Equity and Inclusion

  • Listen and Be Honest

    I attended ICSEI, the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement last week. I listened to powerful keynotes by Russell Bishop, Charlene Bearhead, and Warren Simmons. These passionate and articulate educators from New Zealand, Canada and the United States shared themes of equity, caring and action for indigenous, black and latino students which resonated strongly with me.…

  • One Thing Everyone Needs

    “Thank you!” “I value your participation.” “What an interesting idea – let’s follow up on that.” “What do you think?” We all want to be noticed, valued and to belong. A big fanfare is not always needed, but those moments of quiet recognition that say, “I see you, and you are valued” are powerful. When…

  • Honouring Reconciliation

    “I would like to recognize that today we are meeting on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe and acknowledge their contributions to our society.” I was first introduced to the traditional territory greeting by Kim Pate, an incredible canadian activist who educates, advocates and fights on behalf of imprisoned women in Canada.  She begins every…

  • The Skin I’m In

    My go-to listening in the morning on the drive to work is Metro Morning on CBC with host Matt Galloway. It’s talk radio at its best. This morning I joined the program as Matt talked with Desmond Cole about his raw, honest and heartbreaking article: The Skin I’m In: I’ve been interrogated by police more that 50 times –…

  • Honouring Culture

    Today I was privileged to be part of a smudging ceremony at one of our secondary schools. I encourage you to read more about smudging.  I cherished the opportunity to honour the cultures of our founding aboriginal peoples by participating.  One of our teacher candidates in a practicum placement in a grade 10 English class…

  • When Empathy Isn’t Easy

    We talk a lot about empathy in schools.  People able to feel empathy are happier, have better relationships and are more successful.   Empathy is essential for our society to function in a caring way. So we teach lessons about empathy (it’s one of the HWDSB Character Traits), we help students understand why it’s important to…