can be a challenging journey and it can also be a process of renewed hope and opportunity. According to Tam Dui, you need three things to do this kind of work: “Competence, character, and chemistry. Can you do the work? Do you have the character and compassion to do the work? Do you have the chemistry to get along and trust each other to get the work done?” A new start offers refugee students hope and promise for a better future. If we do the work, schools can provide an environment of care and compassion that fosters acceptance and supports the successful integration of Canada’s newest citizens.
Dr. Stewart’s research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Mitacs, and the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling.
En Bref : Tenant compte des défis relevés par de nombreux réfugiés et des difficultés liées à une réinstallation forcée, cet article examine ce que peuvent faire les écoles et les éducateurs canadiens pour répondre aux besoins des élèves réfugiés. Parmi les constatations d’un programme de recherche de trois ans examinant les pratiques exemplaires de soutien d’élèves réfugiés, se démarquent un directeur d’école de quartier urbain défavorisé et son personnel, qui s’efforcent de créer un environnement sûr favorisant les liens interculturels, un sentiment d’appartenance et un engagement à faire preuve d’attention et de compassion.
Photo: Joel Carillet (istock)
First published in Education Canada, March 2017
[1] “Facts and Figures,” Citizenship and Immigration Canada (2015). http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/052642bb-3fd9-4828-b608-c81dff7e539c?_ga=1.36645155.2008133524.1243358834
[2] Jan Stewart, Supporting Refugee Children: Strategies for educators (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011), 131-150.
In February of 2014, Esther Izarnotegui and her family stepped off an airplane from Lima, Peru, and into the teeth of the worst Ontario winter in years. “We came from our summer, and we had never seen snow or such extreme cold,” says Esther. “It was such a shock!”
I ask her two girls, Paula (13) and Elisa (nine) what that was like. “OHHHH!” they exclaim in unison. (The youngest child, seven-year-old Nicolas, was not at the interview.) “I was only ten,” says Paula. “I didn’t know what snow felt like so I just put my hands right in and picked up a big handful — with no gloves!”
“It felt like a slushy!” Elisa chimes in.
Esther’s English is good, with just a bit of hesitation over some words, and the girls chatter confidently. But that first winter, only Esther’s husband, Fernando, spoke more than a tiny bit of English.
As she tells their story, it becomes apparent that this family’s immigration experience was about as good as it gets. Unlike the Syrian refugee families we are welcoming now, Fernando had a job waiting for him and some work contacts who helped the family make arrangements. They had one family member who could communicate in English, and their kids had had a good start in school. Perhaps more important is the kindness Esther says she and her children have been met with, and the support of the local settlement agency, the New Canadians Centre (NCC).
And even so, it was hard. This, perhaps, is what we have to understand more deeply, with our imagination and empathy, not just our intellect, if we want to provide the best possible support for newcomer families. Learning how to live in a new country is very challenging. Sending your children into the hands of a school system you know nothing about and can barely communicate with is actually frightening.
Newcomer parents need more than just information – they need to feel assured of our care for their children in order to trust us to look after them when they are so vulnerable.
The family arrived in the middle of our school year, so there was no time to lose in getting the children registered for school.
“People from my husband’s work had been helping us, and the next day after we arrived we went to the New Canadians Centre (NCC). They were waiting for us – that was awesome!” says Esther. “To have an institution like the NCC waiting for us and ready to help, it was such a relief.” Esther thinks for a moment, remembering.
“You feel, like, safe. The first thing that you think is, you are safe. So they helped us with starting school. There was a lady at the NCC who told us where to find the school. We went to the school and she was there, waiting for us! That was incredible. She introduced us to the people we were meeting there.”
With her husband pressed into service as translator, Esther was able to understand most of what was explained to the family. And then, another nice surprise: “That first day, it was only to meet the school and the teachers, but they took us to see each of the children’s classrooms – and in each class, they were waiting for my kids with signs and letters with their names on them. I came back feeling so much better!”
I ask the girls what their first weeks at school were like. “It was good,” says Paula. “I liked it a lot. Everyone was so nice.” Elisa nods in agreement. “Better than Peru, because there’s no homework until Grade 3.” When I ask if there’s anything in particular people at the school did that made it easier for them, Paula says, “They didn’t treat me like a baby, but they didn’t treat me like I knew everything already. They would explain things, and then they would ask if I understood.”
What worried her the most, she says, was making friends. “I was scared I was going to mess up my English and embarrass myself, so that made me feel shy.” But the teacher had some kids show Paula around the school and hang out with her at recess, and that was enough to get things rolling.
Esther says she didn’t realize it at the time, but there were some teachers at the school who knew some Spanish and were helping her kids. “At the end of the year I received a package with all my kids’ work, and there were notes in Spanish to my girls. That touched my heart!”
New school nerves
Esther says that having “people in the school waiting for us like that, that was the best” and went a long way toward making her feel more comfortable about sending her kids off the next day. “But even with that,” she confesses, “that first day of school I was here, and I was waiting, watching the clock. I was – you know, I was really nervous. The weather and the bus and them going by themselves, and you think, what if they need something or have a problem and they can’t say what’s wrong?”
Her biggest worry was her youngest child, Nicolas, who was just starting Kindergarten. Nico has autism, and up until two months before the move he had been nonverbal. “He had just started to speak some Spanish, and then we came here where it’s not the right language!” Esther shakes her head, remembering. “I knew my girls could tell me if there was something wrong at school, but the little one, who didn’t speak – that was hard.”
Esther and Fernando were able to meet with the teacher and tell her a lot about Nicolas and his needs. But I picture the parents I know with autistic children, and the anxiety they experience when their child starts school – a situation that is full of stressors for people with the sensitivities autism often entails: so many children, so much noise, unfamiliar surroundings and expectations. How much more difficult must it be when your child won’t understand the language around him?
Of course, school is only part of settling in to a new country. In those early months when her English was very limited, Esther remembers feeling unsure of her welcome: “I was scared to go out on my own, even to rake leaves or shovel snow. You feel like you are not from here, and you feel that all the time inside you.” And the effort to understand and make yourself understood is exhausting: “I had migraines every day for one month, because it was so difficult. I would go out, and when I came back home, I had to go to bed for a while, and just – breathe.”
When I ask the family if there was anything more the school could have done to support them, or if they ran into any difficulties, they hesitate, and I wonder if they are reluctant to say anything against their new country. The girls talk about school subjects they had trouble with (“subtraction was so hard!”). Esther considers, and offers two valuable observations.“
For me, it was hard to keep in touch with the teachers, because of the language. I am the kind of mom who wants to know what they are doing in school so I can help at home. In Peru they had an agenda that said all what they were doing, but here their agenda was blank. So I couldn’t speak English and the agenda was blank and I really didn’t know anything about their school day. It’s hard to have a good connection with teachers when you can’t talk to them directly.”
Her other point is that new families continue to need help even after those intense few months. “Don’t forget that for us, everything is new for the whole [school] year. Even in June, it’s still our first June. They were really kind with us, but by the middle of the year, they figured we were OK.”
But the family still needed guidance around how the system works. Case in point: snow days. Nobody thought to tell this family from a country without snow how to check if the buses were running, so one day they struggled through knee-high snow to the bus stop, where they waited, and waited, and waited. Finally they concluded that they must have missed the bus, and walked all the way to the school – only to find it practically deserted. The family laughs about it now (“Oh, man – Peruvians in Canada!”) but I can picture myself pretty close to tears at the end of that long snowy walk, tired, sweaty, trailing three kids and completely confused.
The following year, they didn’t know what the procedure was for going back to school in September. “In Peru, you have to go and register your kids for school every year, fill out lots of forms, buy uniforms,” Esther explains. “Here, we didn’t know what we should be doing. We had to call the school to ask.”
And asking becomes difficult. “You start to feel, ‘I can’t ask for everything.’ You feel like you shouldn’t ask for help too often, like you should be doing things by yourself now. It’s always a little bit embarrassing.”
What can we learn from this family’s experience? I’m glad they had such a warm welcome, but we know that newcomer students may also encounter hostility, bullying, and racial slurs. As I write this, soon after the U.S. presidential election, there has been a worrying increase in these incidents. Fostering a welcoming and safe school climate for all students needs to be an ongoing priority.
The importance of staying in contact is another important lesson. Newcomer parents will not necessarily feel free to ask for information, or find it easy to express their concerns. Teachers and school leaders can take the initiative in finding ways to communicate regularly and ensure parents understand what’s going on at school.
And finally, the personal touches that Esther and her children so appreciated – being accompanied to the school by a settlement worker, the welcome prepared in the classrooms for each child – can be difficult to scale up when a school welcomes a hundred newcomers a year rather than a handful. Yet these are the gestures that reassure parents that their children will be cared for, not just taught.
As Esther puts it, “That kind of thing gave us hope that we can be part of this community, because they were trying to make us feel part of it. These good people around us, smiling to us, they made us feel confident in this place, and now, we can call this place home… our home.”
En Bref : Comment se vit l’arrivée à l’école de ses enfants dans un pays étranger dont ils ne connaissent même pas la langue? Dans cet article, une nouvelle Canadienne, Esther Izarnotegui, présente l’entrée à l’école de sa famille au Canada.
Photo: Wayne Eardley
First published in Education Canada, March 2017
“I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott
THE CLASSROOM is calm and quiet. Students chat with classmates from around the world while working on their projects. Settlement workers, multicultural workers and counselors come in and out of the classroom, addressing a myriad of needs to support the students’ transition to a Canadian school. Mayahe Assaf (see photo) looks at a map and asks in Arabic, “Where is my country, where is Canada?” He turns to his friend behind him and they speak in Arabic and then laugh. The settlement worker explains, “The boys thought Syria was a big country, and then they looked at the size of Canada.” The hum of the classroom is filled with wonder, confusion and many questions. For many of the students, this is their first opportunity to find peace in school; some have lived for years in countries under conflict and disruption. A program that focuses on “settling in” is essential for their success.
The Surrey (B.C.) School District English Language Learner Welcome Centre offers programs to support parents’ and students’ initial settlement into their new community. This centre has been thought of as a model in countries with high immigrant and refugee student numbers, such as the U.S and Sweden. One of the programs at the Welcome Centre is the Bridge Program for newcomer students, including those with refugee experience.1 Classroom teacher Kris Hull describes it as a “soft landing into Canada.” The classroom, he says, “is a place for students to heal, relax, settle, acclimatize and reset their bearings, so they too can experience success in the next step of their educational journey.” For students who have experienced gaps in learning due to war, displacement or other factors, the adjustment into Canada begins with a predictable, safe, comfortable, low-pressure environment to allow the mind to start calming, to open up and prepare for learning.2
Mayahe’s family began their settlement journey with their acceptance into Canada. This invitation for resettlement into Canada brought peace and an opportunity to quell the storm they had been living in for the last four years in Syria – but the road ahead for this family is still complex and challenging. Mayahe was 18 years old when he entered Canada just over a year ago. He had some reading and writing in Arabic, no English speaking, reading or writing and had missed the last four years of school. Mayahe has been a witness to death and life experiences not even imagined in Canada. He is one of the many students and families from a refugee background who have found that in time, and with the right supports, their lives can be seamed back together.
The Surrey School District is the largest school district in B.C., with approximately 71,000 students. With a growing immigrant and refugee population, it is one of the most diverse public school systems in Canada; about half of the students have a home language other than English.3
Schools are one of the first connection points for newcomers to British Columbia. The Surrey School District English Learner Welcome Centre opened its doors in 2008 as part of a provincial initiative to enhance the role of schools and school districts in the settlement of school-age immigrants and their families. School districts were given the opportunity to contract directly with the provincial government for delivery of the Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) program (funding of the program has since moved to Immigrant, Refugee and Citizenship Canada). This was an opportunity for school districts to access external funding to support newcomer families in their settlement journey, utilizing community-based staff’s knowledge of government programs, policies and immigration laws, their expertise in serving immigrants, and their connections to other community services and resources.4
We recognize that all families come with different levels of need, and those needs are personal and unique. This principle guides us in developing strategies for support and case management. Comprehensive and cohesive settlement services must include a universal platform of services for all. Within that platform, the right tools and structures are provided at various levels of intensity and scale, tailored to the unique needs of different families and communities. Realizing a universal system that is locally responsive requires a partnership between governments and community stakeholders who also believe that:
Often we are asked, “How do newcomer families come to know about the Welcome Centre?” The first point of contact is during school registration. When a new family arrives at a school in Surrey, the Multicultural Worker (MCW) is often called to support the family in their first language for registration and a school welcome. Once this is complete, the child’s registration is sent to the Welcome Centre, where the families are connected to the Settlement Worker. This becomes the first contact in a supportive relationship between the school system and the families.
The intake with the family allows the staff to assess their needs and to connect them with their schools and the greater community. The students’ English Language assessment allows for a detailed and holistic assessment of student needs. Ross Powell, an assessment teacher at the Welcome Centre, believes that, given the wide range of education systems around the world and the even wider range of students’ language skills, a perfect language assessment for English Language Learners does not exist. However, good assessments “should provide a strengths-based profile of a student’s language proficiency and inform instruction for tomorrow.”
The assessment tools and processes used at the Welcome Centre are intended to assess both students’ social language and their academic language. Assessment is not a stand-alone event, but a starting point for planning, instruction and communicating student learning. Powell uses multiple measures to assess a child’s language ability. The assessment helps teachers set effective goals for the student’s growth, and also provides information as to what kind of curriculum and instructional designs will be most effective. In the interview with the students, Powell tries to view the “whole” child and identify all of the strengths each student brings. Equally important is to understand the possible barriers that might hinder performance on an assessment, such as students’ shyness, nervousness, previous experiences in school, or parental expectations. What Powell envisions for the initial assessment is not a “level of skill,” but “a profile of language strengths, and hope – for every child.”
Mayahe’s Canadian schooling began with a brief assessment using basic Dolch pre-primer sight words, and a conversation in Arabic about his schooling experience and language ability in Arabic. For Mayahe, attempting a more rigorous assessment would impact his confidence and feelings about being a student, and would not change the level of instruction he would require.
Trust, a sense of safety, and relationship are the first priorities when supporting refugee students and families in our schools. For school districts, having staff in schools who can communicate with parents in their first language and demonstrate cultural understanding helps build trust and a connection between home and school.
Mayahe’s memories of the war in Iraq are vivid. He remembers when the war reached their village and the family moved to Syria because of death threats. His hometown was no longer idyllic and safe; it became a place where different warring factions threatened the very life of their family. Experiences like this, that threaten the survival of the family’s children, are carried into the Canadian landscape and the need to restore safety is paramount. Through school, community and accessible programs the family slowly learned to gain trust in the Canadian system and access much-needed supports for their family.
Coralee Curby, our school psychologist, notes that programs like the Bridge Program allow time for newcomer youth to forge strong relationships with caring adults and learn in a predictable and safe environment.5 This is especially important for students from refugee backgrounds. Coralee finds that providing a “safe and supportive setting that promotes calming, caring connections and emotional regulation” gives students with complex backgrounds the best chance to recover from trauma.
The Centre for Health reports that although many immigrant and refugee children require increased levels of mental health support upon entering Canada, some refugee communities, unfortunately, are less likely to receive or access health services in comparison to others in the community. Some of the barriers to access can include: personal views on gender differences of the service provider, cultural misconceptions of mental health issues or personal health issues, language barriers, no access for unique languages, the availability of family or friends to assist and many other factors.
Upon arrival into Canada, students we have supported in the Bridge Program often show signs of trauma, displacement, and disconnection from their new country, which can significantly impair learning. Some of the features of trauma or post-migratory stress that we have witnessed in the Bridge Program include:
While each person’s story, experience and needs are unique, the research shows that the most important facets of any trauma recovery include:
Mayahe also remembers times of peace and fun in his home in Syria. He and his younger brother, Mohamed, used to help their father in his grocery store after school. Before the war, Syrian schools had an excellent reputation and Mayahe attended school with students from Yemen, China, Afghanistan, Russia, Syria and Iraq. Mayahe smiles quietly at these good memories.
“When did this memory change?” Mayahe’s face draws down and he says slowly, “Tuesday, July 17, 2012. Everything changed – ISIS burned my dad’s supermarket.” He goes on to say that his family was targeted for their beliefs. He tells us he saw dead people, burning, shooting, and killing. In 2013, mortar and rockets began firing against Damascus and conditions in the city declined. The children could no longer attend school. When the conflict became more intense, Mayahe started to combat against ISIS. He says, “For two years and eight months, I was fighting with the Syrian Army.” He pulls out his phone and shows a photo of himself in army greens, holding a heavy artillery weapon. He is just 15 years old.
In early 2015, the Assaf family received notification that their application to Canada was accepted, and they arrived in Vancouver on July 25th. Mayahe remembers walking in downtown Vancouver and feeling that “I didn’t know what to do. I had no English and I had no friends here in Canada.” When asked if adjusting to Canada was difficult for him, Mayahe says, “When I first arrived in Canada, I thought learning English was going to be hard, but it was not that hard for me. But I was worried they might send me back to Iraq.”
That September, “Someone [SWIS] helped us enroll in school and I started in the Bridge Program.” What were his early days of school like? “I didn’t understand anything; I thought I wouldn’t ever understand anything. I felt totally overwhelmed. I felt very challenged and frustrated. I was miserable and wanted to go back to Iraq.” But, he says, his teachers, Mr. Hull and Ms. Tang, were incredibly patient and good to him.
Mayahe says the Bridge Program “helped me learn to cope and do school in Canada. My school helped me so much. I know how to use words properly, make sentences and how to function in Canadian society – to speak to people and do what I can for myself.” Mayahe also attributes his success to his Canadian friends who helped him understand how to work and live here. He says, “I have kept going because I want a future, so I can take care of myself.” When asked what advice he give to a new student coming into Canada like he did, Mayahe laughs a little. “First when I came, I was angry, I got into fights outside of school, and this was my only way to express myself. But I learned if I want to live in Canada I have to change… Stay away from angry feelings, and focus on school and stay away from friends who lead you the wrong way.”
Like any 19-year-old, Mayahe is unsure about his future. But his ship is stable. The storm has passed. He has hope.
Photo: Courtesy Caroline Lai
First published in Education Canada, March 2017
1 Gerard Toal, Critical Geopolitics blog, Department of Government and International Affairs, Virginia Tech (2013). https://toal.org/page/7
2 Bruce D. Perry, Helping Traumatized Children: A Brief overview for caregivers (Child Trauma Academy, 2016).
https://childtrauma.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Helping_Traumatized_Children_Caregivers_Perry1.pdf
3 City of Surrey Immigration Fact Sheet, 2011. www.surrey.ca/files/Immigration_Demographic_Profile.pdf
4 Ference Weicker & Company, Delivery Model for School-Based Settlement Services (Vancouver, B.C.: Ministry of Education, 2007).
5 CMAS, Caring for Syrian Refugee Children: A program guide for welcoming young children and their families (2015). http://cmascanada.ca/2015/12/12/caring-for-syrian-refugee-children-a-program-guide-for-welcoming-young-children-and-their-families/
CANADA IS WIDELY RECOGNIZED as one of the most culturally diverse countries in the developed world. Not surprisingly, it is a preferred destination for immigrants and refugees seeking to build a better life for their children. Indeed, according to the latest data published in the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX, 2015), only Luxembourg, at 46 percent, has a higher percentage of first- and second-generation immigrant students within their school system than Canada, which has 29.6 percent.1 Canada’s openness is also evidenced by the arrival of more than 30,000 Syrian refugees over the last year.2 The responsibility for educating these immigrant and refugee students rests squarely with provincial governments, as Canada does not possess a federal ministry of education.
The integration of immigrant students within provincial education systems is essential for their future academic success and economic prosperity. One of the most frequently used ways to evaluate academic integration is through comparisons of international achievement test scores, such as those reported by the Programme in International Student Assessment (PISA). This international achievement test has assumed priority status around the world and has even been likened to the “Olympics of education” in the popular media,3 attracting considerable attention across Canada. It is worth noting that the PISA triennial survey is coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It assesses three “life skill” educational domains – reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and scientific literacy – in approximately 70 educational jurisdictions around the world. What makes PISA particularly useful for Canadian policymakers is that provincial mean scores are reported separately from the national average. This allows provinces to judge their performance against one another as well as international standards.
Over its 15-year history, one of PISA’s most consistent findings is that immigrant students typically underachieve relative to their non-migrant counterparts.4 Interestingly, this pattern does not fully characterize the Canadian context. Rather, what is aptly called the “performance disadvantage” for immigrant students is actually an advantage in some provinces, at least in mathematics – as indicated by the statistically significant higher mean PISA 2012 mathematics scores in British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces.
Furthermore, when socio-economic status is accounted for in the analysis, B.C., Ontario and the Atlantic region have higher math scores for first-generation immigrant students, as does Alberta for second-generation immigrant students. Conversely, provinces such as Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan possess significantly lower levels of mathematics performance for immigrant student groups. In the case of Quebec, the difference between non-migrants and first- and second-generation immigrant students was also larger than the OECD average, when SES was controlled for in the analysis. So Canadian immigrant students may demonstrate anything from a performance advantage to an acute disadvantage, depending on the province in which they live.5
Collectively, Canada is a fairly anomalous jurisdiction in comparison to the international community. Indeed, only two out of 25 European countries (Slovakia and Hungary) had PISA 2012 mathematics results in which immigrants outperformed non-migrants after adjusting for SES,6 and these score differences were smaller than those reported in B.C. and the Atlantic region. Overall, the European Commission report noted the typical performance disadvantage for European immigrant students, noting that in some cases non-migrants outperformed immigrant students by more than 60 points, which translates to approximately 1.5 years of schooling.
Provincial variations in student achievement must also be interpreted in relation to other tested domains. For example, PISA surveys focused on reading literacy indicated that immigrant students performed at a lower level in comparison to their non-migrant peers in every province across Canada, with the exception of the Atlantic region, where the results were identical.7 In Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, immigrant students’ reading scores were much lower, and the reported differences were statistically significant.8 Similarly, when the PISA survey focused on science literacy, the performance disadvantage was apparent in every province, with the largest differences observed in Quebec.9
Canada’s PISA results suggest that reducing the immigrant student performance disadvantage may be more challenging in the reading and science domains, as well as in individual provinces such as Quebec.
It is important to acknowledge that country of origin likely exerts a pronounced influence on student achievement. Hou and Zhang argue that variation by source region likely reflects cultural differences in the value placed on education and the level of effort put into the education of their children. In their Statistics Canada report, they argued that children of immigrants from East Asia (e.g. China) and South Asia (e.g. India) tend to have a higher educational attainment than those from Southeast Asia (e.g. Philippines), the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Southern Europe.
While country of origin may partially explain some of the achievement differences reported across provinces, there is a danger in making skewed assertions of the academic potential of particular cultural groups. As an open society, we should treat immigrant families as all having the potential to make an important social and economic contribution to Canada. Moreover, the available research is very clear in demonstrating the significant explanatory power of parental socioeconomic background for student achievement. Thus, the academic integration of immigrant children is invariably connected to the economic integration of their parents. This fact suggests that a comprehensive approach to the settlement of immigrant families may foster future academic success. In many respects, education policies for immigrant students cannot be separated from the influence of social and economic policies for immigrant parents.
High levels of educational achievement and educational equity are widely recognized around the world as the hallmarks of a successful public education system. Some have suggested that immigration makes it more challenging for nations to address both of these critical goals. Indeed, there are political parties across the Western world that have argued for very selective immigration measures, largely based on the country or ethnicity of applicants. The Canadian government, to date, has not taken this approach and continues to see cultural diversity as an important strength rather than a weakness. Nevertheless, the significant number of first- and second-generation immigrants, including refugees, who are making Canada their home presents a formidable challenge for provincial education systems. Proper supports, such as English- and French-language classes for arriving families, are essential for immigrant students’ academic success. At the same time, more research is needed to uncover under what conditions students with a migration background perform better and to discover the reasons why some groups of students face greater challenges than others.
It is clear that some countries and educational jurisdictions have done a better job of facilitating the transition for immigrants, which is reflected in their enhanced student achievement. Canada ranks significantly higher than the international average in the use of effective immigrant policies and has done a fairly good job of supporting the academic achievement of their immigrant student population. Nevertheless, the challenge of immigrant integration is still a pressing concern for national and provincial governments,10 as evidenced by the performance disadvantages that are present in several Canadian provinces. Ultimately, it is up to provincial governments to study and reduce these achievement gaps. To date, our PISA results suggest we have much to celebrate, but also some cause for concern.
Photo: iStock
First published in Education Canada, March 2017
1 T. Huddleston, Ö.Bilgili, A. L. Joki and Z. Vankova, MIPEX 2015 (Brussels: Migration Policy Group, 2015).
2 Government of Canada (2016). Canada Resettles Syrian Refugees. www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/welcome/
3 C. Alphonso, “Canadian teens ace OECD problem-solving test,” Globe and Mail (April 1, 2014).
4 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, “Can the Performance Gap Between Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Students Be Closed?” PISA in Focus No. 53 (Paris, France: OECD Publishing, 2015).
5 For a more detailed breakdown, see: Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, Immigrants in Canada: Does Socio-economic background matter? (2015). www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/343/AMatters_No9_EN.pdf
6 European Commission, PISA 2012: EU performance and first inferences regarding education and training policies in Europe (Brussels: 2013). http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/doc/pisa2012_en.pdf
7 Hou, F., & Zhang, Q. Regional Differences in the Educational Outcomes of Young Immigrants (Statistics Canada, 2015).
www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-006-x/2015001/article/14247-eng.pdf
8 Hou & Zhang, Regional Differences.
9 Hou & Zhang, Regional Differences.
10 Migrant Integration Policy Index, Education: Key findings (2015).
International organizations are ideally positioned to influence education policies and large-scale reforms on a global scale. This article discusses the impact of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United Nations’ Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank, and the European Union (EU) on transnational and global education policy. Although the previously noted organizations have been in existence for decades,[1] these prominent international bodies are increasingly influencing the global education discourse through their research and policy activities.
The OECD primarily exerts influence in the education sector through its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is recognized as the largest survey of student achievement in the world. According to the OECD, the PISA triennial survey “assesses the extent to which students near the end of compulsory schooling have acquired key knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in modern societies.”[2] More specifically, PISA assesses 15-year-old student performance in the areas of mathematics, science, and reading in OECD member states and in a growing number of non-OECD countries and economies. The most recent administration of this international assessment took place in 2015 and included 70 countries and/or economies from around the world. Given its global status, it is not surprising that the popular media in Canada and abroad have likened PISA to the “Olympics of education.”[3]
The current director of PISA, Dr. Andreas Schleicher, has indicated that PISA provides “policy makers and practitioners with helpful tools to improve quality, equity and efficiency in education, by revealing some common characteristics of students, schools and education systems that do well.”[4] In order to support and provide this type of guidance, the OECD provides resource documents within their online library. Policy brief series such as PISA in Focus, Teaching in Focus, and Education Indicators in Focus, help governments identify features and characteristics of the best-performing education systems around the world. Although the OECD is quick to point out they do not tell participating countries how to run their education system, their publications are designed to focus policymakers’ efforts in formulating and implementing specific policies that they contend will improve equity and educational achievement across schools.
UNESCO is also dedicated to supporting national policymakers in the development and implementation of education policies and strategies. This organization provides technical assistance in policy analysis, education sector development plans, and donor mobilization in support of national education priorities. UNESCO also provides easy access to its various publications, which include profiles of various education systems around the world. The United Nations’ international financial institution, the World Bank, also influences education policy and implementation through various programs. One particularly high-profile World Bank program, Education for All (EFA), is repeatedly cited for its laudable goals – namely, to bring the benefits of education to “every citizen in every society” by 2015. (UNESCO is currently formulating a post-2015 agenda through a consultative process that includes governments, civil society, the private sector, and academic and research institutions.) The EFA seeks to improve outcomes at various levels: early childhood education, primary education, secondary education, and adult education. In 2000, 189 countries adopted two key EFA goals: universal primary education and gender parity.
The EU is comprised of 28 member states that possess individual sovereignty in the formation and implementation of education policy. Nevertheless, the EU has developed research and communication strategies to facilitate the exchange of best practices, the gathering and dissemination of educational performance measures, and perhaps most importantly, advice and support for national policy reform. Additionally, shared programs have been implemented across EU nations, which have essentially led to the formation of one of the largest transnational policy networks in the world. The Education and Training 2010 program, for instance, led to the formulation of common targets and initiatives that encompass all types of education and training. The more recent and comprehensive Education and Training 2020 outlines four common objectives identified as priorities for EU member states’ reform efforts: making lifelong learning and mobility a reality; improving quality and efficiency of education and training; promoting equity, social cohesion, and active citizenship; and enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training. Collectively, these objectives have important implications for education governance and policy within national education systems.
In education, as in other sectors such as health, economics, or the environment, the uptake of recommended policies and reforms that are suggested by international bodies is influenced by geo- and socio-political forces. Thus, large-scale reforms, including those in compulsory education, must be juxtaposed against contextual issues that are dominant during particular historical periods. Why countries like Germany and Japan have embarked on a series of PISA-initiated reforms while other nation states have remained largely unaffected exemplifies the previous point. In the case of Germany, their mediocre performance on the initial administration of PISA in 2000 provoked “PISA-shock,” which is credited with initiating a sweeping set of reforms that have been characterized as the greatest shift in national educational policies to occur since the fall of the Soviet Union.[5] In both Germany and Japan, scholars have noted how the national context was ripe for large-scale educational change.[6]
Despite the previously noted context issues, a growing number of academics, particularly those focused on education, have expressed concern with the expanding role of international organizations on national education policymaking. In the case of PISA, a significant number of academics have disputed the “system improvement” claim that the OECD has touted. Academic condemnation of PISA is evidenced by an open letter to Dr. Andreas Schleicher, the director of the OECD program, from a group of more than 80 high-profile academics from around the world. The open letter essentially argued that PISA was damaging education worldwide by escalating testing, emphasizing a narrow range of measureable aspects of education, and shifting education policies to find “short-term fixes” designed to help a country climb in the rankings.[7] Originally published in the British national newspaper The Guardian, the points raised in the open letter were reiterated in a special edition of the academic journal Policy Futures in Education.[8] It is worth noting that the list of signatories grew from the initial 80 to more than 130 (as of May 6, 2014) in the most recent letter.
Critics of the World Bank have also voiced their concerns with the growing, and some would argue skewed, influence of this international organization in the education sector. Although the EFA is a global priority, some have suggested that the World Bank has focused too heavily on developing countries, and not held the U.S., Europe, and industrial democracies to the same level of scrutiny.[9] Similarly, agencies with specific educational mandates such as UNESCO have been criticized for not emphasizing the interdependence and importance of various education sub-sectors. Thus, it is fair to say that both the scope and the selective nature of large-scale education reforms promoted by the World Bank and UNESCO have not been immune to academic scrutiny.
The EU has also drawn criticism for the structure of education governance that is facilitated by their open method of coordination (OMC). Although OMC has never been given a formal legal definition, it is widely regarded as the principal means of spreading best practice to achieve greater convergence towards the main EU goals, including those in the education sector. OMC achieves these transnational goals through the establishment of indicators and benchmarks and their corresponding translation into national and regional policies. Critics have referred to OMC as “soft law” that seeks to undermine traditional constitutional doctrines and values that support a limited view of Social Europe.[10] In the education sector, the previously noted critics suggest that OMC impinges on education policies and that policy learning across member states is susceptible to highly politicised interests. The latter underscores how influential groups may skew priorities and large-scale reforms in the education sector.
Collectively, the previous critics raise important points to consider, particularly when a nation or regional government is put in the unenviable position of negotiating competing demands that impact their education system. However, the more general and overarching criticism that international organizations have eroded the power of nation states and now possess a hegemonic grip on education policymaking is overstated and simplifies important cross-cultural differences. Certainly, we need to guard against reductionist approaches to education that may distill a child’s educational experience to a test score. We also need to guard against policy networks that may set unrealistic targets and benchmarks that could strip schools and teachers of their professional autonomy. However, there is little evidence to suggest this has systematically occurred across a continent or the globe.
Certainly, we need to guard against reductionist approaches that may distill a child’s educational experiences to a test score.
Not all countries respond in a predictable or consistent fashion to the policy suggestions of international organizations – a finding supported by a large number of researchers. Similarly, one should acknowledge that regardless of important contextual issues, some policies promoted by international organizations, namely basic education and equity in educational opportunities for all children, should be non-negotiable. There is definitely merit in trying to ensure that these are truly global priorities, irrespective of a nation’s economic and/or political standing on the world stage. Rather, it is the implementation of these laudable goals that is often a source of contention and one that should be closely monitored. For their part, the academic community can play an important checks and balance function by conducting programs of research that evaluate the impact, intended and unintended, of policy reforms on national education systems.
From my perspective, the global community needs to be open to the opportunities and vigilant to the constraints that may be associated with the work of international organizations that facilitate large-scale education reforms. The contemporary forces of globalization suggest this challenge will have to be navigated by public policymakers and school systems for generations to come – and Canada is no exception. Interestingly, since education is a provincial/territorial responsibility under the Canadian constitution, we provide the rest of the world with a unique context to study the intersection of international organizations, education policy, and large-scale reform. In many respects, our provincial autonomy is an important characteristic in helping our vast nation successfully address external international pressures in a manner that is respectful of and consistent with our regional culture, history, and geography. Canada seems well positioned to meet the challenges of large-scale educational change that may be precipitated by international organizations.
En Bref : Les organisations internationales telles que l’Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE), l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’éducation, la science et la culture (UNESCO), la Banque mondiale et l’Union européenne (UE) influent de plus en plus sur la nature et l’envergure des politiques nationales d’éducation dans le monde entier. Cet article indique certaines des influences les plus marquées sur les politiques d’éducation mondiales qu’ont engendrées ces organisations transnationales. L’auteur conclut que la communauté mondiale doit faire preuve tant d’ouverture aux possibilités que de vigilance à l’égard des contraintes susceptibles d’être associées au travail d’organisations internationales favorisant des réformes à grande échelle en éducation. Compte tenu des forces contemporaines de mondialisation, il s’agit d’un défi que devront relever les décideurs publics et systèmes scolaires pour les générations à venir.
Photo: Tuomas Kujansuu (iStock)
First published in Education Canada, June 2016
1 The OECD was formed in 1961, based on its predecessor the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), founded in 1948. The World Bank and UNESCO were formed in 1944 and 1945, respectively, and the EU, which presently comprises 28 member states, was established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993.
2 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, About PISA (2014), 1. www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/PISA-trifold-brochure-2014.pdf
3 C. Alphonso, “Stakes high in OECD student testing,” The Globe and Mail (November 29, 2013), www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/stakes-high-in-oecd-student-testing/article15699429/; M. Scardino, “The Olympics of education,” The Guardian (December 11, 2008), www.theguardian.com/education/2008/dec/11/primary-maths-science-politics
4 A. Schleicher, “Can Competencies Assessed by PISA Be Considered the Fundamental School Knowledge 15-Year-Olds Should Possess?” Journal of Educational Change 8 (2007): 356.
5 V. Bank, “On OECD Policies and the Pitfalls in Economy-Driven Education: The case of Germany,” Journal of Curriculum Studies 44, no. 2 (2013): 193-210.
6 D. Niemann, Changing Patterns in German Policymaking: The impact of international organizations – TranState Working Papers No. 99 (Bremen, Germany: Transformations of the State Collaborative Research Center 597, 2009); K. Takayama, “The Politics of International League Tables: PISA in Japan’s achievement crisis debate,” Comparative Education 44, no. 4 (2008): 387-407.
7 P. Andrews et al., “OECD and PISA tests are damaging education worldwide – academics,” The Guardian (May 6, 2014). www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/06/oecd-pisa-tests-damaging-education-academics
8 H. D. Meyer et al., “Open Letter to Andreas Schleicher, OECD, Paris,” Policy Futures in Education 12, no. 7 (2014): 872-877.
9 S. P. Heyneman, “The Failure of Education for All as Political Strategy,” Prospects 39, no. 1 (2009): 5-10.
10 B. Lange and N. Alexiandou, “New Forms of European Union Governance in the Education Sector? A preliminary analysis of the Open Method of Coordination,” European Educational Research Journal6, no. 4 (2007): 321-335.
Since the early 1970s, public schools in Anglophone boards across Canada have responded to the demand for programs leading to functional levels of bilingualism by, in large part, implementing variations of French Immersion, a program where non-French-speaking students learn through experiencing French as the language of instruction. Increasing numbers of parents continue to ask for access to French Immersion programs as a choice within public schooling.
Currently, approximately 10 percent of Canadian students are registered in French Immersion (FI).[i] However, over half of FI students leave the program before the end of Grade 12. Studies have demonstrated that some students find the program too confining or difficult as the school years progress, and some value the French they have learned but wish to pursue other interests.[ii] An additional 40 percent of Canadian students are registered in other forms of French as a Second Language (FSL) programs, with a wide range of program designs. We have little idea of the comparative effectiveness of any of these programs, and no information on other international language programs.
This article examines the situation regarding second-language programs in the Canadian school system today, questioning if our propensity to consider French Immersion as the only viable model is the most equitable approach to preparing the most students possible as global citizens equipped with second-language and intercultural competence.
French Immersion does produce students with a high level of functional bilingualism – provided these students remain in the program as designed until the end of Grade 12, which the majority do not. But there are challenges in continuing to expand FI programs. The ability of school boards to continue to respond to parental demand for the expansion of French Immersion is confined by context and circumstances around available space, student enrolments, budget, personnel and competing demands from neighbourhood schools and other programs of choice. Finding and keeping teachers with the necessary linguistic, cultural and pedagogical competence to teach in FI is a continued challenge for pre-service and in-service programs.
Finally, there are concerns that the FI pedagogical model mitigates against equity. The FI program is sometimes perceived as providing “a private school within the public system” and a more homogeneous class composition. French immersion has continued to be challenging around inclusionary practices. Students cannot join Early FI after Grade 1. Many newly arrived English Language Learners (ELL) would choose FI or another effective FSL program if they could have neighbourhood access at later points than Grade 1. In addition, despite increased efforts to promote differentiation of instruction and inclusionary practices, French Immersion does not historically retain anywhere near the same percentages of special education students as the rest of the system, especially at the intermediate and secondary grades.
The question becomes, are there additional pathways to French competence that could improve access and ease some of the strain on the system?
Rather than continue to communicate to parents that French Immersion is the only pathway to acceptable levels of second-language (L2) competence, we need to expand our viable pedagogical pathways and make space for more students to learn French, or additional languages, in meaningful and effective ways. In the global village of today, and in the bilingual, plurilingual, pluricultural, forward-thinking country of Canada, it is the role of the Canadian school system to seek out more pathways to develop students’ competencies in multiple languages.
Curriculum reform is currently moving towards personalization of curriculum, interdisciplinary competencies and multiple pathways to success. Second-language education has much to contribute to this 21st century learning. Intercultural competence is a lifelong skill that accompanies second-language learning experiences. This goal is for all learners and is particularly pertinent in light of the core competencies that are key features of “deeper learning.”[iii] Researchers and policymakers underline the intercultural dimension of second language education:
“… the ‘intercultural dimension’ in language teaching aims to develop learners as intercultural speakers or mediators who are able to engage with complexity and multiple identities and to avoid the stereotyping which accompanies perceiving someone through a single identity… Intercultural communication is communication on the basis of respect for individuals and equality of human rights as the democratic basis for social interaction.”[iv]
So how can school boards expand the options to include more opportunities for more students?
A companion to the Immersion model is found in the Intensive model, which has been expanding across Canada since its introduction by Canadian second-language researchers Joan Netten and Claude Germain in 1997. Intensive French is defined as “an enrichment of the Core French program consisting of offering from three to four times the number of hours regularly scheduled for FSL in a concentrated period of time (five months) at the end of the elementary school cycle (in Grade 5 or 6).”[v] This model is enacted in the neighbourhood school setting. Essentially, students experience a mini-immersion into the language for half a year, and the other subjects are compressed to accommodate this in the rest of the year.
Because of its intensity, this increased time is effective in giving students a significant boost in oral language and literacy. An important consideration in developing the program is ensuring an immersion-like experience, wherein authentic use of the language is emphasized – that is, language used for real communication rather than as an object of study. School boards that introduce the Intensive model in Grade 5 or 6 must ensure appropriate staffing and in-service training. Follow-up courses (upper intermediate and secondary) that respect the emergent oral fluency of the students are also essential in order to reap the benefits of such a model. This model is being used for other additional languages, including Aboriginal languages, and is currently being introduced internationally.
In a 2015 presentation to the Standing Senate Committee on Official Languages, Germain called for federal funding categories for school boards to be altered to reflect the proficiency levels reached by students, rather than funding on the basis of participation rates only.[vi] Students who begin with Intensive French in Grades 5 or 6 and follow through in Post-Intensive French until at least Grade 10 arrive at an Intermediate level of competence, able to communicate comfortably and continue learning in a Francophone milieu. Moreover, the Intensive model is a neighbourhood school option with much less pressure on staffing and the de facto inclusion of all students. Yet Germain reports that in 2013-2014 in Canada, there were still only 34,000 students enrolled in Intensive or Post-Intensive French, about 4 percent of Canadian students in Grades 5-10. This model deserves federal funding equivalent to Immersion funding to provide incentives to boards to implement more programs.
Other models in existence across Canada that emphasize time, intensity and action-oriented language use include:
As a means of illustrating the complexities faced by school boards and the value of alternative program models offered in conjunction with French Immersion, I will briefly describe some examples from Western Canada.
In Surrey, the largest school district in B.C., Wendy Carr worked as a participant researcher alongside the teachers, principals and school district staff to describe the successes and challenges of Intensive French program implementation in five elementary schools. Careful attention was also paid to the follow-up at the secondary school level. Since Intensive French in Grade 5 or 6 does not involve teaching content through the language, is viewed as low risk by parents, and is a “neighbourhood school” program, it proved a very popular choice with ELL families in Surrey.[vii]
A second case study was conducted by the Centre for the Study of Educational Policy and Leadership at Simon Fraser University in the region of Golden, B.C. This small town and surrounding area is projected to suffer from declining enrollment over the next ten years. The manner in which the Early Immersion enrollment was affecting the demographics of the one and only primary school in town was a matter of serious concern to the Board. The percentage of special-needs students was very much higher in the English classes at the school and the differences in clientele were pronounced. The recommendations of the report included modifying the Immersion program to start in Grade 4 instead of Kindergarten (a model common in some provinces), so that all students in the region could attend.[viii]
A recent review of French programs offered in the Yukon Territory, found a mix of Immersion and Intensive programs, an impressive set of choices given the diversity of population, a significant commitment to multiple Aboriginal languages and cultures, and a combination of urban and rural schools. Recommendations of the review suggest strengthening options and pathways for students of both Immersion and Intensive programs at the secondary level, by offering experiential programs such as an integrated semester in French focusing on outdoor education, work experience, and language-through-content options such as cooking and arts in French, as well as intensifying the use of technology-based action-oriented projects to reach out to and connect with speakers of the language around the world.[ix]
GIVEN CANADA’S COMMITMENT to a pluralistic society, and that we live in a global community where intercultural competence is highly valued, school boards have important choices to make in evaluating the effectiveness and equity of their current options and in meeting the second-language needs of the most students possible.
The caveat in this call for expanded pathways to functional fluency in second languages is that there is little or no useful information available to school boards, provinces or the federal government as to the achievement levels of students who have experienced these programs.
To deepen the commitment to effective second-language education for the most students possible, federal and provincial jurisdictions need to continue their work with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) in the Canadian context.[x] Canada is involved in several initiatives supported by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT) to implement the vast array of tools available for assessment and credentialing through the CEFR.[xi] Clear expectations based on globally accepted descriptions of competency levels will help students, parents and boards understand their language proficiency and learning pathways.
In jurisdictions in Europe, for example, it is common to see job postings with levels of required second-language fluency attached. A fine example of efforts in this regard is the Edmonton Public School Board, which has implemented bilingual programs in six languages, and has been working for years with the CEFR-inspired “student language passport”: a digital portfolio of language experiences, and related benchmarks and credentials. Efforts to encourage students to follow through at the secondary level are further enhanced by concrete goals and internationally recognized attainable credentials for achievement.
[i] Canadian Parents for French, Enrollment Statistics for FSL Programs 2009 to 2014. http://cpf.ca/en/research-advocacy/research/enrolmenttrends
[ii] C. Lewis and S. Shapson, “Secondary French Immersion: A Study of students who leave the program, Canadian Modern Language Review 45, no. 3 (1989).
[iii] Michael Fullan, Great to Excellent: Launching the next stage of Ontario’s education agenda (2013). www.michaelfullan.ca/media/13599974110.pdf
[iv] M. Byram, B. Gribkova and H. Starkey, Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching: A practical introduction for teachers (Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2002). http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/source/guide_dimintercult_en.pdf
[v] W. Carr, “Intensive French in British Columbia: Student and parent perspectives and ESL student performance, The Canadian Modern Language Review 65,no. 5 (2010): 787-815.
[vi] Claude Germain, Presentation to the Senate Committee on Official Languages (2015). http://www.francaisintensif.ca/media/gen-02-eng-senate-committ-lng-c-germain-march-2015.pdf
[vii] W. Carr, “Intensive French in British Columbia.”
[viii] Centre for the Study of Educational Policy and Leadership, External Review of the Golden Zone: Rocky Mountain School District (Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University: 2010).
[ix] C. Lewis and R. Swansborough, FSL Programs in the Yukon Focus Group Report: More French for more students, follow the learner (2016).
[x] Council of Ministers of Education of Canada, Working with the Common. European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in the Canadian Context (2010). www.cmec.ca/docs/assessment/CEFR-canadian-context.pdf
[xi] L. Hermans-Nymark, “The Path to Bilingualism: The Common European Framework for languages in Canada,” Education Canada 53, no. 1 (2015). www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/path-bilingualism
What is the best way to teach math and science?
It’s a question that Canadian educators and parents have been asking a lot in recent years, prompted by domestic and international tests that indicate a decline in the math and science test scores of Canadian students. Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) shared results in 2014 showing that more than half of the high school students in Grade 9 Applied Math are not meeting the provincial standard.
Math education is a subject of lively debate in this country: Should we stick with the “new math,” or return to the old “drill-and-kill” method? Or perhaps the answer is a bit of the old with a dash of the new?
As Head of School at Trafalgar Castle School, an independent day and boarding school in Whitby, Ont. for girls in Grades 5-12, I have certainly asked these questions myself. But instead of wrestling with the “new math vs. old math” argument, we at Trafalgar Castle chose another option: Singapore Math.
We introduced Singapore Math to our school three years ago, after researching a number of programs and determining that this method had the best achievement results internationally. At Trafalgar Castle, we have a “world-best” education philosophy, which means we are constantly evaluating programs from countries around the world that have proven to be successful. Students in Singapore in the middle school years rank consistently in the top worldwide for math and science testing, way beyond most other countries (including Canada).
Trafalgar students in Grades 5 through 8 learn math through this innovative, even contrarian, teaching method, which turns traditional approaches upside down. Singapore Math deliberately slows down the teaching of math, taking more time to ensure students grasp each concept before moving on. For example, students might spend two weeks on multiplying fractions, instead of spending a day or two and then coming back to it later.
Singapore Math is also highly interactive, and approaches mathematical problems from different perspectives, taking into account all the ways children learn (visual, aural, verbal, physical, etc.). Students use visual aids like bars and blocks way before they start writing equations with “x” and “y,” so they achieve a deeper grasp of the actions they perform. This visualization is not deployed nearly as much in Canadian classrooms. In most settings, you would see a concrete-to-abstract strategy whereby multiplication, for example, would use physical objects, then shift to the abstraction of lining up numbers in a multiplication equation. Singapore Math introduces a middle step between the concrete and abstract, called the pictorial approach. The students draw a diagram of the concepts going on. This extends to diagraming word problems on paper, rather than the fatiguing and often frustrating scenario of trying to picture a problem in their heads.
One happy result of all this is that when students reach algebra, they’ve already met the core concepts pictorially; indeed in most cases students in Grade 6 are able to understand algebraic concepts that normally wouldn’t be grasped until mid-way through Grade 8.
Another important element of Singapore Math is that it relies on strong mathematics teaching. You need people who know and love mathematics to teach it. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of qualified people to teach the subject, especially at the elementary level, so this is a challenging requirement. Yet surely we should not deploy a mathematics curriculum to satisfy the aptitude of the teachers instead of the needs of the children they are entrusted to teach.
Our results
When it comes to student performance, the response to Singapore Math has been overwhelmingly positive. Each year, the Singapore Math students have performed above grade level, and their overall final averages continue to rise each year. Perhaps even more importantly, our students love math. In fact, we were so pleased with the results that we added Singapore Science to the curriculum last year.
Like its math counterpart, Singapore Science is an interactive and “hands-on” method of teaching, devised to stimulate students’ natural curiosity and cultivate their spirit of inquiry. In my view, nothing saps the excitement and power out of learning like telling kids something they could find out for themselves. In Singapore Science, students do experiments to learn key concepts, incorporating active discussion and real-world examples. We’ve put a lot of resources into our labs so that the children can learn by doing. The core of the program is teaching the experimental method, and we intuitively know (and for doubters there is plenty of research to back it up) that students learn best when they are highly engaged.
When it comes to the “math wars,” at the end of the day you have to base it on results and how kids learn best. The Singapore Method might not work for everyone, but it certainly has for us. We will continue to re-evaluate it though, as we do all of our programs, and to look beyond our borders to find the best teaching methods possible.
En Bref – Il y a trois ans, l’école Trafalgar Castle School a mis en place la méthode de mathématiques de Singapour pour ses élèves. Cette méthode novatrice d’enseignement des mathématiques aide les élèves à saisir des concepts beaucoup plus avancés que ce que l’on attend d’eux. Ainsi, les élèves de 6e année sont capables de comprendre des concepts algébriques normalement enseignés en 8e année. À l’école Trafalgar, la méthode de Singapour fait ses preuves chaque année et les notes en mathématiques des élèves en témoignent. Cette méthode pourrait ne pas convenir à tous, mais elle nous a été utile.
Photo: Sarah Harries-Taylor, Trafalgar Castle School
First published in Education Canada, May 2015