Every Child Matters
My sister recently retired from being a teacher and wanted to end her career with a project that was meaningful to her. She was one of the wonderful organizers for an Orange Shirt Day. Please visit this link for further information:
https://www.evensi.ca/orange-shirt-day-in-fort-quappelle-every-child-matters-fort/187051943
The following is a message from our ECS 100 instructor, Mrs. Julie Machnaik:
I came across this Hallowe’en commercial called “My Heroes” that challenges gender norms. Thought it was a perfect ‘treat’ to share with all of you.
[copy/pasted text from commercial] “We’ve all read enough moving essays and Facebook posts about boys who wear dresses or pretend to be Elsa from Frozen to know that it’s OK for kids to break away from gender norms. But that certainly doesn’t mean, for parents, at least, that it’s easy.
In a heartwarming new commercial, released just ahead of Halloween, a couple grapples with just that.
In the short PSA, a happy family is carving pumpkins when Mom pulls out the costumes the kids requested. The son and daughter run upstairs gleefully as Dad looks on hesitantly. While trick-or-treating, the parents watch from a distance as their little Wonder Woman and Batman knock on doors. It’s only at the end of the video, when the kids are being put to bed, that we realize who is wearing which costume.
In that instant, we better understand the father’s earlier look of concern, the mother’s quiet words of encouragement, their silent relief when a neighbor doesn’t cast judgment.
Yes, it’s hard to imagine how we’d handle such a scenario, but this ad, titled “My Heroes,” serves as a poignant blueprint for parents while also making us realize what we’ve long known . . . that a boy dressing up as his favorite superhero is not a big deal at all.”
Office of the Treaty Commissioner: http://www.otc.ca/
Truth and Reconciliation: http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=3
Article to Read: Justice Murray Sinclair states, “Reconciliation is not an aboriginal problem — it is a Canadian problem. It involves all of us.” Visit CBC Politics article to read, view, listen to build more background knowledge, Truth and Reconciliation report brings calls for action, not words.
View the Get Involved page on Legacy of Hope website.Think about why reconciliation matters. Why IS this important to non-Aboriginal Canadians? Why should it matter to a Canadian who never attended a residential school?
Dr. Jennifer Tupper, our previous Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Regina, shares an important message and continues to guide our faculty today, “The Truth and Reconciliation Report released last June identified 94 Calls to Action, some of which are specifically related to education. Because of our deep commitment to reconciliation, and especially given the role of education in oppression and marginalization of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples of Canada, the Faculty of Education at the UofR has prepared a formal response to the TRC.”
She proudly referred to the work that we, as a faculty, have integrated into our teachings. We have planned meaningful ways for our students to engage with projects, resources and exhibits such as Project Heart, 100 Years of Loss and the Witness Blanket. This is where your journey begins, exploring these 3 projects.
We thank Dr. Tupper for sharing the Faculty of Education formal response, November 3rd, 2015, on the Project of Heart blog. Take some time to explore this amazing blog.
Check out the May 15th, 2016 posting called, “If These Hills Could Talk“. View, listen, feel & appreciate a performance piece portraying the complexity of the residential school experience in Lebret and Fort Qu’Appelle. The video posted on the blog is “a curated adaptation of the performance piece performed on April 14, 2016 at the Walking Together: Day of Education for Truth and Reconciliation hosted by the Faculty of Education, University of Regina and the National Research Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR).” Daya Madhur
Powerful story that has been in the recent news…Gord Downie’s The Secret Path (2hours in length so this may be a link you want to save to view in full at a later date) On October 22, 1966 near Kenora, Ontario, Chanie Wenjack died when he walking home to the family he was taken from over 400 miles away. Fifty years later, Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie has taken Wenjack’s story and turned it into the Secret Path project, which consists of a solo album, a graphic novel and an animated film. The intention for Downie — who went public with his diagnosis of terminal brain cancer in May — is to utilize his celebrity to draw attention to Wenjack’s story and the legacy of residential schools.
“The Stranger” is the first full chapter and song of The Secret Path. Adapted from Gord Downie’s album and Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel, The Secret Path chronicles the heartbreaking story of Chanie Wenjack’s residential school experience and subsequent death as he escapes and attempts to walk 600 km home to his family.
Hi everyone,
In an ECS 110 online course, one of my classmates shared the following link to some really creative tools for storytelling. Hope you find it as valuable as I have. Leanne
https://elearningindustry.com/18-free-digital-storytelling-tools-for-teachers-and-students
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to share a link that provides information on a public discussion that will be taking place on October 12th in Regina, at the museum ….
www.uregina.ca/arts/public-lectures/open-minds.html
I hope to attend. Take care, Leanne
From ECS 100 class: I Am Stronger is a social movement, a call to action to stop bullying and cyber-bullying in our communities. As an organization that believes in the power of change, SaskTel wants to take a stand and help lead that change by connecting those of us who are willing to put ourselves on the front lines for the fight against bullying.
Something to think about …. 2011-I’m Special
Remember to give thanks, and remember to say it too:
Research for History 116: Issues in World History
Extra History — Extra Credits: This site teaches history in a down-to-earth manner that helps understand the events more clearly.
“I, who did not die” – a novel by Zahed Haftlang & Najah Aboud with Meredith May. This is a true story of two people, a boy and a man, who saved one another’s life. In the first instance, the boy soldier saved the injured man’s life. Their next encounter occurred in a different country, at different ages, when they met as former Prisoners of War.
The following has been copied from Ms. Chauntel Baudu’s ELNG 200 – Linguistic Diversity and Teaching Language Arts course:
Additional Reading List
ELNG 200
Some of my Favorites:
Aveling, N. (2006). ‘Hacking at our very roots’: Rearticulating white racial identity within the context of teacher education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 9(3), 261-274.
Aveling, N. (2001). Where do you come from?: Critical storytelling as a teaching strategy within the context of teacher education. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 22(1), 35-47.
Bernhardt, P. (2009). Opening up classroom space: Student voice, autobiography, & the curriculum. High School Journal, 92(3), 61-68.
Bekisizwe, N. (2010). Critical theory as social justice pedagogy. In T. Chapman & N. Hobbel (Eds.), Language, culture, and teaching: Social justice pedagogy across the curriculum (pp. 89-102). London, GBR: Routledge.
Berryman, C. (1999). Critical mirrors: Theories of autobiography. Mosaic (Winnipeg), 32(1).
Blumenfeld, W. (2006). Chritian privilege and the promotion of “secular” and not-so “secular” mainline chriticanity in public schooling and in the larger society. Equity and Excellence in Education, 39(3), 195-210.
Cavanagh, L. (2001). The pedagogy of the pastor: The formation of the social studies curriculum in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Education, 26(4), 401-417.
Cherland, M. (2000). Teaching beyond reader response: Reading the culture to know the self. In B. Barrell & R. Hammett (Eds.), Advocating change: Contemporary issues in subject English (pp. 104-116). Toronto, Canada: Irwin Publishing Ltd.
Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Delpit, L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. Harvard Educational Review, 58(3), 280-298.
DiAngelo, R., & Sensoy, O. (2010). “Okay, I get it! Now tell me how to do it!: Why we can’t just tell you how to do critical multicultural education”. Multicultural Perspectives, 12(2), 97-102.
Dion, S. (2009). Braiding histories: Learning from aboriginal people’s experiences and perspectives. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Dion, S. (2007). Disrupting molded images: Identities, responsibilities and relationships – teachers and indigenous subject material. Teaching Education, 18(4), 329-342.
Dei, G. J. S., Karumanchery, L. and Karumanchery-Luik, N. 2004. The banality of racism: Living ‘within’ the traumatic. In Playing the race card: Exposing white power and privilege, 2004, 127-146. New YorkNew York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
….. Click the link for more information.: Peter Lang.
Freire, P. (1997). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum Publishing Company.
Gallagher, C. (2003). Color-blind privilege: The social and political functions of erasing the color line in post race America. Race, Gender & Class, 10(4), 1-9.
Kumashiro, K. (2009). Against common sense: Teaching and learning toward social justice (2nd Edition). Florence: Routledge.
Kumashiro, K. (2001). “Posts” perspectives on anti-oppressive education in social studies, English, mathematics, and science classrooms. Educational Researcher, 30(3), 3-12.
Mackey, E. (1999). The house of difference: Cultural politics and national identity in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto.
McIvor, O. (2010). I am my subject: Blending indigenous research methodology and autoethnography through integrity-based, spirit-based research. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 33(1), 137- McKinley, B., Brayboy, J. & McCarty, T. (2010). Indigenous knowledges and social justice pedagogy. In T. Chapman & N. Hobbel (Eds.), Language, Culture, and Teaching: Social Justice Pedagogy Across the Curriculum (pp. 184-200). London, GBR: Routledge.
McNamee, S. & Miller, R.K. (2004). The meritocracy myth. Sociation Today, 2(1).
Miller, S J. (2008). Book walk: Works that move our teaching forward: “Speaking” the walk, “speaking” the talk: Embodying critical pedagogy to teach young adult literature. English Education, 40(2), 145-154.
Additional Resources:
Arrien, A. (1995). Four Ways to Wisdom. Retrieved from http://www.spiritsound.com/arrien.html
Davis, K. M. Multicultural critical pedagogy in the community-based classroom: A motivation
for foregrounding the personal. Retrieved from http://wac.colostate.edu/books/expressivism/davis.pdf
Kaomea, J. (2003). Reading erasures and making the familiar strange: Defamiliarizing methods for
research in formerly colonized and historically oppressed communities. Educational Researcher, 32, 2, 14–25. Retrieved from http://edr.sagepub.com.cyber.usask.ca/content/32/2/14.full.pdf+html
Greenwood, D. (In Press). Why place matters: Environment, culture, and education. In S. Tozer, B.
Gallegos, A. Henry, M. B. Greiner & P. Groves-Price (Eds.), Handbook of Research in the Social Foundations of Education. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://oe32012-2013.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/5/0/13504411/greenwood_david_a._-_why_place_matters.pdf
Retting, M. (1995). Play and cultural diversity. The Journal of Educational Issue of Language Minority
Students, V. 15, Winter 1995. Boise State University. Retrieved from http://www.ncela.us/files/rcd/BE020476/Play_and_Cultural_Diversity.pdf
Strong Makaiau, A. & Reilley Freese, A. (2013). A Transformational Journey: Exploring our
multicultural identities through self-study. Studying Teacher Education: A journal of self-study of teacher education practices, 9:2, 141-151. Retrieved from http://p4chawaii.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Transformational-Journey-Exploring-our-multicultural-identities-through-self-study.pdf
Resources for Culturally Responsive Instruction and Pedagogy
http://sppsfoundation.org/sites/default/files/bp_2-_culturally_responsive_instruction.pdf
Assessment Practices – Culturally Responsive Literacy
https://sites.google.com/site/culturallyresponsiveliteracy/grades-k-2/assessment-practices
Culturally Responsive Classrooms A Toolkit for Educators: A Toolkit for Educators
http://www.sbbh.pitt.edu/files/pdf/Culturally%20Responsive%20Classrooms010412.pdf
Considerations in Assessments of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children
http://www.azed.gov/early-childhood/files/2011/09/assessmentstrategiesforculturallydiverse.pdf
Shanker, J. & Ekwall, E. (1998). Locating and correcting reading difficulties. Eighth Edition. Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Merrill
Ekwall, E. & Shanker, J. (2000). Informal Reading Inventory. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Alfassi, M. (2004). Reading to learn: Effects of combined strategy instruction on high school students. The Journal of Educational Research, 97(4), 171.
Challenges for struggling students and teachers. Learning Disability Quarterly, 26(2), 103.
O’Donnell, C. P. (2004). Beyong the yellow highlighter: Teaching annotation skills to improve reading
comprehension. English Journal, 93(5), 82.
Kasten, W. C., & Wilfong, L. G. (2005). Encouraging independent reading with ambience: The book bistro in middle and secondary school classes. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(8), 656.
To learn more about:
Movies featuring Sir Sidney Poitier, including “In the Heat of the Night”, “To Sir with Love”, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, “The Blackboard Jungle”.
Canada’s seniors have played an important role in our history and continue to contribute to our society in countless ways. They give so much to our families, workplaces and communities. Whether they are caring for a loved one, sharing their knowledge with a younger co-worker or volunteering in a local organization, the positive impact of seniors’ actions can be felt all across our country.
Each year, on October 1, Canada celebrates National Seniors Day. It is an occasion for all Canadians to honor seniors in their lives, whether they are a parent, a co-worker, a neighbor or a friend. Canadian seniors are living longer and heathier lives. This is something to celebrate.
The work done at ESDC and the programs that you deliver have a tangible effect on the lives of seniors. With programs and initiatives such as New Horizons for Seniors and the National Housing Strategy, we are taking concrete actions to foster social inclusion and engagement of seniors, and improve access to affordable housing for seniors. In addition, programs like the Old Age Security program and Canada Pension Plan provide financial support to millions of Canadian seniors.
Today, join me in celebrating National Seniors Day and showing your appreciation to seniors across Canada. Whether it is by spending some quality time with seniors you know or by joining the online conversation on our Seniors in Canada Facebook page, it is the perfect occasion to express your gratitude for everything they have done and continue to do for us.
The Honourable Filomena Tassi
Minister of Seniors
Every year on September 30, Orange Shirt Day commemorates the experiences of former students of residential schools and recognizes Canada’s commitment to ongoing reconciliation. On this day, we acknowledge the harm that Canada’s residential school system has inflicted on generations of Indigenous families and their communities.
This year, ESDC will mark Orange Shirt Day on Friday, September 28th.
Orange Shirt Day grew out of Phyllis (Jack) Webstad’s experience on her first day at St. Joseph Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, British Columbia:
“I had just turned 6 years old. I lived with my grandmother on the Dog Creek reserve. We never had very much money, and there was no welfare, but somehow my granny managed to buy me a new outfit to go to the mission school. I remember going to Robinson’s store and picking out a shiny orange shirt. It had string laced up in front, and was so bright and exciting—just like I felt to be going to school!
When I got to the Mission, they stripped me and took away my clothes, including the orange shirt! I never saw it again. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me; it was mine! The colour orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared.”
This Friday, September 28th, let’s show Canadians that ESDC stands behind Canada’s commitment to reconciliation by:
- wearing something orange;
- taking a selfie (individual or group); and
- sharing it on social media using the hashtags #OrangeShirtDay, #ESDCOrangeShirtDay or #EveryChildMatters.
In addition to wearing orange, please take some time to learn more about the legacy of residential schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report and Calls to Action.
Sylvie Bérubé
Sous-ministre adjointe, région de l’Ouest et des territoires et cochampionne de Perspectives autochtones d’EDSC / Assistant Deputy Minister, Western and Territories Region and ESDC Indigenous Perspectives Co-Champion
Peter Simeoni
Sous-ministre adjoint, Service aux citoyens (Service Canada) et cochampion de Perspectives autochtones d’EDSC / Assistant Deputy Minister, Citizen Service (Service Canada) and ESDC Indigenous Perspectives Co-Champion
