How will you deconstruct anti-black racism in your instructional practices, classroom, students and/or your school? Post two strategies that support you in deconstructing institutional racism when building an understanding of anti-Black racism. by Brian Morris

1) Representation (Jamie)

2024-07-03 12:53:59 UTC

In my classroom, I wil ensure that people with all shades of skin tone will be featured as successful leaders in math, science, sports, arts, etc. It is essential to normalize Blackness among what is successful and "good" and "nice" - to counteract perceptions revealed in the doll test.

2) Amplification (Jamie)

2024-07-03 13:00:36 UTC

In my classroom, I will intentionally make extra space for Black voices in order to counteract the squashing that has happened in the past. For example, provide opportunities for Black students to lead discussions, invite Black guest speakers, and encourage Black students to take on leadership roles.

Making Space for Difficult Conversations

2024-07-04 19:34:00 UTC

It's important not to avoid or dismiss conversations about race, bias, or microaggressions due to fear of discomfort. Providing support for students to actively listen to others and engage in discourse is crucial for having these necessary, albeit difficult, conversations. If we never talk about these issues, we only normalize anti-racist behavior.

Amanda W

Exploring Identity

2024-07-04 19:36:12 UTC

Taking the time to truly understand my students allows me to develop programming that reflects their aspects of their identities and lived experiences. Students need to see themselves represented in their learning. By focusing on the identities in my classroom, I can create more relevant and impactful educational experiences that are engaging, joyful and relevant.

Amanda W

2024-07-04 23:11:58 UTC

Inclusive Content

I will aim to integrate black authors and historical figures into the curriculum across many subjects. Whenever possible, I will highlight the contributions of black communities and ensure black history and culture are represented throughout the year, not just during Black History Month.

Sandra

2024-07-04 23:15:55 UTC

Devleoping Critical Perspectives
I will encourage students to critically engage with historical and current issues related to race and racism by facilitating discussions that challenge stereotypes and examine the systemic nature of racism.
Sandra

1. Encourage Bravery (Janneika)

2024-07-05 01:02:53 UTC

I will deconstruct institutional racism when building an understanding of anti-Black racism by grounding everything in student learning and success, even the classroom budget. I will continue learning so I can support students as they bravely navigate historically dominant social groups.

2. Bias Free Progressive Discipline (Janneika)

2024-07-05 01:09:34 UTC

I will co-create a progressive discipline policy that all students and parents agree to and use this as a guide to ensure that there are no disparities in discipline between Black students and non racialized students. I will do my best to understand the contexts for behaviour and seek to ensure basic needs are met before progressing with discipline.

Celebrate differences

2024-07-05 17:20:51 UTC

In my school we will celebrate differences. This will include our students that "Look different" that display excellence. We also host a Cultural Fashion Show that is very well received. It had over 100 students wear traditional garments to a fashion show held in the courtyard of the school.

Creating safe spaces within the school

tv46307 — 2024-07-05 20:59:01 UTC

Whether this happens on a small scale within our own classrooms or within the larger context of the school structure, this is important! As we have explored through previous e-tivities, such as Understanding Black History, real social change can take a long time! So, while large scale changes continue to happen in the bureaucratic education system at a slower than ideal pace, providing safe spaces for students NOW will help to ensure they have somewhere to go to be offered a counter-experience of acceptance, belonging and support. I think about the young woman in East Jackson who was convinced by Grade 3 to change her identity to "White" as a result of the pressure she received from peers and the school ("You Don't Have to Look Black to be Black'"). Perhaps if she had had a safe place or person within that school she would have felt like she had more space to make an authentic and informed choice about her own identity. This could be offered through making your own classroom safe for all student identities or through running Black student associations, Muslim student associations, Indigenous student associations, etc.

Ashley M.

Establish a shared vocabulary

tv46307 — 2024-07-05 21:09:27 UTC

Do this within our classrooms, among staff, in the school at large, within extra-curricular clubs and teams, and in safe spaces. As was evidenced in the video discussion on "What Is Race?", it isn't always safe to assume that everyone, especially our students, understands words in the same way. And, our understanding of the words we use makes a big difference in how and when we use them and how we understand the very real applications of them. Again, if there were shared understanding of vocabulary among staff, students, advisors, administrators, etc., which in turn created shared understandings of the experience of students, perhaps social identities would be more easily affirmed. Further to this, if we shared vocabulary we may be able to better call-out/call-in offensive and oppressive comments and/or actions, because each conversation would not require so much explanation. Finally, I would argue that this education has to start EARLY! As we saw in the Doll Test, children are learning these biased notions sooo early. The sooner we can interrupt those associations, the better! -- Ashley M.

1) Increasing Knowledge through unlearning (Daune)

2024-07-05 21:33:55 UTC

In my math PD's I try to increase teachers' critical consciousness by providing examples of mathematical knowledge in various cultures that connect with math curriculum. The lack of knowledge causes people to assume that historically there were no mathematical experts in Black cultures. As a result we don't see the math in what remains of these cultures. Something so simple as an african cloth pattern, demonstrates knowledge of reflections, translations, rotations, angles, similar figures, area and perimeter. Why do we assume that these can be made without any math knowledge? I encourage teachers to ensure that they include a variety of cultures on their walls and in their discussions of expertise. Having discussions about how some of this information has not been shared and why helps students begin to challenge the narrative of anti-blackness and anti-black racism from within. If teachers don't know then they are unlikely to share this type of knowledge with students.

2) Random Groups and Praise (Daune)

2024-07-05 21:50:41 UTC

One of the strategies I like to use is Random groups. Once students are taught how to effectively operate in groups, random groupings can be very powerful. To start, the educator shares with the class how to deal with disagreements, how to give praise to each other, and most importantly that everyone is valuable to the group and has something valuable to share, etc. When students are asked to continuously work in random groups each day it builds a community within the class that is quite powerful. My willingness to do this says to each student, "I believe you are valuable and have something valuable to share." For those that struggle to believe in themselves, as the teacher I try to provide ongoing support and praise to build their self confidence. If students demonstrate behaviour not conducive to inclusion... we have a courageous conversation.

Deconstructing anti-black racism

2024-07-05 22:13:08 UTC

I would continue to use Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) strategies in my classroom to deconstruct anti-black racism. CRT recognizes the cultural backgrounds of students, by integrating their experiences into the learning process, and using teaching strategies that are inclusive and affirming. For example, I can learn about and incorporate my students' cultural backgrounds into my teaching practices and adapt my teaching methods to meet the diverse needs of my students, by recognizing and valuing their cultural assets.
I would also strengthen the relationships with my students, their families, and the whole community, as this can foster mutual understanding, trust, and a supportive network. By engaging in open communication, participating in community events, and collaborating on culturally relevant projects, I can create an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and respected. This approach not only supports students' academic and personal growth but also empowers families and the community.

(Jaspreet Attwal)

Representation in media - Edutainers on YouTube (Elizabeth B.)

2024-07-05 23:56:41 UTC

When I was teaching online during the height of covid, I often used educational videos from YouTube to teach about different topics (e.g. Counting by 5s, Time, Simple Machines, etc.). I became acutely aware the most of the videos that I could find featured white 'edutainers' and it didn't represent my students who are mainly people of colour. I started to search for You Tube edutainers that looked like my students and created a google doc list. When I searched for a YouTube video about a topic I was teaching, I would use people from my list first before just doing a random topic search. I shared this list with many of my colleagues so they could do the same. My list included Edutainers such as: Mister B (Dr. Anthony Broughton), Shawn Brown from Super Fun Show, Desmond Dennis, Taylor Dee Kids TV, Genevieve Goings and Blazer Fresh to name a few. I will continue to show videos within my classroom that feature people who look like my students.

Representation in Toys and Loose Parts (Elizabeth B)

2024-07-06 00:18:13 UTC

In Primary, our students learn through play, inquiry and exploration. When I was teaching Kindergarten, our "House Centre" would contain babies with a variety of skin colours and their clothing would not just be 'Canadian Clothing' but material that could be adapted for a variety of cultures such as Saree material. In the house centre, some students pretend they are cooking with the plastic food so I try to have discussions with them like, "What are you cooking? Roti? Jollof Rice?" Letting them know that they don't have to store away their culture while at school rather it is encouraged. We also use loose parts (objects that have no directions and can be used in a variety of ways) a lot for learning. I've created centres using loose parts for Kwanzaa (using a Mkeka Mat for coding) and centres for Diwali using diyas, karas, rangoli images, etc. I feel that seeing themselves represented in the items in your classroom is a way that students feel welcome, supported and celebrated. I will continue to create centres and search for items that represent my students.

Creating Safe Environments (Gurpreet)

2024-07-06 17:09:15 UTC

To make black students feel that their culture is recognised in school, I engage families in providing us with different things related to their culture. I will continue to highlight black excellence throughout the year. I will continue to invite families, especially black families, to read aloud, teach black cultural art and talk about their professions.

During an open house, I created an open-ended welcome poster with the words "Welcome!" in English in the centre and asked parents who attended the open house to write welcome in their native language around the English. Another strategy I like to use is saying commonly used words in different languages. For instance, “clean up”, “hello”, “good job”, “stop”, “quiet”, etc. Although these are small steps, they have an immense impact on the students and families.

Moreover, when we learned about money I asked students to make a poster about the country their parents or grandparents are from and the history of the currency. To ensure that students continue to learn about and accept other cultures, as well as their own, I will continue to provide a safe space for them to share their research through community circles. Many small steps together can make a big difference.

Leadership & Encouragement (Sukhvinder)

2024-07-07 23:38:26 UTC

1) Leadership

Over the past few years, I have been part of many contests and clubs, some of which I actively run, at my school. When I work through these, I ensure my black students receive the information and guide them one on one to participate, lead and work towards excellence. I ask them to share their accomplishments with staff, students and community to feel they are valued. I also acknowledge them with prizes and awards in school assemblies.

2) Encouragement

I noticed when I encourage my students, they feel they need to do more and take risks in their learning and participation in different events in school and outside the school. I share with them the struggles of Black leaders encountered because of the racism faced by them. I Listen to my students' stories and build relationships with them so that they won’t feel shy or hesitate to share their identity and family background. They feel valuable and I see the engagement, participation and increase in attendance in my school.

Additional strategy by Jamie Roos

2024-07-08 12:18:15 UTC

Interrupt and RBH incidents immediately!

I will continue to affirm student identities by choosing books from diverse authors- all year, by listening to audiobooks read by authors whose first language may not be English (for example with an accent), I will not shy away from social justice issues and do better at sharing true history, By being proactive, listening to students and staff and families I hope to improve my practice and be more responsive to the needs of all learners...centring them and decentring myself. (Thera)

2024-07-08 23:24:24 UTC

Black Celebrity(Naima)

2024-07-09 04:16:25 UTC

In my classroom, I will include pictures of Black role models to make sure they are remembered.

A wide variety of viewpoints should be included in all educational courses, such as those of Black scholars, writers, and activists. This helps one have a deeper understanding of racial issues, both past and present., Click this link: Black history figures to know more about Black pioneers.

Anti-Bullying in the classroom(Naima)

2024-07-09 04:20:39 UTC

Establish clear rules and anti-bullying procedures.
Respond quickly to instances of racism and bullying
Teach students the negative effects of racism and bullying.
Establish safe areas and counseling to create a supportive atmosphere.
Get parents involved and keep lines of communication open.
Encourage kindness and empathy by setting a good example.

Additional strategy (Ashley M)

2024-07-09 23:50:05 UTC

Establish community agreements with each and every group of students before beginning any anti-racism work in our class.