tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/back-to-school-2019-75310/articlesBack to school 2019 – The Conversation2019-09-09T19:45:52Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1179572019-09-09T19:45:52Z2019-09-09T19:45:52ZHow high school educators can help girls resist Islamophobia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291573/original/file-20190909-109939-56dbdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C0%2C5699%2C2621&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A recent photo-voice project shows what can happen when educators help marginalized youth express their resistance to racism. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexis Brown/ Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It seems that 2019 is the year of youth activism. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFkQSGyeCWg">Youth have been speaking out against climate change</a>, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-parkland-to-sunrise-a-year-of-extraordinary-youth-activism">gun violence</a> and <a href="https://www.change.org/p/starbucks-we-know-you-can-breakfreefromplastic-and-make-a-bettercup">our environment</a>. </p>
<p>As a former teacher with the Calgary Board of Education and Little Red River Cree Nation, I have seen youth thrive when adults support their talents, passions and strengths. I have seen how youth respond when adults <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781410613462/chapters/10.4324/9781410613462-5">honour their “funds of knowledge”</a> — the historically and culturally accumulated bodies of knowledge that contribute to well-being. </p>
<p>But not all youth feel supported by their leaders.</p>
<p>I can testify that with first-hand experience. I come from a refugee background: I was part of the group of Vietnamese boat people of Chinese ancestry in the late 1970s. I struggled in school because I didn’t speak English well enough in my early school years. Jim Cummins, a Canadian language education researcher, found that it takes about seven years for learners from immigrant and refugee backgrounds to <a href="https://sites.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/Best%20of%20Bilash/bics%20calp.html">catch up with their native-born counterparts</a>. As a racialized person, I have generally been <a href="https://www.tcpress.com/is-everyone-really-equal-9780807758618">misrepresented by the dominant Canadian group</a> and therefore felt devalued in Canadian society. </p>
<p>Because of feeling inferior and not very intelligent, I disengaged from school. </p>
<p>These experiences growing up have left me with a desire to support young people in schools — to help them feel heard and acknowledged. I want to let them know that their voices matter. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/media-portrays-indigenous-and-muslim-youth-as-savages-and-barbarians-79153">Media portrays Indigenous and Muslim youth as 'savages' and 'barbarians'</a>
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<p>I recently <a href="https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/110058">completed my PhD</a> and am now a counselling psychologist and researcher. My research looks at the resilience techniques used by oppressed people.</p>
<p>I worked with six minoritized Muslim female youth in high school in a photovoice, <a href="http://www.public.iastate.edu/%7Ebestler/arts_based_articles/1999_Liebert_Photovoice.pdf">participatory action research project</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819702400309">Photovoice</a> uses photography and group dialogue as a way for marginalized people to deepen their understanding of a community issue. The visual images and accompanying stories become tools to help reach policy- and decision-makers. I chose to call my interviewees “girls” instead of “participants” or “subjects” because I aim to humanize their particular experiences and because of the historically negative gendered language around the word “girl.”</p>
<p>The girls’ determination to challenge issues at school, such as <a href="https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/110058">racism, Islamophobia, mental health stigma and sexism</a> was inspiring to me. </p>
<h2>Frightening realities of Islamophobia</h2>
<p>Islamophobia is a real and visible problem globally. Recent terrorist attacks in mosques by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-attacks-are-a-stark-warning-of-toxic-political-environment-that-allows-hate-to-flourish-113662">white supremacist in New Zealand</a> and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-city-mosque-shooting-what-we-know-so-far/article33826078/">in Québec in 2017</a> mean some youth at school are having to navigate being bullied and treated harshly due to their intersecting cultural identities of being Muslim and Canadian. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/islamophobia-and-hate-crimes-continue-to-rise-in-canada-110635">Islamophobia and hate crimes continue to rise in Canada</a>
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<p>In Canada and globally, <a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-attacks-are-a-stark-warning-of-toxic-political-environment-that-allows-hate-to-flourish-113662">Muslims have been dehumanized, demonized and murdered.</a>. <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1525/aeq.2001.32.4.399">At Canadian schools, they become othered.</a></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291339/original/file-20190906-175691-1w0pnqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291339/original/file-20190906-175691-1w0pnqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291339/original/file-20190906-175691-1w0pnqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291339/original/file-20190906-175691-1w0pnqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291339/original/file-20190906-175691-1w0pnqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291339/original/file-20190906-175691-1w0pnqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291339/original/file-20190906-175691-1w0pnqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A photo of a student art installation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Philosopher Iris Marion Young identified <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/9562.html">five faces of oppression</a>: exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism and violence. The youth in my research group explained that they and their families have faced all these forms of oppression. Young suggests that those who are oppressed use a deliberative model of democracy to challenge their oppressions. This is a deliberative process with <a href="https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0198297556.001.0001/acprof-9780198297550">ideals of inclusion, political equality, reasonableness and publicity.</a></p>
<p>The girls said it was not uncommon for them to hear about Muslim women having their head scarves pulled off their heads. Some have experienced having their family’s vehicles being vandalized near their mosque. These stories and experiences made them feel othered, scared and nervous.</p>
<p>To help combat these feelings, the young students have written poetry, built art structures and planned anti-racism initiatives. They created positive messages on post-it notes so the messages can be passed on to peers and teachers in hopes that hate has no place in their community.</p>
<p>Throughout this process, it seems that teachers and community leaders have listened to their voices and have supported the students in their initiatives. The girls say that this perceived support has helped them feel more engaged and resilient to negative experiences. </p>
<h2>Supporting acts of resistance</h2>
<p>By banding together to speak out against racism, the girls say they see changes in their schools. They feel less segregated and more united to support one another regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation and religion. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291335/original/file-20190906-175682-2f9vi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291335/original/file-20190906-175682-2f9vi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291335/original/file-20190906-175682-2f9vi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291335/original/file-20190906-175682-2f9vi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291335/original/file-20190906-175682-2f9vi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291335/original/file-20190906-175682-2f9vi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291335/original/file-20190906-175682-2f9vi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The project used photography and other tools like these sticky notes to help Muslim girls deal with racism and Islamophobia in their high-school community.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>By having the courage to write poetry (poems titled “Shackles of Racism” and “Society is War”) and perform these poems in front of the entire school, they feel they are inviting their peers to talk openly about racism and to collectively think of ideas for anti-racism initiatives. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-crisis-of-anti-black-racism-in-schools-persists-across-generations-120856">The crisis of anti-Black racism in schools persists across generations</a>
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<p>However, it is not up to youth to face this uphill climb alone — even with their strong will and desire to create social change. My preliminary research indicates that when teachers and counsellors listen, <a href="https://democracyeducationjournal.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1219&context=home">support and collaborate with youth</a> in creative ways, it can have positive impacts - both personal and for the school and community.</p>
<p>Adult and educator support on mission-driven youth creative work can bring a feeling of purpose, meaning and <a href="http://www.tcrecord.org/library/abstract.asp?contentid=15342">overall positive well-being to youth</a>. Youth may become more confident about speaking out for issues that matter to them personally. </p>
<p>Therefore, based on my study, I believe it is crucial for adults to hear what youth have to say and encourage their ideas of social change. </p>
<p>It is absolutely phenomenal what youth can do when they work together along with adults who support them in their passions for change. There is no limit to their creativity, activism and civic engagement.</p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117957/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gina Ko does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recent study suggests that marginalized youth feel supported and more resilient when adults encourage their ideas and missions to combat stereotypes, racism and Islamophobia.Gina Ko, Sessional Instructor, School of Education, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1226802019-09-03T23:10:01Z2019-09-03T23:10:01ZParents can benefit as much as their kids from Ontario’s new sex ed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290794/original/file-20190903-175668-s42lfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sex education includes both formal and informal education, so schools should not be afraid of reaching out to parents.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In time for back-to-school 2019, the Ontario government released a revised health and physical education curriculum. Commentators have noted that despite Premier Doug Ford having stressed the need for an overhaul, the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5792416/ontario-new-sex-ed-curriculum/">new curriculum is strikingly similar to the one from 2015</a>, prompting some to call it a backtrack of election promises.</p>
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<p>But what is new is that the Ontario government is now <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2019/08/supporting-students---respecting-parents.html">touting an opt-out policy for parents who want to remove their children from certain lessons on human development and sexual health</a>. </p>
<p>The new policy requires schools to implement a more detailed process to “<a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/extra/eng/ppm/ppm162.pdf">provide parents with a list of all Human Development and Sexual Health expectations by grade</a>.” It also give parents at least 20 school days notice before students are taught human development and sexual health.</p>
<p>With regards to the new opt-out policy, there are significant concerns about potential threats to children’s access to inclusive, accurate sexual education. However, progressive responses that criticize the new parental opt-out policy must be careful to not get stuck inside the government’s framing of sex education as a potential violation of parents’ rights.</p>
<h2>Parents as partners</h2>
<p>The majority of parents in Ontario support progressive, inclusive and comprehensive sex education. A large study by Alex McKay, executive director of the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, and colleagues found <a href="https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/cjhs.23.3-A1">that 87 per cent of Ontario parents agreed that sexual health education should happen in schools</a>. The study was conducted during earlier conflicts over the Ontario sex education curriculum. </p>
<p>Even the government’s own consultation process received <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-sex-ed-consultations-1.4949832">overwhelmingly positive support for sex education in schools</a>.</p>
<p>But what about the parents who don’t support the curriculum, and might be contemplating the opt-out? </p>
<p>Many advocates of progressive sex education oppose opt-out policies — and for good reasons. </p>
<p>Education researcher Lauren Bialystok, from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, for instance, writes that Ford’s olive branch opt-out policy to those at odds with liberal norms is about framing democratic policy-making as an adversarial struggle between “the people” and “the elite.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/doug-fords-reboot-of-sex-education-in-ontario-same-as-it-ever-was-122299">Doug Ford's reboot of sex education in Ontario: Same as it ever was</a>
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<p>She has argued that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12286">parents’ rights to determine how their children are raised shouldn’t override students’ right to learn about sexuality</a>. I agree with her. However, my concern is that focusing now on the opt-out policy might reinforce the misleading belief that parents are only an obstacle to their children’s sex education. </p>
<p>Why, we might ask, are schools not concerned about parents who might complain or opt out if their children are not receiving a progressive — and inclusive —enough sex education? What would sex education look like if progressive sex ed advocates took those concerns more seriously? </p>
<h2>Larger issues</h2>
<p>Discussions of sex education should begin from the assumption that all parents are invested in their child’s education. Even when parents — conservative or liberal — have concerns about the sex education their child receives at school, they act out of love and care, not just political convictions. </p>
<p>The government has cynically positioned sex education as a potential violation of conservative parents’ rights. In response to this strategy, progressive advocates must be careful not to repeat and reinforce that antagonism.</p>
<p>I know of no studies documenting how many parents opt their children out of sex education in Canada. But qualitative research from the United States <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814722596/">suggests the number is very small</a>. </p>
<p>If sex ed advocates, researchers or educators acquiesce to the government’s framing of this issue and make the opt-out policy the problem, they may lose sight of the larger issues. </p>
<p>For instance: How can our society provide teachers with the resources to implement this curriculum? How will schools ensure all students, including racialized and Indigenous students, girls and LGBTQ students, are able to explore their ideas about sexuality and gender both in and out of the classroom? </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290373/original/file-20190830-166014-bdoet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290373/original/file-20190830-166014-bdoet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290373/original/file-20190830-166014-bdoet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290373/original/file-20190830-166014-bdoet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290373/original/file-20190830-166014-bdoet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290373/original/file-20190830-166014-bdoet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290373/original/file-20190830-166014-bdoet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Sex education happens beyond the classroom, in the playground, locker room and in popular culture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Sex ed in the playground</h2>
<p>Even still, sex education researchers and advocates know that sex education is never confined to a single class. Even as parents, politicians, educators and researchers debate what should or shouldn’t be included in a formal sex education curriculum, young people are taking the lessons they receive from their teachers out into the playground. </p>
<p>There, <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/risky-lessons/9780813543352">the formal curriculum is modified by the informal sex education students receive</a> at school about gender and sexuality. Sex education happens in the cafeteria, locker room, on Instagram, in movies, through music and on Netflix. </p>
<p>Sex education includes all these teachers. And if schools are going to help young people navigate these lessons, both in and out of the classroom, they should enlist the help of parents. </p>
<p>Schools have a responsibility to offer students comprehensive, inclusive, medically accurate sexual health education regardless of who their parents are. But this mission is enhanced when schools, and sex education advocates, recognize parents as resources for sex education. </p>
<p>Let’s not be afraid of sending home notices about the sexual health education students will be receiving. Let’s invite parents to share their concerns and hopes with schools and teachers. Let’s opt parents into sex education. They may benefit from it as much as their kids.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jen Gilbert receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p>Progressive responses that problematize Ontario’s new opt-out policy for sex ed might reinforce the misleading idea that parents are an obstacle to their children’s sex education.Jen Gilbert, Associate Professor, Education, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1219642019-09-03T23:09:20Z2019-09-03T23:09:20ZUniversities need to rein in academic air travel and greenhouse gases<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290758/original/file-20190903-175678-ocukjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C2%2C995%2C663&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers are keen to travel abroad but air transport makes a significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.caredit.aay0230">recent article</a> on air travel in the journal <em>Science</em> has caused some turbulence in the academic community.</p>
<p>In it, Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, calculated that she had travelled nearly 200,000 kilometres in 2017, mostly to attend conferences. That’s the equivalent of 10 Montréal to Beijing round trips, or five times around the world!</p>
<p>That tally prompted her to question the environmental impact of her professional activities, and reduce the distance she travelled by plane by 75 per cent the following year. </p>
<p>Although her case is extreme, Cobb is no exception. University researchers are often required to travel to conferences, meetings, committees or to conduct research. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab33e6">survey we conducted</a> among Université de Montréal professors determined that they travel an average of 33,000 kilometres per year in the course of their professional activities, mostly by air. </p>
<p>Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students also travel as part of their research and to present their results, at a rate of 13,600 kilometres and 5,900 kilometres per person, respectively.</p>
<h2>A significant environmental impact</h2>
<p>All these kilometres travelled for science leave their mark. Transport contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions, which are largely responsible for the current climate change. Air transport alone contributes nearly <a href="http://www.oecd.org/sd-roundtable/papersandpublications/49482790.pdf">two per cent of global annual emissions</a> of carbon dioxide (CO2) and <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-challenge-tackling-aviations-non-co2-emissions">emits many other pollutants</a> that are harmful to both health and the environment. It is also one of the fastest growing sources of CO2 in the world. </p>
<p>Aviation emissions, for example, increased by <a href="https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2014/sbi/eng/20.pdf">more than 75 per cent between 1990 and 2012</a>, and they <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/aviation-consume-quarter-carbon-budget">continue to grow</a> at a frenetic pace. </p>
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<span class="caption">Cardiologists at a conference in Mannheim, Germany. All these kilometres travelled for science contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>At the individual level, the average Canadian emits, through their consumption of goods and services, about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2015.04.001">13 tonnes of CO2 per year</a>. However, emissions resulting from the air transport of Université de Montréal professors alone averages <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab33e6">11 tonnes of CO2 annually per person</a>. To stay within the Canadian average, researchers would therefore have to reduce emissions in other areas of their lives, including food, energy consumption and daily transportation, to virtually zero — a mission that is almost impossible. </p>
<p>If we compile the CO2 generated by all research-related travel for the Université de Montréal — that’s researchers, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students — they are responsible for nearly 40 per cent of all the university’s CO2 emissions. That’s a calculation that takes into account energy consumption on campus, daily staff and student travel and the production of food sold on campus, among other emissions.</p>
<p>However, the case of Université de Montréal is not unique. Other universities, such as <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/sustainability/article/environmental-impact-academic-travel">McGill University</a> or the <a href="https://pics.uvic.ca/addressing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-business-related-air-travel-public-institutions-case-study">University of British Columbia</a>, have done this exercise. The results vary, but one constant remains: research-related travel is frequent and responsible for the emission of a significant amount of CO2. </p>
<h2>Why travel so much?</h2>
<p>Researchers have several reasons for travelling, but the main reason is related to the presentation of research results: 67 per cent of the trips made by Université de Montréal respondents were to conferences or seminars, while 18 per cent were for research purposes, the rest were for meetings, committees or other gatherings.</p>
<p>These activities are valued by universities and granting agencies, which promote the international reach of research. However, this internationalization is not limited to researchers. Universities are increasingly seeking to recruit foreign students and promote international exchanges among their own students, which also has a <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab33e6">significant environmental impact</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287885/original/file-20190813-9419-izumt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287885/original/file-20190813-9419-izumt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287885/original/file-20190813-9419-izumt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287885/original/file-20190813-9419-izumt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287885/original/file-20190813-9419-izumt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287885/original/file-20190813-9419-izumt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287885/original/file-20190813-9419-izumt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A scientific conference in Warsaw, Poland. Travel is valued by universities and granting agencies that promote the international reach of research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cost-effective travel</h2>
<p>The question remains: are all these trips scientifically profitable? The debate was launched earlier this year by researchers at the University of British Columbia, who <a href="https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/do-best-academics-researchers-scientists-fly-travel-more">assessed the scientific productivity of researchers based on the frequency of their air travel</a>. The reasoning is simple: the more researchers travel, the more they expand their networks. The more they disseminate their research, the more successful they are.</p>
<p>The results are surprising: the number of trips made would have very little influence on the productivity of researchers. One hypothesis that could explain these results is that researchers who travel a lot would have less time to do their research and write articles for scientific journals. </p>
<p>Another finding: 10 per cent of the reported trips would have been easy to avoid, since they were trips of less than 24 hours that could have been replaced by videoconference or whose distance did not justify air travel. </p>
<h2>Are there any solutions?</h2>
<p>Some researchers, such as Kim Cobb, have opted for a clear commitment to reduce their travel. Several, in particular, climate experts, are signatories to the <a href="https://noflyclimatesci.org/">No Fly Climate Sci</a> initiative, where they commit to travel less by air, among other things by limiting their attendance at international conferences. </p>
<p>Some institutions have also taken the lead. For example, the University of California at Los Angeles <a href="https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/airtravelfund/">requires a contribution</a> from all researchers travelling by air to offset CO2 emissions from their travel. Others, such as the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in England, have <a href="https://tyndall.ac.uk/travel-strategy">established clear rules</a> to promote remote encounters, use another mode of transport where possible and combine different professional activities within the same trip.</p>
<p>At the Université de Montréal, for the time being, there is no policy in place to reduce the environmental impacts of academic travel. Although several researchers interviewed wanted to reduced their emissions, they raised to issues: the difficulty of paying for carbon offsets from their research funds, due to the rules of the granting agencies, which often do not allow this type of expense; and the lack of accessibility to videoconferencing systems. </p>
<p>Finally, it must be asked whether all researchers have the same responsibility or ability to reduce their emissions, which raises questions of equity. </p>
<p>For example, researchers from New Zealand or Australia have difficulty finding alternative means of transportation to international destinations. This is also the case for researchers from developing countries who benefit from presenting their results at European or North American conferences. Travel is also essential for researchers at the beginning of their careers who need to expand their network of contacts to secure permanent employment or for those whose research requires a presence in the field. </p>
<p>In short, the environmental impacts of academic travel are known. So are the solutions. It is now up to institutions to determine how to adapt their realities to these impacts and to researchers to adopt measures put in place. </p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=thanksforreading">Thanks for reading! We can send you The Conversation’s stories every day in an informative email. Sign up today.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121964/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Talbot has received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Nature et technologies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julien Arsenault receives funding from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>The adverse environmental impacts of academic travel are known. It is now up to institutions to determine how to adapt to these impacts.Julie Talbot, Professeure agrégée en géographie / Associate professor in geography, Université de MontréalJulien Arsenault, Candidat au doctorat en géographie, Université de MontréalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1221122019-09-02T16:37:30Z2019-09-02T16:37:30ZTrauma-informed classrooms can better support kids in care<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289956/original/file-20190828-184252-16fokl9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A trauma-informed lens asks people to shift from thinking 'What is wrong?" to 'What happened?"</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As teachers return to school, they’re thinking about the students who they’ll be getting to know. In our province, Manitoba, there are some students who are becoming more prominent in the minds of teachers, particularly the students who arrive at school in the care of Child and Family Service agencies. </p>
<p>Our team of researchers from the faculties of education and social work at the University of Manitoba are learning about how educators in one school division are working to better support children in care. </p>
<p>In part, that is through understanding and enacting trauma-informed practices in classrooms and schools. That means engaging children in ways that acknowledge how trauma may have shaped their experiences. </p>
<h2>Children in care and trauma</h2>
<p>Manitoba has among the <a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/marni-brownell-neeta-mcmurtry-we-know-that-canada-has-one-of-the-highest-rates-of-kids-in-care-in-the-world-what-we-dont-know-may-be-worse">highest rates of children in care in the world</a>. In 2015, Marni Brownell, a professor at the department of community health sciences and a researcher at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) at the University of Manitoba, led a team that studied <a href="http://mchp-appserv.cpe.umanitoba.ca/reference/CIC_report_web.pdf">the educational outcomes of children in care in the province</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-guilty-of-forging-crisis-in-indigenous-foster-care-90808">Canada guilty of forging crisis in Indigenous foster care</a>
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<p>The MCHP provided clear data on what many families, students and education and child welfare professionals already knew: that the educational outcomes for children in care were abysmal. The study found that whereas 89 per cent of Manitoba’s students graduate on time, only 33 per cent of students who are or who have been in care realize that same achievement.</p>
<p>We collaborated with one Manitoba school division that has decided to prioritise the needs of children in care in order to improve their educational outcomes and experiences. </p>
<h2>Trauma and hyperarousal</h2>
<p>Many children, adolescents and families who are involved with the child welfare system have been exposed to multiple and chronic traumatic experiences. These can range from witnessing domestic violence and addiction, to experiencing neglect and emotional, physical, sexual or psychological abuse and intergenerational trauma. This includes the legacy associated <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/study-links-trauma-from-residential-schools-to-overrepresentation-of-indigenous-youth-in-care-1.5199421">with Indian Residential Schools</a> and systemic underfunding of First Nations infrastructure. Canada’s <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/trc-offers-94-ways-to-redress-cultural-genocide/">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a>, advocates and researchers have linked both to <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2018/05/09/Canada-Crisis-Indignenous-Welfare/">cultural genocide</a>.</p>
<p>Children and youth have made it clear that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-010-0198-5">when they are removed from what is assessed as an unsafe environment like their home, this does not result in feelings of safety</a>. </p>
<p>The trauma associated with allegations and investigations of abuse, being separated from family and siblings, being placed with strangers and having to conform to different expectations all act to maintain a state of <a href="https://childmind.org/article/how-trauma-affects-kids-school/">hyperarousal in the child</a>. </p>
<p>Trauma has pervasive physiological, psychological and emotional impacts: research from the <a href="https://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/trauma-types/complex-trauma/effects">National Child Traumatic Stress Network</a> shows that children who have experienced trauma can have difficulties identifying and managing their feelings, controlling their impulses, forming relationships and concentrating and interpreting social situations, among other things. </p>
<p>In the short term, children may not have the coping or social skills to engage with teaching staff or peers. Children who have experienced trauma often have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838014537908">impaired academic performance</a> and are likely to internalise these difficulties as failure. In the long term, these challenges are likely to result in low academic achievement and higher rates of absenteeism both of which are <a href="http://www.dropoutprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/dropout-prevention-and-trauma-2017-10.pdf">significant factors influencing school drop outs</a>. </p>
<p>Clearly, teachers must be sensitive to the trauma experienced by children and their families who are involved with the child welfare system.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289970/original/file-20190828-184192-81k8ap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289970/original/file-20190828-184192-81k8ap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289970/original/file-20190828-184192-81k8ap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289970/original/file-20190828-184192-81k8ap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289970/original/file-20190828-184192-81k8ap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289970/original/file-20190828-184192-81k8ap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289970/original/file-20190828-184192-81k8ap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Educators discussed making sure children had a number of places they could go if they were feeling overwhelmed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A trauma-informed lens</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-011-9323-8">Through practice and research</a> and in response to the lived experiences and advocacy of the families, social workers’ conceptual understandings of children and families involved with the child welfare system are shifting. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://trauma-informed.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Trauma-informed_Toolkit.pdf">trauma-informed perspective</a> prompts professionals to shift from asking what is wrong with people involved with the child welfare system, to considering what has happened to the child and family. </p>
<p>The question “What is wrong?” implies that once identified, the problem can be fixed by focusing on the individuals. It also may imply a fault of the individuals rather than systemic inequities, approaches and issues. </p>
<p>Conversely, the question “What happened?” recognizes that the seemingly challenging behaviours, maladaptive coping responses and interpersonal relationship difficulties are responses to traumatic experiences. </p>
<h2>Sense of safety</h2>
<p>In our preliminary research, we are documenting schools’ collaborations with various child welfare agencies and their efforts to better support children in care.</p>
<p>Educators are starting to engage in trauma-informed practices as a way to recognize that the most urgent need is to establish the child’s sense of safety in the school. </p>
<p>What makes a school environment feel safe? According to Australian psychologist Howard Bath, the <a href="http://www.fosteringfutureswisconsin.org/the-three-pillars-of-trauma-informed-care-2/">consistency, reliability, predictability, availability, honesty and transparency of adults</a> who care for children contribute to both emotional and physical safety of children. </p>
<p>When children feel safe, they can form trusting relationships. It is only in the context of these connections that they can then learn to understand and manage their trauma responses. </p>
<p>School leaders that we interviewed shared many examples of how they are enlisting what Bath identifies as <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Three_Pillars_of_Transforming_Care.html?id=BSpowAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">the three pillars of care into their school and classrooms: safety, connections and coping</a>. </p>
<p>Educators described making sure that children had a number of “go-to” adults in the building in addition to their classroom teachers, as well as “go-to” places if they felt overwhelmed. Others talked about the importance of making space for and really listening to kids’ questions, such as “Where are my siblings?” Then, these educators would work with the social worker to find answers for children. </p>
<h2>Connections and envisioning the future</h2>
<p>Educators also spoke of the importance of children forming connections with others and building trusting relationships. They talked about the importance of making sure kids were connecting to other kids and setting aside time and space to ensure that happens, for example, in the form of supportive recess groups. </p>
<p>Some educators organised regular lunches with children. One high school principal explained how he worked to get children in care involved. He described one student whose confidence was excelling as she led the environmental club’s campaign to ban plastic bags. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290110/original/file-20190829-106504-43s1ss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290110/original/file-20190829-106504-43s1ss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290110/original/file-20190829-106504-43s1ss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290110/original/file-20190829-106504-43s1ss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290110/original/file-20190829-106504-43s1ss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290110/original/file-20190829-106504-43s1ss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290110/original/file-20190829-106504-43s1ss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In one school, educators supported a group of high school youth in care who formed their own advocacy club.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another school told us how they supported a group of high school youth in care in forming their own advocacy club where the youth could bring allies. This led to these students supporting each other in their advocacy, academic pursuits and in conversations about life after high school. </p>
<p>Sometimes trauma manifests in what looks like to adults as misbehaviours. The educators we spoke to recognized how children or youth who have been traumatized often need support in learning how to identify, cope with and manage emotions. These educators reassured children that their school was a place where all of their feelings were welcome and worked with them to better understand and express these feelings. </p>
<p>We encourage all educators to think about the variety of experiences students may have had this summer. </p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=thanksforreading">Thanks for reading! We can send you The Conversation’s stories every day in an informative email. Sign up today.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122112/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Janzen receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dawn Sutherland receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Levine receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>In some Manitoba schools, educators are working to recognize that the most urgent need for children who have experienced trauma is to establish the child’s sense of safety in the school.Melanie D. Janzen, Associate professor, Faculty of Education, University of ManitobaDawn Sutherland, Professor and Department Head of CTL, Faculty of Education, University of ManitobaKathryn Levine, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1198372019-09-02T16:37:26Z2019-09-02T16:37:26ZHow to get kids talking about their school day<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289703/original/file-20190827-184240-jhgb9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parental communication can buffer against low self-esteem and poor academic achievement. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“How was your day at school?” </p>
<p>“Fine.”</p>
<p>Does this sound familiar? This is the dreaded response to a well-intentioned question that parents might ask. </p>
<p>The robot-sounding response is what parents hear when their child limits the information they share with parents, or has stopped sharing information, about their school day.</p>
<p>When parents hear “fine,” they may react in different ways. Some parents may seek out <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431608317611">information by asking more questions</a>. However, research has shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13002">asking too many questions can feel invasive</a>, especially to developing teenagers.</p>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1037/a0032217">Other parents may stop asking altogether</a> because they are tired of hearing the same response. However, research has shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2005.09.013">children who perceive low communication from their parents report more mental and behavioural health difficulties</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, parents may feel discouraged. How can they get their kids to talk about their school day, without irritating them or having them shut down?</p>
<h2>Communication at different ages</h2>
<p>Across all ages, studies have found that parental communication can protect <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6155.2006.00042.x">against low self-esteem and poor academic achievement</a>. High parental involvement can also positively influence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X09334861">children’s school engagement, educational goals and academic outcomes</a>. And notably, positive communication can strengthen <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032217">feelings of connectedness between parents and children</a>.</p>
<p>But like all aspects of development, communication skills unfold over time.</p>
<h2><em>Kindergarten to Grade 1</em></h2>
<p>School day conversations with young children typically revolve around school subjects, new friendships or concrete experiences. For example, a young child might share: “I played on the monkey bars at recess!”</p>
<p>You can further support your young child’s development by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.233">organizing and labelling their experiences</a>. For example, “I saw that Joey took your toy today. How did that make you feel?” It can also be helpful to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0904_1">label emotions for children</a>, by verbalizing what you notice, such as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It sounds like you were feeling angry because Joey took your toy.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2><em>Grades 2 - 3</em></h2>
<p>Friendships become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2009.01.001">increasingly important to your child</a>. They may be more interested in talking about their new peer relationships than schoolwork. Try showing interest by asking about their friends, such as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Tell me about your friend. What do they like to do at recess?”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2><em>Grades 4 - 5</em></h2>
<p>Kids might start to view your <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=PuDNMmug0AgC&oi=fnd&pg=PA73&dq=parenting+in+middle+childhood&ots=rDB9jTbzVS&sig=qBHcnQuGI4ETZddXV2LTxVBIqx0#v=onepage&q=parenting%20in%20middle%20childhood&f=false">questions as demands, leading to less information sharing</a>. It may be easier to approach questions by asking about your child’s peers to start a conversation. You might try asking:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What do your friends think about the new science teacher?”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2><em>Grades 6 - 12</em></h2>
<p>The establishment of personal identity and independence <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000243">is an essential part of adolescence</a>. As a result, your <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0032217">teen may seek out more privacy and share less information with you</a>. You can support these developmental milestones by demonstrating your interest in their opinions allowing your teen some privacy when needed, and allowing them to take part in family decision making.</p>
<p>Regardless of your child’s age, keep in mind that the quality of frequent but small positive conversations you have with your child over time <a href="http://parenting-ed.org/wp-content/themes/parenting-ed/files/handouts/communication-parent-to-child.pdf">outweigh the importance of lengthy, drawn-out conversations</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289708/original/file-20190827-184202-msi3eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289708/original/file-20190827-184202-msi3eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289708/original/file-20190827-184202-msi3eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289708/original/file-20190827-184202-msi3eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289708/original/file-20190827-184202-msi3eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289708/original/file-20190827-184202-msi3eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289708/original/file-20190827-184202-msi3eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents shouldn’t stop trying to talk to their kids if kids seem unresponsive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tips for getting kids to open up</h2>
<p>Communication is a two-way street. How can parents communicate with children when they don’t seem responsive?</p>
<h2><em>1. Ask open-ended questions</em></h2>
<p>The question “How was your day?” is considered a closed-ended question because it can be answered with one word. Certainly, for some kids, this question could prompt a lengthy chat. But for others, these questions result in the conversation stoppers discussed above. </p>
<p>If that’s the case, try to get the discussion going with an open-ended question like “Tell me what you liked most about your day.” Or you could reflect on <a href="https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/understanding-childs-challenges/talking-with-your-child/how-to-say-it-questions-to-ask-your-child-about-school">something you noticed</a> as a lead-in: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I see you are in a mixed grade with older kids now. What did you notice about the Grade 4s?”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2><em>2. Avoid many questions right after school</em></h2>
<p>Kids are often quite tired at the end of the school day. If they are not up to talking right away, <a href="https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/school-learning/school-homework-tips/talking-about-school">try to hold back on your questions until they have had time to relax and have a snack</a>. Once refuelled, they may be up for sharing about their school day.</p>
<h2><em>3. For specific information, vary your angle</em></h2>
<p>You might want to know something specific about your child’s day, like whether they were bullied or if someone caused them to feel upset. However, asking direct questions like “Why are you so mad?” can feel like an invasion of privacy. </p>
<p>If you’re concerned about your child, start with a different angle to the question. You could take an indirect route, like “You seemed upset after school, what happened?” Or, begin a conversation with a broader question first, such as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Do you think any kids in your class are being bullied?”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2><em>4. Listen before your talk</em></h2>
<p>Parents who listen communicate that they are interested in and understanding of their child. But becoming a good listener can take practice. When your child tells you about their day, <a href="https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/communicating-relationships/communicating/active-listening">put away devices, try to maintain eye contact and provide your undivided attention</a>.</p>
<h2><em>5. Promote problem solving</em></h2>
<p>If your child mentions they are struggling in some way at school, such as with a peer or teacher, or in understanding their math homework, avoid trying to fix it for them. </p>
<p>Rather, use it as an opportunity to foster problem solving by encouraging your child to come up with a few possible solutions to their problem. Then help them pick what seems like the best solution, and then evaluate with them whether the solution was effective or not. If not, go back to the drawing board together and try again!</p>
<h2><em>5. If necessary, seek help</em></h2>
<p>If your child stops opening up about their daily activities, it can be worrisome. This is especially if the case if your once-chatty child has suddenly become a closed book. If you notice drastic changes in your child’s behaviour, it is worth checking in with your child’s family doctor, teacher or seeking services from a mental health professional.</p>
<p>Committing to communicating with our kids means taking the time to really connect with them. If parents repeatedly ask questions that are intentional, caring and engaging, they may soon be surprised to see that their kids are the ones who want to talk about their school day without being prompted! </p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=thanksforreading">Thanks for reading! We can send you The Conversation’s stories every day in an informative email. Sign up today.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119837/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Cooke receives funding from the Alberta Children's Hopsital Research Institute, Calgary, AB. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheri Madigan receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Research Chairs program and the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation.</span></em></p>Children’s needs change as they grow and develop, so parents should attune themselves to talking to their children in age-appropriate ways that demonstrate ongoing care.Jessica Cooke, PhD student, Department of Psychology, University of CalgarySheri Madigan, Assistant Professor, Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development, Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1215402019-08-29T22:06:42Z2019-08-29T22:06:42ZTrue or false? Men and women face violence in their relationships equally<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290131/original/file-20190829-106517-qh07pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=201%2C69%2C3338%2C2144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People listen to a speaker as they gather in Nathan Phillips Square, before embarking on a Women's March in Toronto on Jan. 20, 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A woman or girl <a href="https://femicideincanada.ca/callitfemicide.pdf">is killed</a>
in Canada every 2.5 days. In a <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/maryam-monsef-on-the-violence-against-women-crisis/">recent interview</a> with <em>Maclean’s</em> magazine, Maryam Monsef, Canada’s minister for women and gender equality, called the problem of gender-based violence a “four-alarm fire.” </p>
<p>Gender-based violence happens everywhere, but certain places (like campuses, the military and RCMP) have especially high rates. And certain groups like women with disabilities and Indigenous women and girls face higher rates of violence. </p>
<p>Economically, gender-based violence costs the Canadian economy billions per year. </p>
<p>Gender-based violence is a <a href="https://www.wickedproblems.com/1_wicked_problems.php">“wicked social problem”</a> that’s defined as difficult or impossible to solve because of its prevalence, cost, harm and complicated solutions. The immediate causes of gender-based violence stem from individual actions, but it is as much, or more, about what we believe and tolerate as a society.</p>
<p>To start shifting our shared narratives, I propose some new ways to think about gender-based violence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289958/original/file-20190828-184196-1id7yt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289958/original/file-20190828-184196-1id7yt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289958/original/file-20190828-184196-1id7yt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289958/original/file-20190828-184196-1id7yt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289958/original/file-20190828-184196-1id7yt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289958/original/file-20190828-184196-1id7yt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289958/original/file-20190828-184196-1id7yt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Status of Women Minister Maryam Monsef has announced $50 million for programs across Canada that support survivors of gender-based violence, saying more people than ever are coming forward to seek support and tell their stories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Kawai</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Change power dynamics</h2>
<p>Gender-based violence is fundamentally about power — the power that individuals attempt to wield over one another, and that groups wield against other groups. At its root is the belief that one gender — men — should have dominance over others. </p>
<p>Historically, the subjugated gender has been women, but as the experiences of those who do not identify on the female-male binary are recognized, we are learning that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-018-1127-1">it’s being <em>not male</em> that increases the risk of gender-based violence</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287927/original/file-20190813-9400-mwcjtq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287927/original/file-20190813-9400-mwcjtq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287927/original/file-20190813-9400-mwcjtq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287927/original/file-20190813-9400-mwcjtq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287927/original/file-20190813-9400-mwcjtq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287927/original/file-20190813-9400-mwcjtq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287927/original/file-20190813-9400-mwcjtq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This chart explains the different factors that impact gender-based violence. From Creating Safety for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence: Trauma- and Violence-Informed Care.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://gtvincubator.uwo.ca/resources/">graphic by J. MacGregor.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While factors come into play on individual to societal levels, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.021">causes of gender-based violence are rooted</a> in the fact that women, children and those who don’t identify as male are not seen as fully human and deserving of human rights.</p>
<p>This means that to prevent gender-based violence in the first place, we need to shift the norms, beliefs and practices that ignore, or even encourage, these forms of violence in our homes, schools and workplaces.</p>
<h2>Stop misogyny and victim blaming</h2>
<p>There are two types of problematic beliefs about gender-based violence in Canada. </p>
<p>The first are <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4748887/what-are-the-myths-surrounding-family-violence/">myths, stereotypes and misunderstandings</a>. These are usually based on outdated or false information, or ignorance of the scope and impact of gender-based violence. </p>
<p>While usually unintentional, these beliefs can cause harm. For example, a friend, family member or health care provider who says a woman should just leave her abusive partner doesn’t recognize that leaving an abusive relationship is often the time of greatest risk, including <a href="http://cdhpi.ca/sites/cdhpi.ca/files/DVDRC-2018-Infographic.pdf">for murder</a>.</p>
<p>The second kind of problematic belief stems from intentional messages to devalue and demean women and trans, queer, intersex and two-spirited people. These messages often include denigrating people’s experiences, victim-blaming, citing bad data and/or attacking data that doesn’t support the argument and claiming a crisis in false accusations against men. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290215/original/file-20190829-106530-1c3vy0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290215/original/file-20190829-106530-1c3vy0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290215/original/file-20190829-106530-1c3vy0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290215/original/file-20190829-106530-1c3vy0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290215/original/file-20190829-106530-1c3vy0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290215/original/file-20190829-106530-1c3vy0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290215/original/file-20190829-106530-1c3vy0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lorelei Williams, centre, whose cousin Tanya Holyk was murdered by serial killer Robert Pickton and aunt Belinda Williams went missing in 1978, wipes away tears while seated with Rhiannon Bennett, left, and Sophie Merasty, right, after responding to the report on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, along with other Indigenous women and allies in Vancouver, on June 3, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So-called men’s rights advocacy groups <a href="https://xyonline.net/sites/xyonline.net/files/Gotell%2C%20Sexual%20violence%20in%20the%20%27manosphere%27%202016.pdf">feature these beliefs</a>. These views are closely aligned to more extreme narratives, including those of the <a href="https://cfc-swc.gc.ca/violence/strategy-strategie/report-rapport2019-en.pdf">“incel” movement</a>, that increasingly lead to tragedies. These tragedies, like the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5177737/toronto-van-attack-anniversary-timeline/">Toronto van attack</a>, not only kill people, but also shake our sense of safety and community.</p>
<h2>Power structures in ‘intimate terrorism’</h2>
<p>Researchers like Canadian criminologist Holly Johnson at the University of Ottawa have articulated concerns about the return of “an individualized and de-contextualized masculinist worldview” when it comes to gender-based violence. While feminists have built up arguments over the years that violence against women is about power, recent measurement trends have shifted this towards focusing on individuals.</p>
<p>Johnson argues that how we currently measure and report on gender-based violence amounts to “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxv021">de-gendering violence</a>.” </p>
<p>One focus of Johnson’s critique is the use of survey tools that conflate behaviours found in many poorly functioning relationships with abusive gender-based violence. This form of violence is almost exclusively perpetrated by men, most often against, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0886260510370600">and harmful</a> to, women. </p>
<p>This conflation — for example when throwing something is counted the same as attempted strangulation — is what leads to some data, including current Canadian national <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2013001/article/11805/11805-3-eng.htm">surveys</a>, showing equivalence between genders in overall intimate partner violence. When this occurs, the gendered nature of abuse is obscured. </p>
<p>Sociologist and gender-based violence researcher Michael Johnson <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1077801214521324">calls</a> these types of coercively controlling abusive relationships “intimate terrorism,” with patterns of physically, psychologically and sexually abusive acts used to establish dominance and control. </p>
<p>As noted in the above graphic, we need to take a social-ecological perspective on gender-based violence, modelled on one developed by the <a href="https://www.who.int/violenceprevention/approach/ecology/en/">World Health Organization (WHO)</a>, in which risks and impacts are seen as multi-level.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287924/original/file-20190813-9437-1icn3o5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287924/original/file-20190813-9437-1icn3o5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287924/original/file-20190813-9437-1icn3o5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287924/original/file-20190813-9437-1icn3o5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287924/original/file-20190813-9437-1icn3o5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287924/original/file-20190813-9437-1icn3o5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287924/original/file-20190813-9437-1icn3o5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=772&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This graphic shows some key statistics on one form of gender-based violence, intimate partner violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Chief Public Health Officer's Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2016 - A Focus on Family Violence in Canada; graphic by J. MacGregor</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>New data are coming</h2>
<p>This fall, Statistics Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada will start releasing new data from the national <a href="https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/survey/household/5256">Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces</a>. Two other <a href="https://cfc-swc.gc.ca/violence/strategy-strategie/report-rapport2019-en.pdf">national surveys</a> will then follow — one examining sexual violence on campus, and the other focused on workplaces. </p>
<p>The latter builds on extensive work by our team — the <a href="http://dvatworknet.org/">DV@Work Network</a> — examining the impact of domestic/intimate partner violence on workers and workplaces. These findings have been used to advance legislation for paid and unpaid leave for survivors, and to reframe domestic violence as an occupational health and safety issue. We have produced a series of research-based <a href="http://dvatworknet.org/content/infographics">infographics</a> with key findings.</p>
<p>The new surveys ask better questions about how people identify their gender, ask about more types of violence, including new forms like cyberviolence, where and how violence happens, and crucially, to what effect — how does it harm, but also, how do people survive and thrive?</p>
<p>I’m excited about the potential of this more nuanced data to help us better understand and respond to the various and gendered ways that we use violence against one another. </p>
<p>Better data will mean better service design and delivery for anyone experiencing gender-based violence, regardless of gender. </p>
<p>To pretend that everyone experiences these traumas, and their effects, in the same way doesn’t help anyone. We have a unique opportunity to create compelling evidence-based narratives to dispel existing myths, and, importantly, to push back against the malicious and hateful messages designed to sow confusion and division.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121540/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nadine Wathen is undertaking, as part of her Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)-funded Canada Research Chair, an unpaid Policy Fellowship with the federal Department of Women & Gender Equality (WAGE). WAGE, through its Gender-Based Violence Strategy, is sponsoring the national surveys cited in this article.</span></em></p>New national data, on campuses and elsewhere, can help shift our shared narratives about the root causes of gender-based violence.C. Nadine Wathen, Professor & Canada Research Chair in Mobilizing Knowledge on Gender-Based Violence, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1190602019-08-29T22:06:38Z2019-08-29T22:06:38ZWhat does ‘We are all treaty people’ mean, and who speaks for Indigenous students on campus?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290159/original/file-20190829-106530-1f1mnih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=58%2C143%2C2833%2C1818&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students stage a walkout to raise awareness about systemic discrimination in the Canadian justice system during a protest at the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C., on March 14, 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While there has been a recent growing awareness of Indigenous cultures at Canadian universities, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenization-university-students-1.4841965">racism, violence and dismissal still dominate conversations on campus.</a></p>
<p>In December 2015, when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) issued its Calls to Action, education was at the centre. Many Canadian universities have been working to incorporate the recommendations. </p>
<p>But universities <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/indigenization-efforts-vary-widely-on-canadian-campuses-study-finds/">have mostly adopted a top-down approach to Indigenization.</a> In many cases, the Indigenization process lacks <a href="https://indigenousnationhood.blogspot.com/2019/05/reconciliation-with-indigenous-peoples.html">substance</a>. The process often comes with a slogan: “<a href="https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/abed101/we-are-all-treaty-people/">We are all treaty people</a>.” </p>
<p>“We are all treaty people” is intended to emphasize that all people have treaty rights and responsibilities. But I believe that it conveys instead a false sense of equally shared benefits between Indigenous Peoples and settlers. </p>
<p>The phrase ignores the social, economic and political devastation of Indigenous communities through federal betrayal and mismanagement of Canada’s treaty obligations. Sociologists Eve Tuck (Unangax, Aleut Community of St. Paul Island) and K. Wayne Yang have discussed false senses of equality as a “<a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/staff-profiles/data/docs/fjcollins.pdf">move to innocence</a>” by settlers.</p>
<p>Often, the university is positioned as the institutional saviour, as being uniquely able to help Indigenous students succeed. A recognition of the university’s complicity in past inequities is not usually the starting point but may come after public pressure from Indigenous activists.</p>
<p>Indigenous voices that denounce the continued marginalization of Indigenous
Peoples within these projects are viewed as radicals by university administrators. This institutional distrust long predates the TRC.</p>
<h2>Much stays the same</h2>
<p>In June 1966, when the refrain was the <a href="https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1969/12/1/what-the-canadian-indian-wants-from-you">“Canadian Mosaic,”</a> members of the Canadian Indian Youth Council (CIYC) disagreed about how students on campus should learn about Indigenous issues. The CIYC, initially housed at the University of Manitoba, was a student-led activist group that advocated for Indigenous rights and self-determination across Canada. </p>
<p>The disagreement strained the relationship between the CIYC and the <a href="https://archives.mcmaster.ca/index.php/national-federation-of-canadian-university-students-2">Canadian Union of Students (CUS)</a>. The CUS was a national coalition of Canadian university students councils, including the CIYC. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/harold-cardinal">Harold Cardinal</a> (Sucker Creek Cree), who <a href="https://btlbooks.com/book/unsettling-canada">vocally opposed the White Paper</a> and later wrote <em><a href="http://www.douglas-mcintyre.com/book/unjust-society">The Unjust Society</a></em>, was a founding member of the CIYC. Cardinal praised campus awareness programs run through the Canadian Union of Students. The teach-in style programs had been set up “in an attempt to dispel the ignorance of the non-informed and, at times, apathetic public.”</p>
<p>But rather than leave the programs under the control of the CUS, Cardinal wanted to encourage Indigenous students’ involvement as partners. He believed these programs were a perfect opportunity for Indigenous students to voice “<a href="https://archives.mcmaster.ca/index.php/national-federation-of-canadian-university-students-2">great disapproval</a> for the shameful, ironical, and disgusting breach of Treaty Rights which have been perpetuated on us for many years.” </p>
<p>Two months later, fellow CIYC member <a href="https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1964/5/16/how-kahn-tineta-horn-became-an-indian">Kahn-Tineta Horn</a> (Kahnawá:ke), argued against Cardinal’s idea. Not against Indigenous students speaking out, but against collaboration with the CUS. Her preference was for the CIYC to work alone. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"885320919643594752"}"></div></p>
<p>Horn wrote that “it has been my privilege to make clear that the <a href="https://archives.mcmaster.ca/index.php/national-federation-of-canadian-university-students-2">Canadian Union of Students</a>, and all students, in fact, should mind their business and keep their nose out of the affairs of Indians.” </p>
<p>She continued that “all you can do is confuse the issues, block reality and develop a situation which will, in the end, damage the interests of Indians.” </p>
<p>Despite their conflicting opinions, both shared a vision of Indigenous students telling their own stories on college campuses. At a time when there were almost no Indigenous faculty in Canada, student voices were essential in raising awareness of the disparities Indigenous Peoples faced.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hidden-from-history-indigenous-womens-activism-in-saskatchewan-103279">Hidden from history: Indigenous women's activism in Saskatchewan</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Cardinal, Kahn and their CIYC cohort were, however, considered radical by most fellow students and news media. This was primarily because they vocally rejected societal, institutional and state interpretations about Indigenous pasts, presents and futures. </p>
<p>Fifty plus years later, contemporary Indigenous students express similar concerns about how they are represented, and by whom, on campus.</p>
<h2>Pressure on Indigenous faculty</h2>
<p>Indigenous faculty represent <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/with-a-shared-commitment-canadas-universities-take-steps-toward-reconciliation/">1.4 per cent</a> of Canadian professors. </p>
<p>This low percentage <a href="https://www.ubyssey.ca/news/the-gold-rush-canadian-academia-rush-indigenous-faculty/">places excessive pressure</a> on Indigenous faculty, staff and students. Most are expected to be the voices of Indigenous Peoples on their campuses; few are part of the executive decision-making process. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/law-professor-put-on-trial-for-trespassing-on-familys-ancestral-lands-114065">Law professor put on trial for 'trespassing' on family's ancestral lands</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This paradox means Indigenous faculty are <a href="http://cfr.info.yorku.ca/2019/05/7806/">placed in a spotlight and marginalized at the same time</a>. This dynamic puts faculty, staff and students at risk of reprisal if they speak out against policies they see as detrimental to Indigenous students. </p>
<p>Those who speak out can find themselves, in much the way that Cardinal, Horn and the CIYC were, classified as radicals. This leaves little space for them institutionally. </p>
<p>This situation can be rectified: Indigenous faculty, staff and students should lead Indigenization projects rather than just being consulted on them. How can this happen, when such faculty are already over-committed on campus?</p>
<p>As a settler scholar, I believe it is vital to relieve this pressure on Indigenous colleagues. We must push our institutions to allow Indigenous faculty, staff and students to lead the decision making processes. We can relieve service expectations elsewhere. </p>
<p>We must help change institutional perceptions. Universities need to accept the legitimacy of Indigenous legal and cultural systems. </p>
<p>There are too few institutional attempts to dismantle or restructure the current system to properly decolonize. Exceptions include The <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org">Yellowhead Institute</a> at Ryerson University, the <a href="https://nctr.ca/map.php">National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation</a> at the University of Manitoba, and the <a href="https://aboriginal.ubc.ca/indian-residential-school-centre/">Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre</a> at the University of British Columbia. </p>
<h2>Corporate motivations</h2>
<p>Campus-corporate <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/vice-president-research/internal-honours-prizes/petro-canada-recipients">partnerships are a reality</a> in Canada. How might these partnerships influence the kinds of programs that are developed or lauded? How do such partnerships impact what’s valued in Indigenization?</p>
<p>For example, Thompson Rivers University has <a href="https://www.transmountain.com/news/2015/thompson-rivers-university-and-trans-mountain-sign-a-500-000-community-benefit-agreement">a “community benefit agreement” with Trans Mountain Pipeline</a>. </p>
<p>According to Trans Mountain, the company has signed <a href="https://www.transmountain.com/news/2017/trans-mountain-named-thompson-rivers-university-largest-donor-of-the-year">15 such agreements</a> to benefit communities along the proposed pipeline route. The TRU agreement includes funding towards bursary programs for students in fields <a href="https://tru.ca/__shared/assets/Trans_Mountain_201742020.pdf">related to the energy industry</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290198/original/file-20190829-106524-1w3inz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290198/original/file-20190829-106524-1w3inz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290198/original/file-20190829-106524-1w3inz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290198/original/file-20190829-106524-1w3inz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290198/original/file-20190829-106524-1w3inz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290198/original/file-20190829-106524-1w3inz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290198/original/file-20190829-106524-1w3inz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hereditary Chief Ronnie West, centre, from the Lake Babine First Nation, sings and beats a drum during a solidarity march after Indigenous nations and supporters gathered for a meeting to show support for the Wet'suwet'en Nation, in Smithers, B.C., on January 16, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The TRU agreement contains a clause that says the university <a href="https://tru.ca/__shared/assets/Trans_Mountain_201742020.pdf">would provide a copy of any public announcements</a> regarding the program to Trans Mountain for approval. Would research or scholarship opposed to the pipeline be approved under such circumstances?</p>
<h2>Elevating voices of protest</h2>
<p>The majority of contemporary Indigenous students yearn to see their communities reflected and represented on campus. </p>
<p>Students want this representation to include those community members and activists fighting against pipelines, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/08/telescopes-hawaii-reopen-after-deal-protesters">telescopes</a> and other forms of settler intrusion on Indigenous territories. Usually, the public is informed by media agencies <a href="https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/seeing-red">reporting these issues from the settler perspective</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290155/original/file-20190829-106504-1wa7rjk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290155/original/file-20190829-106504-1wa7rjk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290155/original/file-20190829-106504-1wa7rjk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290155/original/file-20190829-106504-1wa7rjk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290155/original/file-20190829-106504-1wa7rjk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290155/original/file-20190829-106504-1wa7rjk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1255&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290155/original/file-20190829-106504-1wa7rjk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290155/original/file-20190829-106504-1wa7rjk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1255&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many students want to hear Indigenous voices of protest on campus. Women’s March, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dulcey Lima / Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We must be as informed by Indigenous Peoples who want to fight the settler system as we are by those who want to work within it. This includes faculty working to change the system from within and community members who reject the system outright.</p>
<p>Universities cannot proclaim reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples while silencing Indigenous voices of dissent. As in the 1960s, Indigenous students need spaces to speak to power. Indigenous students need platforms where they can speak for themselves, on their terms. They need to know that they will be heard, listened to and that their concerns will be acted upon. </p>
<p>Indigenization cannot take place without radical change. Radical change cannot take place until institutions actively listen to the “radical” Indigenous voices they currently exclude. </p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul McKenzie-Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As students and faculty start a new academic year, it’s a good time to highlight the barriers to Indigenizing the campus and the importance of Indigenous voices on campus.Paul McKenzie-Jones, Assistant Professor, Indigenous Studies, University of LethbridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1217982019-08-28T21:52:45Z2019-08-28T21:52:45ZLet’s change the ‘girls play flute, boys bash drums’ stereotypes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289209/original/file-20190823-170918-1865537.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C26%2C997%2C470&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What can teachers and parents do to ensure that children select musical activities based on their real desires?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2019, surely we are past the days in music class where boys are shunted to drums and trombone while girls are pushed toward flute and choir? Not necessarily so.</p>
<p>Music researchers have consistently found what musicians, music educators, parents or students may have anecdotally noticed: many people have gendered associations with particular instruments related to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735617734629">instruments’ pitch and timbre</a> or their <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40319030">role and size</a>. And, these gendered associations shape both people’s perceptions <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735602302003">of the gender identity and social role</a> of musicians and of <a href="https://www.bsomusic.org/stories/boys-play-trumpet-and-girls-play-flute-but-why.aspx">what instruments people should choose</a>. </p>
<p>In the 1970s, in the United States, Harold Abeles of Columbia University and Susan Yank Porter of Wilmington Public Schools began to study the effects of gender in music education. They found that both children in kindergarten to Grade 5 and adults make gendered associations with musical instruments, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3344880">that students and music teachers tend to prefer “gender appropriate” instruments</a>.</p>
<p>They also found from “most feminine to most masculine,” the list looks like this: flute, violin, clarinet, cello, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and drum. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3345559">Similar findings</a> persist in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014863609014">studies conducted regularly since</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, when children take up instruments they’re not passionate about, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3345534">most don’t stick with music for long</a>.</p>
<p>But what is the background here, and what can teachers and parents do to ensure that children are selecting musical activities based on their real desires? </p>
<h2>Sounds like gendered history</h2>
<p>Historical research shows that gender disparities in music have existed for a long time.</p>
<p>Writing in 1886, music critic George Upton concluded that women were unable to be creative in music. His reasoning was that history shows women wrote no great music and “‘<a href="https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326934CRJ1401_7">having equal advantages with men, they have failed as creators</a>.’” </p>
<p>Anecdotally, in my teaching and research career I have found many music students repeat the fallacy “if there were any good women musicians we’d have heard of them.”</p>
<p>In the 1980s, scholar Ellen Koskoff of the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, published an influential volume of essays <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/47azy5bd9780252060571.html">that surveyed women’s experiences in music, both globally and historically</a>.
Koskoff’s volume points to gendering of musical pursuits as a pan-global experience.</p>
<p>Of course, the corollary is that men’s musical activities, though generally broader and more prestigious, are also prescribed and restricted. As far back as the 1930s, the <em>Music Educators Journal</em> published a reflective essay by music teacher Inez Field Damon, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3384954">The Boys Who Would Not Sing</a>.” Damon laments her experiences talking with the principal at a school where she’s failing at cajoling boys’ participation. The principal replies:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“You can’t make them sing. They never sing. They are heavy in everything.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Closer to our own times, sociology of arts scholar Clare Hall of Monash University in Australia examines the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265051704005960">“missing male” trend in singing at school</a>. She finds that far fewer boys joining choirs or willing to sing likely finds its origins in very early childhood. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288707/original/file-20190820-170956-doz7if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288707/original/file-20190820-170956-doz7if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288707/original/file-20190820-170956-doz7if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288707/original/file-20190820-170956-doz7if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288707/original/file-20190820-170956-doz7if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288707/original/file-20190820-170956-doz7if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288707/original/file-20190820-170956-doz7if.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Do gendered associations with music, such as the drums being considered more ‘male,’ still influence today’s music classrooms?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">lindsey bahia/unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Musical genius isn’t male</h2>
<p>In my work, I’m tracking <a href="https://grimebibliography.wordpress.com/">gender research in music education</a>. There are many ways researchers are <a href="https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/gems/issue/archive">investigating this area</a>. </p>
<p>Researchers look beyond musical instruments, such as barriers to <a href="http://doi.org/10.5429/2079-3871(2010)v1i1.1en">girls playing the electric guitar,</a> to include all types musical pursuits, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183517725101">collecting records</a>, DJ-ing or writing and <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/study-musics-greatest-gender-disparity-is-in-the-studio-w515889">producing music</a>. </p>
<p>There are two approaches aimed toward greater gender equity in music education — which could also be adapted to combat gender inequity in other human endeavours — which really must be used in concert. These are known as <a href="https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4409628">compensatory practices and challenging practices</a>.</p>
<p>Compensatory practices aim to fill in some gaps related to music history. Rather than just studying dead white European men, music educators must consciously and purposefully include women of diverse cultures or backgrounds in the story. </p>
<p>Let’s study medieval abbess <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/em/cau013">Hildegard von Bingen</a> and American composer, singer and arranger <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/06/20/711818052/wade-in-the-water-ep-17-the-music-of-roberta-martin-and-kenneth-morris">Roberta Martin</a>. Let’s study Americana guitarist <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/08/16/748416943/mother-matriarch-and-mentor">Maybelle Carter</a>, or contemporary music makers like <a href="http://stateofsate.com/about/">blues rocker SATE</a> or <a href="http://tanyatagaq.com/">vocalist Tanya Tagaq</a>.</p>
<p>And, for those who scoff that we can’t just not study Beethoven, I say, “Of course we study Beethoven! He’s pretty good. But, we don’t privilege Beethoven’s work as inherently more important or a as product of musical genius exclusive to men.” </p>
<h2>Role models</h2>
<p>Compensatory practices used alone are not enough. Filling gaps is necessary, but alone, compensatory practices don’t take steps to combat continued gendering in music. Some challenging practices that interrupt the formation of gender stereotypes are needed. One of the most effective is providing students with a variety of musical examples or role models. </p>
<p>Exposing students to images of both male and female musicians playing varied instruments or in varied musical roles has been shown to be effective. But beware, because simply showing what might be thought of as counter-examples (only girls playing drums, for instance) runs the risk of creating an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265051700001777">equally strong gender bias shifted from the prevalent one</a>.</p>
<p>Any lifelong musician can tell you the benefits of making music. We talk about enhancing self-esteem and self-regulation, building community and enhancing <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/298964/this-is-your-brain-on-music-by-daniel-j-levitin/9780452288522/">academic achievement</a> among the benefits. But let’s not forget the <a href="https://theconversation.com/music-also-matters-in-the-real-world-104388">joy and needed self-expression</a> that music making also brings. </p>
<p>It’s a shame when children miss out on these many benefits either because somebody pushes them in the wrong direction because of who or what they appear to be, or because encouragement and efforts to break down stereotyping are lacking or ineffective. </p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121798/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robbie MacKay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When children take up instruments they’re not passionate about, most don’t stick with music for long, and that’s a shame.Robbie MacKay, Lecturer in Musicology, Dan School of Drama & Music, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1208562019-08-26T22:49:49Z2019-08-26T22:49:49ZThe crisis of anti-Black racism in schools persists across generations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289495/original/file-20190826-8845-r5zqko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Recent reports of Black students in Ontario reveal an ongoing pattern of racism including a lack of adequate reading materials.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wadi Lissa /Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent <a href="http://www.peelschools.org/aboutus/equity/Documents/We%20Rise%20Together%20report%20-%20Carl%20E%20James%20June%202019.pdf">reports</a> of the schooling experiences of Black students in elementary, middle and high school in Toronto tell a story of negligence and disregard. This disregard includes a lack of access to appropriate reading materials and supportive relationships with teachers and administrators. </p>
<p>In conversations about their school life, Black students talk about adverse treatment by their teachers and peers, including regular use of the “n-word.” </p>
<p>These issues contribute to alienating and problematic school days for Black students. And none of this is new: racism in Toronto and Ontario schools has been <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/how-a-1992-report-on-racism-in-ontario-highlights-current-problems">ongoing for decades</a>. </p>
<p>Twenty years ago, former politician Stephen Lewis was appointed to advise the province of Ontario on race relations. The appointment came after <a href="https://nowtoronto.com/news/yonge-street-riot-documentary/">a “stop anti-Black police violence” march turned into an uprising in Toronto.</a> Lewis spent a month consulting with people and community groups in Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor and London <a href="http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/repository/mon/13000/134250.pdf">and then presented a report on race relations.</a> </p>
<p>He wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The students [I spoke with] were fiercely articulate and often deeply moving…. They don’t understand why the schools are so slow to reflect the broader society. One bright young man in a Metro east high school said that he had reached [the end of high school] without once having a book by a Black author [assigned to him]. And when other students, in the large meeting of which he was a part, started to name books they had been given to read, the titles were <em>Black Like Me</em> and <em>To Kill and Mockingbird</em> (both, incredibly enough, by white writers!). It’s absurd in a world which has a positive cornucopia of magnificent literature by Black authors. I further recall an animated young woman from a high school in Peel, who described her school as multiracial, and then added that she and her fellow students had white teachers, white counsellors, a white principal and were taught Black history by a white teacher who didn’t like them…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>More than two decades later, reports continue to show that school boards do not meet the educational needs and interests of Black students and parents.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287101/original/file-20190806-84240-ktdume.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287101/original/file-20190806-84240-ktdume.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287101/original/file-20190806-84240-ktdume.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287101/original/file-20190806-84240-ktdume.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287101/original/file-20190806-84240-ktdume.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287101/original/file-20190806-84240-ktdume.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287101/original/file-20190806-84240-ktdume.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dudley Laws, a founding member of the Black Action Defence Committee, speaks to a ‘stop anti-Black police violence’ rally at Queen’s Park in Toronto in May 1992 after several shooting deaths of Black youth by police.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Canadian Press/Hans Deryk</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two years ago, I <a href="https://exchange.youthrex.com/report/towards-race-equity-education-schooling-black-students-greater-toronto-area">led a study</a> to examine the schooling experiences and educational outcomes of Black students. We surveyed 324 parents, educators, school administrators and trustees. We talked to Black high school and university students in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) who participated in the five community consultations we held in four school districts. </p>
<p>Participants echoed what students said 20 years ago in the Lewis report. Black students say they are “being treated differently than their non-Black peers in the classrooms and hallways of their schools.” They say there is still a lack of Black presence in schools. There are few Black teachers, the curriculum does not adequately address Black history and schools lack an equitable process to help students deal with anti-Black racism. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/racialized-student-achievement-gaps-are-a-red-alert-108822">Racialized student achievement gaps are a red-alert</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Students spoke about their teachers’ and administrators’ lack of attention to their concerns, interests and needs. <a href="http://edu.yorku.ca/files/2017/04/Towards-Race-Equity-in-Education-April-2017.pdf">They told of differential or “unfair” treatment, and they noted their teachers’ unwillingness to address complaints of racism</a>. </p>
<p>Participants said they perceived a more punitive discipline of Black students. They also said they observed the “streaming of Black students into courses below their ability level.” They said Black students were discouraged from attending university. </p>
<p>Last year, I conducted another study with Black elementary, middle and high-school students in the Peel District School Board (PDSB), a multiracial district in Ontario. This study <a href="http://www.peelschools.org/aboutus/equity/Documents/We%20Rise%20Together%20report%20-%20Carl%20E%20James%20June%202019.pdf">produced the same list of concerns</a>. </p>
<h2>Not belonging</h2>
<p>Students reported being called the “n-word,” as they put it, by “people who are not Black.” This use of racial epithets adds to an already alienating educational climate for many Black students. </p>
<p>One middle school student said: “People are getting too comfortable with saying that n-word.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288358/original/file-20190816-192219-3mrw9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288358/original/file-20190816-192219-3mrw9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288358/original/file-20190816-192219-3mrw9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288358/original/file-20190816-192219-3mrw9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288358/original/file-20190816-192219-3mrw9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288358/original/file-20190816-192219-3mrw9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288358/original/file-20190816-192219-3mrw9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The use of the ‘n-word’ seems to be on the rise, even in middle schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A high school student shared his reaction to being called the n-word: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I recall one time where I almost slapped this guy [for using the n-word]; but I was like: ‘Nah! I’m not going to let this happen or let him disturb me like that.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Like Black students before them, their experiences contributed to their “sense of un-belonging” and a schooling environment that made learning problematic, tough and challenging. </p>
<p>Beyond Toronto, Black students and their parents are similarly complaining about the use of the n-word across Canadian public schools: Several news reports tell of parents in school boards <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/york-school-board-lawsuit-1.5134169">in York</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/racism-parents-bullying-schools-1.4830056">Ottawa</a>, Montréal and Halifax. </p>
<p>One Montréal mother <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mother-says-elementary-school-won-t-take-action-after-racist-incidents-against-son-1.4271206">told CTV news</a> that in an argument with his classmate, her son was called “the n-word” by a white student. The mother went on to say: “I’m at war with the systemic racism that occurs at the school.” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/they-used-it-to-hurt-me-teens-talk-about-being-called-the-n-word"><em>CBC Kids News</em></a> published a story about two Black Grade 12 students in Nova Scotia who gave presentations to their peers across the province about being called the n-word. One of the presenters, Kelvin, said the word is commonly used to “hurt” and put him down.“ He said the word and its implications had not been taught by teachers in any of his classes. </p>
<p>Some parents and educators have connected this ongoing racism to a <a href="https://byblacks.com/main-menu-mobile/news-mobile/item/2295-the-safety-epidemic-facing-black-children-in-ontario-schools">health and safety epidemic for Black students in Ontario schools.</a> </p>
<p>That the "n-word” brings health and safety implications as well as deep consternation to Black students should be a concern that teachers take up. Teachers need to examine course materials for their content and impact on students’ learning. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-impacts-your-health-84112">Racism impacts your health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Could a good reading list help?</h2>
<p>Based on my research, I recommended the Peel District School Board evaluate their curriculum and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-york-university-professor-asks-peel-school-board-to-reconsider/">assess the usefulness of old texts. Some of these texts repeatedly use the the racial epithet, “ni–er.”</a> As an example, I said the 1960 American novel <em>To Kill A Mockingbird</em> could be re-examined as a core book taught in classrooms. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289493/original/file-20190826-8851-1qk807j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289493/original/file-20190826-8851-1qk807j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289493/original/file-20190826-8851-1qk807j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289493/original/file-20190826-8851-1qk807j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289493/original/file-20190826-8851-1qk807j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289493/original/file-20190826-8851-1qk807j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289493/original/file-20190826-8851-1qk807j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289493/original/file-20190826-8851-1qk807j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image from the movie, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These are texts that Canadian students might find difficult to relate to their lives. These texts become especially problematic when it is the only time that the lives of Black people are mentioned in class. </p>
<p>All teaching material must be continuously re-assessed in relation to historical, political and social contexts. Materials must also be evaluated for their ability to pertain to the realities of Black students in today’s classrooms. </p>
<p>The experiences of all students must be centred and the knowledge, needs and aspirations they bring into the classroom considered. </p>
<p>This is the same recommendation Stephen Lewis made in 1992.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289501/original/file-20190826-8851-1278uw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289501/original/file-20190826-8851-1278uw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289501/original/file-20190826-8851-1278uw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289501/original/file-20190826-8851-1278uw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289501/original/file-20190826-8851-1278uw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289501/original/file-20190826-8851-1278uw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289501/original/file-20190826-8851-1278uw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teaching materials must also be evaluated for their ability to pertain to the realities of Black students in today’s classrooms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Responsive learning spaces</h2>
<p>As Poleen Grewal, associate director of the Peel District School Board pointed out, it is not just about the texts taught. Teachers who use uncritical texts as a way into discussions about racism are unlikely to benefit Black students already aware of racism. Grewal said teaching must be accompanied by the ability to create “culturally responsive learning spaces.”</p>
<p>Educators need to be aware of how structures of inequities like racism, classism, homophobia, xenophobia and Islamophobia operate in educational institutions to obfuscate student interest in learning. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289487/original/file-20190826-8868-yreatf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289487/original/file-20190826-8868-yreatf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289487/original/file-20190826-8868-yreatf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289487/original/file-20190826-8868-yreatf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289487/original/file-20190826-8868-yreatf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289487/original/file-20190826-8868-yreatf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289487/original/file-20190826-8868-yreatf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nigel Barriffe, president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations and an elementary teacher with the Toronto District School Board in Rexdale, throws up a salute to the chant ‘Black Lives Matter’ at a public meeting of the Ontario Anti-Racism Directorate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chris Young/Canadian Press)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recently, a number of school Boards have initiated programs that they claim address anti-Black racism, including anti-racism workshops for teachers. Will these measures help to change the inequitable and racist contexts of Canadian schools and the racism students experience? </p>
<p>Other places have been pro-active with curriculum. In Nova Scotia, <em>To Kill A Mockingbird</em> was removed from the curriculum in 1996, and replaced with the 1998 novel <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/57454/a-lesson-before-dying-by-ernest-j-gaines/9780375702709/teachers-guide/"><em>A Lesson Before Dying</em> by African-American writer Ernest J. Gaines.</a></p>
<p>School boards need to value and draw upon the cultural and intellectual capital of Black students. To do so, they need to encourage the university aspirations of Black students, address racism experienced by students, and use educational materials that enable a relevant and responsive learning environment. </p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120856/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carl James receives research funding from Social Science Research Council as well as the Peel District School Board, 2017/2018 for the We Rise Together (on the experiences of Black students).</span></em></p>Decades of inadequate teaching material and resources to support Black students in Ontario means they are severely underserved by their schools.Carl E. James, Professor, Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1222992019-08-26T22:48:57Z2019-08-26T22:48:57ZDoug Ford’s reboot of sex education in Ontario: Same as it ever was<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289494/original/file-20190826-8856-1e13utt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Doug Ford government has introduced a new sex education curriculum in Ontario, and it's not much different than the controversial one rolled out by former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne five years ago.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ontario has been <a href="https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2015/05/05/busting-the-myths-around-ontarios-new-sex-ed-curriculum.html">embroiled in controversy</a> over sex education since 2015 when updates to the province’s health and physical education curriculum drew vocal opposition from a minority of parents. </p>
<p>As is typical for such policies, the loudest critics are those who feel that <a href="https://torontolife.com/city/ontario-sex-ed-revolution/">religious or traditional values</a> are threatened by mandatory learning about sexual decision-making and LGBTQ identities. While educators and sexual health experts <a href="http://sieccan.org/sexual-health-education/">in Canada</a> and <a href="http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/ITGSE_en.pdf">at UNESCO</a> are united on the evidence in favour of comprehensive school-based sexuality education, it has been a struggle to bring educational policies into line with their recommendations, even with strong public support.</p>
<p>The 2015 curriculum introduced by Liberal Kathleen Wynne, the former Ontario premier, was a major step forward, with substantial updates to the material on sexual development and diversity, and new sections on sexting, bullying and consent.</p>
<p>But Conservative Premier Doug Ford, deferring to the traditionalist wing of his party, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-doug-ford-government-scraps-controversial-ontario-sex-ed-curriculum">repealed the elementary curriculum</a> as soon as he took office in 2018 and reinstated the version from 1998.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289440/original/file-20190826-8868-1rzuv6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289440/original/file-20190826-8868-1rzuv6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289440/original/file-20190826-8868-1rzuv6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289440/original/file-20190826-8868-1rzuv6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289440/original/file-20190826-8868-1rzuv6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289440/original/file-20190826-8868-1rzuv6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289440/original/file-20190826-8868-1rzuv6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A demonstrator holds up a sign in front of the Ontario legislature to protest against Ontario’s new sex education curriculum in February 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now that Ford has unveiled <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/2019-health-physical-education-grades-1to8.pdf">a new Grade 1-8 curriculum</a> that is strikingly similar to the maligned 2015 version, many Ontario residents are understandably confused about the politics of sex education.</p>
<h2>False claims of no consultation</h2>
<p>I began studying the controversy over sexuality education in Ontario in 2015 and found that the terms of the debate shifted as soon as Ford ascended to power. Rather than articulating concrete objections to the curriculum or citing religious values, the Ford government claimed that <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/07/18/education-minister-dodge-questions-about-change-to-sex-ed-curriculum.html">there had been no consultation on</a> the 2015 curriculum. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/1863258/reality-check-whats-the-evidence-behind-ontarios-sex-ed-curriculum/">thousands of parents and 70 health organizations had been consulted</a>, and <a href="https://utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/cjhs.23.3-A1">a study</a> conducted in 2014 found that 87 per cent of Ontario parents considered the topics in the curriculum to be “important” or “very important” to teach in schools. The curriculum had democratic support and was developed through appropriate processes.</p>
<p>Ford also claimed that he needed to repeal the curriculum to <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/wynne-defends-sex-ed-curriculum-says-thousands-of-parents-were-consulted-1.3840961">consult teachers</a>. </p>
<p>However, <a href="http://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/3527">a survey</a> we conducted after the release of the 2015 curriculum found overwhelming support among teachers for the more thorough, inclusive and up-to-date curriculum. In case it wasn’t clear what they thought, the <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/ontario-elementary-teachers-union-protests-sex-ed-curriculum-changes-1.4052612">Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario protested</a> the retraction of the curriculum and, along with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, brought a <a href="https://ccla.org/update-ccla-etfo-sex-ed-legal-challenges-heard-together/">Charter challenge</a> against the government.</p>
<p>In other words, notwithstanding the predictable objections of a small constituency, there was no compelling reason to repeal the 2015 curriculum. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-ed-isnt-going-to-turn-you-gay-98290">Sex-ed isn't going to turn you gay</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>To make the move seem justified, Ford undertook public consultations in the fall of 2018 with great fanfare. Months of suspense and <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2019/05/08/education-consultations-cost-ford-government-1m.html">$1 million</a> later, <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/OnlineSurveyReport.html#HPE">the results</a> showed what we already knew: the majority of Ontarians support all the topics that had appeared in the 2015 curriculum, in more or less the same grades.</p>
<h2>‘Snitch line’ had chilling effect</h2>
<p>The repeal of the 2015 curriculum was also accompanied by the creation of a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/08/22/educators-slam-fords-snitch-line-for-teachers-who-defy-sex-ed-rollback.html">“snitch line”</a> to report on teachers who didn’t adhere to the outdated materials. As the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario argued in court, this unprecedented threat of surveillance and disciplinary action had a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/01/09/sex-ed-rollback-launch-of-snitch-line-created-chill-among-teachers-court-hears.html">chilling effect</a> in the classroom, which is consistent with research on teachers’ apprehensions about teaching sexual health.</p>
<p>Jacqueline Cohen, Sandra Byers and Heather Sears of the University of New Brunswick found that anticipated negative reactions from parents and a perceived lack of institutional support affected Canadian <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681811.2011.615606">teachers’ willingness to cover sexual health education</a>. </p>
<p>Teachers in Ontario last year were particularly likely to self-censor on topics related to sexual diversity and gender identity, which were not addressed in the 1998 curriculum.</p>
<p>Indeed, despite the significant continuity between Wynne’s 2015 curriculum and Ford’s 2019 reboot, “gender identity” is a major casualty of the transition. Previously introduced in Grade 3, the critical topic will now be postponed until the end of Grade 8, well after most students have started puberty and begun <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15546128.2014.973131?journalCode=wajs20">thinking about gender</a>. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-court-dismisses-legal-challenge-to-governments-sex-education/">court challenge</a> heard earlier this year, we learned that teachers were free and, indeed, required to address sexual diversity in an inclusive fashion, irrespective of the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/08/22/educators-slam-fords-snitch-line-for-teachers-who-defy-sex-ed-rollback.htm">menacing rhetoric</a> from the government. </p>
<p>This meant that the challenges to the repeal were ultimately dropped, but only because legal protections for sex and gender minorities made Ford’s threats toothless. </p>
<h2>Having it both ways</h2>
<p>The 2019 curriculum, which is consistent with Canadian law but out of step with research on gender development, can be seen as Ford’s attempt to have it both ways.</p>
<p>The new curriculum also requires all school boards to develop a policy for parents to easily <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-new-sex-ed-curriculum-1.5254327">opt their children out</a> of sex education classes — an olive branch to those who consider their values to be at odds with evolving liberal norms.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289465/original/file-20190826-8880-1opmz78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289465/original/file-20190826-8880-1opmz78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289465/original/file-20190826-8880-1opmz78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289465/original/file-20190826-8880-1opmz78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289465/original/file-20190826-8880-1opmz78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289465/original/file-20190826-8880-1opmz78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289465/original/file-20190826-8880-1opmz78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289465/original/file-20190826-8880-1opmz78.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks at a recent news conference in Toronto.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>This debacle is not only about longstanding culture wars, but, more tellingly, about the place of expertise and professionalism in our democracy. Ford rose to power using populist rhetoric that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/30/doug-ford-ontario-conservative-trump-comparison-canada">echoes U.S. President Donald Trump’s</a> anti-establishment tropes. Claiming to be “for the people” and, specifically, on the issue of educational policy <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2018/08/ontarios-government-for-the-people-respecting-parents-by-holding-unprecedented-consultation-into-education-reform.html">“for the parents,”</a> Ford has framed democratic policy-making as an adversarial struggle between “the people” and “the elite.”</p>
<p>Ontario teachers have been positioned by the Ford government both as a stakeholder group whom Wynne had failed to consult, and as a subversive class who need to be monitored by “the people.” Ford has no teaching experience or medical expertise — neither do his past or present education ministers — but he flagrantly rejected the advice of both <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-sex-education-ndp-andrea-horwath-health-professionals-petition-1.4776079">educational and health experts</a>. This kind of anti-elitism has been linked to the rise of <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315680903/chapters/10.4324/9781315680903-7">right-wing populism</a> across North America and Europe.</p>
<p>The larger political context may help explain why Ford, with no record of social conservatism, manoeuvred “sex ed” into a signature issue that he expected to bear political fruit. He courts voters across the spectrum while pursuing a hard-right agenda. </p>
<p>In fact, while presenting himself as a champion of effective education and defender of the public interest, Ford has announced harrowing <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5132545/ontario-teachers-job-cuts/">cuts to education</a> that will balloon class sizes and lay off thousands of teachers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-larger-classes-teachers-cant-attend-to-childrens-needs-110556">With larger classes, teachers can't attend to children's needs</a>
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<p>The premier now seeks credit for <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2019/03/education-that-works-for-you-1.html">“modernizing”</a> health education, despite the havoc he created by resuscitating a 20-year-old curriculum. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/2019-health-physical-education-grades-1to8.pdf">new curriculum</a> is progressive in many ways, and contains several important new topics, such as cannabis, vaping and concussions. But these updates could have been pursued without repealing the entire 2015 curriculum for a year and promoting antagonism toward teachers, experts and sexual minorities. </p>
<p>The sex-ed saga may be over for now, but the era of populist policy-making may have just begun.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122299/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Bialystok received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>Doug Ford’s unveiling of a new Grade 1-8 sex education curriculum is strikingly similar to the maligned 2015 version. The result is confused Ontario parents.Lauren Bialystok, Associate Professor of Educational Ethics, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1211702019-08-25T11:31:23Z2019-08-25T11:31:23ZThe ‘slow professor’ could bring back creativity to our universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288414/original/file-20190817-192215-y388eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Creative, social and family life should not be banished from the knowledge economy. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last summer, a friend gave me a copy of <a href="https://utorontopress.com/ca/the-slow-professor-3"><em>The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy</em> by Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber</a>, professors of English language and literature respectively at Queen’s University and Brock University. It gave me lots of food for thought. Working at a university, after several years of postdoctoral fellowships, I wondered why, indeed, not slow down? </p>
<p><a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/slow-professor-revisited/">The book advocates the benefits of a generalized slowdown at universities</a>, with the authors pondering how to reform these institutions from the inside. That would take the form of fighting against the race for performance — and the culture of speed that characterizes it. </p>
<p>How can we reverse the strong trend that commodifies the value of education and brings educational objectives into line with market standards?</p>
<p>The authors question both the individual responsibility of professors to act in accordance with the noble ideals of the institution of the university, and the possible collective mobilizations to safeguard its independence.</p>
<p>The book poses a difficult question: To what extent do professors themselves bend to the ideology of growth without their knowledge? </p>
<h2>In praise of slowness</h2>
<p>Berg and Seeber thus slowly open up the possibility of practising a certain dissent within the university itself, of having divergent thoughts — and practices — and of making the university a place for sustainable living.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIG33QtLRyA">The idea of degrowth </a> in the economics universe is based on the idea that an ecological disaster is inevitable as long as the exploitation of (finite) resources is subjected to growth – and therefore to infinite exploitation.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283719/original/file-20190711-173360-1rwaqcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283719/original/file-20190711-173360-1rwaqcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283719/original/file-20190711-173360-1rwaqcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283719/original/file-20190711-173360-1rwaqcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283719/original/file-20190711-173360-1rwaqcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1187&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283719/original/file-20190711-173360-1rwaqcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1187&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283719/original/file-20190711-173360-1rwaqcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1187&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In ‘The Slow Professor,’ Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber discuss the need to reintroduce into university life the notion of a kind of timelessness that is at the heart of inventiveness and creativity.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It seems to me that a professor’s ideas are not renewable at the same rate as the exploitation of minds induced by the university system, particularly when ideas and minds are subject to constant pressure. </p>
<p>Teachers are being asked to produce more and more, ignoring the challenges of life — fatigue, depression, pregnancy and aging, for example. This dichotomy between creativity and intellectual overproduction sometimes creates dissonance and gives the impression that some people display impoverished ideas. </p>
<p>Similar phenomena can be observed in the artistic fields, where artists have transformed themselves into “cultural producers.” I remember one <a href="https://vimeo.com/ondemand/agnesmartin/7127385">interview with the painter Agnes Martin</a>, who justified throwing away all her attempts until she was 40 years old by saying: “It takes time to create something new.” </p>
<h2>The myth of the civil servant</h2>
<p>Being in tune with one’s interior mind without being constantly threatened by the outside world is a requirement that is just as valid for a chemist as it is for a painter. You can’t produce something new without giving time for ideas to regenerate. </p>
<p>But before even tackling speed itself head on, it’s necessary to criticize the discourse on time that contaminates the discussion. It is enough to have set foot in a university to know that everyone claims not to have any time. It’s a universal scourge, but it reaches a delirious level for university professors, with several months’ delay in replying to emails, in evaluating theses and dissertations, etc. </p>
<p>Lack of knowledge of the variety of teachers’ tasks can sometimes lead to prejudice against them. It is said they work little, are passively idle, earn a generous salary and travel at public expense. </p>
<p>These prejudices are not necessarily false, on the condition that they are in line with private enterprise. But that’s perhaps not desirable when you think about it for a second: because why would you want all workers to be poorly paid and not entitled to any intellectual enrichment? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283756/original/file-20190711-173360-p6d9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283756/original/file-20190711-173360-p6d9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283756/original/file-20190711-173360-p6d9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283756/original/file-20190711-173360-p6d9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283756/original/file-20190711-173360-p6d9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283756/original/file-20190711-173360-p6d9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283756/original/file-20190711-173360-p6d9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In a university, everyone claims not to have any time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These prejudices broadly affect the entire public sector. The governments of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) in Québec and the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party don’t help the situation: Ontario, for example, has stated it wants to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-doug-ford-university-college-post-secondary-grants-1.5121844">accelerate the adaptation of universities to labour market needs</a>.</p>
<p>Berg and Seeber focus on the need to reintroduce into university life the notion of a kind of <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/19/book-argues-faculty-members-should-actively-resist-culture-speed-modern-academe">timelessness</a> that they believe is at the very heart of inventiveness and creativity. They submit that it is virtually impossible to read and write (activities that are at the very heart of university life) with too much awareness of the passage of time.</p>
<h2>Never working hard enough</h2>
<p>On this point, it seems that everyone must be impacted. It’s obvious that everyone’s concentration time is strongly affected by increasingly frequent external demands. </p>
<p>Without pleading for the abolition of Facebook or texting, Berg and Seeber nevertheless believe we must learn to cut ourselves off from the world again, even if only for a few hours, in order to be able to read and write correctly. Transforming knowledge and letting oneself be transformed by the knowledge of others requires slowness, almost an asceticism.</p>
<p>The principle of the slow professor also implies a way of prioritizing intellectual and material life differently, of finding a way to put everyday everyday invasions in their place. </p>
<p>This guilt of never working hard enough is invading all spheres of immaterial labour. I wrote an <a href="https://edition.atelier10.ca/nouveau-projet/magazine/nouveau-projet-12/le-rire-jaune-de-l-universite%5D">article</a> in the journal <em>Nouveau Projet</em> on this issue, and more particularly on the “academic humour” that derides this obsession with work and the resulting alienation.</p>
<p>Needless to say, the time management style now demanded by universities is contrary to that of parenting, particularly motherhood, or any other form of investment in the care of relatives (this is certainly a way to go if we want to understand <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/women-academics-are-still-outnumbered-at-the-higher-ranks/">systemic gender inequalities in universities</a>). </p>
<p>Knowing how to put family, social and creative life back at the very heart of the knowledge economy is perhaps the only way to save a university from the discomfort that it has imposed on itself in a desire to imitate private enterprise. </p>
<p>To what extent are the teachers themselves accomplices in this imprisonment, as if they are afraid of being accused of being lazy, under the pressure of implied adversarial criticisms they have integrated? This is a classic case of hegemony, where adherence to dominant values becomes so powerful that it is indistinguishable, like the (stale) air we breathe.</p>
<h2>Intellectual availability</h2>
<p>The intellectual availability I am talking about is particularly important at a time when the university is the place to re-elaborate the very notion of culture in relation to power struggles — related to cultural diversity, gender concepts, male domination — and to know how to hear what students have to say about these fundamental shifts. </p>
<p>To put it simply, universities cannot afford to be a sanitized technocratic universe at this time. It would simply be politically irresponsible.</p>
<p>It is time to do less and better, to transmit to students something like power, even a critical joy. Reinstall camaraderie, mutual aid, real encounters, free exchanges, break isolation. It is true that this also implies accepting a form of vulnerability of one’s word, to not armour oneself against the opinions of others, not to be afraid of being caught in the wrong. </p>
<p>This is true for universities, but also for all areas of knowledge, creativity and community work. To be slow teachers, slow journalists, slow nurses, is not to be stopped - it is simply to find the luxury of playing with one’s ideas and energy so that values such as creativity, invention and solicitude, are never subjected to speculative one-upmanship.</p>
<p>(This text was previously published, in a long version, in issue 323 of <em>Liberté</em> magazine, under the title <a href="https://revueliberte.ca/article/1349/D%C3%A9taler_comme_un_lapin">“Détaler comme un lapin</a>” (Running like a rabbit).)</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121170/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julien Lefort-Favreau has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (CRSH)</span></em></p>Transforming knowledge and letting oneself be transformed by the knowledge of others requires slowness, almost an asceticism.Julien Lefort-Favreau, Assistant Professor, French Studies & Cultural Studies, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1216452019-08-22T21:04:56Z2019-08-22T21:04:56ZWhy cursive handwriting needs to make a school
comeback<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288582/original/file-20190819-123727-106cj7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C1000%2C419&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Older generations have sometimes been shocked that some younger people can't read a handwritten note. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teaching connected-style handwriting, otherwise known as cursive handwriting, has fallen <a href="https://doi.org/10.2167/le722.0">out of fashion on many school curricula</a>. Older generations have sometimes been shocked that <a href="https://www.capebretonpost.com/living/some-provinces-dont-teach-handwriting-in-schools-but-is-it-necessary-240157/">some younger people today can’t sign their names on official documents or even read a handwritten note</a>. </p>
<p>Canadian provinces have seen a decline in teaching and learning cursive. In Ontario schools, for example, <a href="https://www.todaysparent.com/family/cursive-writing-in-schools/">teachers might introduce cursive, but it’s not mandatory</a>. </p>
<p>Such a development is reflective of larger trends of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0012656">focusing less on teaching and assessing handwriting for itself</a> — and more on what it’s communicating. </p>
<p>Alberta’s kindergarten to Grade 9 curriculum, for example, stipulates that students learn to “listen, speak, read and write” and also envisions outcomes that require printing, such as connecting prior ideas. But the curriculum doesn’t <a href="https://education.alberta.ca/media/160360/ela-pos-k-9.pdf">mandate assessing printing skills themselves</a>. In Alberta’s 2018 new draft curriculum yet to be implemented, cursive is mentioned, but <a href="https://new.learnalberta.ca/?x=3C4F9E94">it’s not identified as a competency</a>. </p>
<p>Beyond a nostalgia for the pre-digital age, there are good reasons why cursive handwriting needs to make a comeback. As a researcher who has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0162353217701201">studied the relationship of handwriting to literacy</a>, along with other scholars, I’ve found that developing fluency in printing and handwriting so that it comes automatically matters for literacy outcomes. Handwriting is also an elegant testimony to the human capacity for written literacy and an inspiring symbol of the unique power of the human voice. </p>
<h2>Too difficult?</h2>
<p>In today’s age of digital literacy, many think handwriting is <a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-cursive-handwriting-is-an-outdated-waste-of-time-35368">irrelevant altogether and a waste of precious instructional time</a>. But touching a “d” on the keyboard, for example, does <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.156">not create the internal model of a “d” that printing does</a>. Keyboarding can wait. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288237/original/file-20190815-136180-1qlbb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288237/original/file-20190815-136180-1qlbb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288237/original/file-20190815-136180-1qlbb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288237/original/file-20190815-136180-1qlbb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288237/original/file-20190815-136180-1qlbb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288237/original/file-20190815-136180-1qlbb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288237/original/file-20190815-136180-1qlbb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Handwriting is only difficult if it is not automatic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some may associate cursive with any number of outdated formats of handwriting that may have indeed seemed like a curse to master — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19411243.2012.744651">loopy, twisty and hard on little hands in terms of muscle movement and also for visual memory</a>. </p>
<p>But handwriting is only difficult if it is not automatic and, in turn, offloaded into long-term memory. Evolving research in the neurosciences underscores the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/B:TRUC.0000021806.17516.d0">importance of developing automatic skills in relation to what educational psychologists call the cognitive load</a>. </p>
<p>Lessons <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-08648-003">learned from sports</a> or the performing arts highlight the importance of establishing neuronal connections that promote fluid movement. With reading and writing, too, the keys to <a href="https://www.edubloxsa.co.za/automaticity-important-reading-learning">unlocking creativity or interpretation of story elements are also related to being able to write automatically</a>. </p>
<h2>Lack of fluency</h2>
<p>By Grade 4, the cognitive demands of curriculum quickly accelerate: students must produce more, faster and better. Students who have fluent handwriting consequently have more working memory capacity available to plan, organize, revise and retrieve sophisticated vocabulary.</p>
<p>In a study I conducted with my colleagues of about 250 Grade 4 students in an Alberta school, we found that only about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2018.1499160">half of the students in our study achieved the necessary threshold in handwriting</a>. </p>
<p>These children’s handwriting was insufficient to communicate the complexity of vocabulary and ideas expected in Grade 4. Most students had vocabulary they were not able to mobilize onto the page. Students’ failure to reach the required threshold of expression at this level is associated with a phenomenon recognized by researchers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131720802539648">as the Grade 4 slump,</a> a drop in outcomes from which students may not necessarily recover. </p>
<h2>Improving literacy outcomes</h2>
<p>Schools must and can do better, starting early. The key is not only teaching cursive, but a greater focus on all printing to cursive handwriting, spelling instruction and fine motor skills. These developments are essential for literacy foundations in the kindergarten to Grade 3 years. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/summer-play-that-enriches-kids-reading-skills-8-fine-motor-activities-for-little-fingers-118673">Summer play that enriches kids' reading skills — 8 fine motor activities for little fingers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Building on these earlier skills, the key to improving academic outcomes in Grade 4 is teaching young students to connect their letters, resulting in a style of handwriting that is legible and fluent. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288829/original/file-20190820-170941-1m7c6dg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288829/original/file-20190820-170941-1m7c6dg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288829/original/file-20190820-170941-1m7c6dg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288829/original/file-20190820-170941-1m7c6dg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=894&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288829/original/file-20190820-170941-1m7c6dg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288829/original/file-20190820-170941-1m7c6dg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288829/original/file-20190820-170941-1m7c6dg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1123&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Example of printing on its way to cursive handwriting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sibylle Hurschler Lichtsteiner)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Steven Graham, an expert in special education, writing and literacy at Arizona State University, advocates for beginning with printing or <a href="https://www.aft.org//sites/default/files/periodicals/graham.pdf">“traditional manuscript”</a> and transitioning to what he calls <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220679809597556">mixed mostly manuscript,</a> whereby the child is learning a continuous stroke. </p>
<p>Similarly, an example from early literacy scholar <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sibylle_Hurschler_Lichtsteiner">Sibylle Hurschler Lichtsteiner</a> of Germany shows <a href="https://www.is1401eln.eu/fotos/editor2/hurschler_lichtsteiner_et_al.pdf">a transition from manuscript letters to joined letters</a>. It evolves naturally, with support, from children’s initial style of print in grades 2 to 3. Once young students have internalized stable, mental models of letter shapes, they can generalize and recognize various types of cursive script with a bit of practice. </p>
<h2>Power of the pen</h2>
<p>Testimonies draw attention to the power of cursive handwriting. The film <em>Saving Private Ryan</em> made famous <a href="https://www.lincolncollection.org/collection/creator-author/item/?cs=B&creator=Berry+Brothers%2C+Ltd.&item=56750">the historical Bixby Letter</a> written to the mother of sons killed in the American Civil War. While historians debate whether Abraham Lincoln or <a href="https://www.americanheritage.com/trouble-bixby-letter">a member of his staff actually wrote the letter</a>, ongoing interest in the letter through history suggests how human handwriting conveys personhood, care and captures imagination. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288820/original/file-20190820-170906-f4asfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288820/original/file-20190820-170906-f4asfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288820/original/file-20190820-170906-f4asfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288820/original/file-20190820-170906-f4asfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288820/original/file-20190820-170906-f4asfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288820/original/file-20190820-170906-f4asfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288820/original/file-20190820-170906-f4asfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At the Hall of State Fair Park in Dallas, Texas, an archivist displays what is believed to be an official government copy of a letter written by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to a grieving mother.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our own era, Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate ever, reminds us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although Yousafzai first came to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19899540">global attention via blogging</a>, through her book <em>Malala’s Magic Pencil</em> she suggests a connection between the elegance and craft of a child’s handwriting and their personal agency. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"426413373043929088"}"></div></p>
<p>Yousafzai’s handwriting has become a symbol of her advocacy. It demonstrates the power of written literacy, its intimate relationship to human identity and existence and its potential to remind the world of ultimate belief in human agency for good. Generations before, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-anne-franks-diary-changed-the-world-180957215/">the young diarist Anne Frank did the same</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288210/original/file-20190815-136217-6l1am2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288210/original/file-20190815-136217-6l1am2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288210/original/file-20190815-136217-6l1am2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288210/original/file-20190815-136217-6l1am2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288210/original/file-20190815-136217-6l1am2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288210/original/file-20190815-136217-6l1am2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288210/original/file-20190815-136217-6l1am2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=832&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Malala’s Magic Pencil,’ by Malala Yousafzai.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Brown Books for Young Readers)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our society impoverishes children if we don’t learn from those who have gone before us. People who learn how to spell and to develop legible, fluent handwriting will have tools at their avail to confidently express themselves and circumvent inconveniences like losing power on one’s digital device.</p>
<p>It’s high time to put cursive skills back on the curriculum across Canada.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2SMCWq061pc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A scene about the Bixby Letter from the movie Saving Private Ryan.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121645/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hetty Roessingh receives funding from Alberta Teachers' Association (AACES grant); SSHRC Connections Grant, 2019 </span></em></p>Developing fluency in handwriting matters for literacy outcomes, and handwriting is an elegant testimony to the unique power of the human voice.Hetty Roessingh, Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1200582019-08-21T22:39:42Z2019-08-21T22:39:42ZSchool fees undermine public education’s commitment to equity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288437/original/file-20190818-192258-1e2qd2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1000%2C640&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many parents feel compelled to pay school fees, even while they feel they shouldn’t have to.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’m looking at $85 per child in school fees for the 2019-2020 school year at my sons’ public high school. It breaks down like this: $35 to support clubs, teams, councils and athletics; $35 for the yearbook; $10 for an athletics T-shirt; $5 for an agenda.</p>
<p>The amount may not seem that high, but I know that $85 is just the beginning. </p>
<p>Throughout the year, I’ll be asked to pay for team uniforms, tournaments, field trips, gym memberships, prom tickets and probably more. These costs are on top of school supplies, like calculators and notebooks. </p>
<p>Public schools across Canada charge fees to cover a wide variety of expenses, and many parents who can afford to pay may be willing to hand over the cash. </p>
<p>You may be wondering: “Aren’t Canadian public schools free because they’re covered through taxes?” In fact, all Canadian provinces and territories permit public schools to charge fees for services, programs or resources that go beyond what’s required for a basic education. </p>
<p>My research shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904818807331">policies and dominant ideas about good parenting compel parents to hand their money over to their children’s schools</a>, even when they feel they shouldn’t have to. Parent involvement, school council and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-015-9261-7">school choice</a> policies common in Canada and elsewhere promote the idea that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2015.1130026">parents are responsible</a> for doing whatever it takes to ensure their children’s success in school and, more broadly, in a competitive society. </p>
<p>But not every family can bear the financial costs, so their children may miss out on opportunities that wealthier kids enjoy. Paying school fees may be optional, but enabling parents who pay to get more benefits for their kids undermines <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/382/Canadian-report-on-anti-discrimination-in-education-EN.pdf">Canadian ministries of education’s commitments to equality of educational opportunity and inclusion for all</a>. </p>
<h2>Cost of ambiguity: Québec lawsuit</h2>
<p>Québec school boards recently had a wake-up call about the potential costs of charging parents: last summer, <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/parents-to-be-compensated-for-school-fees-in-153-5m-class-action">the Québec Superior Court approved a $153.5-million settlement agreement</a> which found that parents whose children were students in 68 Québec schoolboards had been inappropriately charged fees. The class action lawsuit was launched by a mother from Jonquière.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1116710597993947136"}"></div></p>
<p>Through the settlement agreement, parents who had kids in the named boards between 2009 or 2010 and 2017 will see <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/fr/news-releases/notice-of-court-approval-of-a-transaction-702238261.html">just over $24 per student per school year</a>: so, if a parent had two children in a named board they will receive more than $48 per year for every year the kids attended school in that timeframe. </p>
<p>The lawsuit claimed that fees charged by school boards were in violation of <a href="http://legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/ShowTdm/cs/I-13.3">Québec’s Education Act</a>, which guarantees free education to elementary and high school students.</p>
<p>In July, legislators in Québec clarified what the “right to free educational services” for residents does — and does not — include. Notably, after public consultations, Québec’s public schools are <a href="http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/en/parents-and-guardians/references/school-fees/">still permitted to charge fees for school supplies, special materials, specialized programs and more</a>. </p>
<h2>Types of fees</h2>
<p>These allowances point to the different types of fees schools charge. First are the fees that every student is asked to pay. They may cover items that individuals will use — like agendas — or activities that anyone can join like clubs, teams and special events. The amounts vary. A report by the not-for-profit organization People for Education finds that in Ontario, <a href="https://peopleforeducation.ca/report/2019-annual-report-on-schools-what-makes-a-school/#chapter9">activity fees in secondary schools range from $10 to $300</a> and that many schools also charge athletic fees ranging from $1 to $1,500. </p>
<p>These fees can be barriers to students’ involvement in school activities and sports, <a href="https://mottpoll.org/reports-surveys/pay-participate-limiting-school-activities-lower-income-students">especially kids from low-income families</a>. Not participating in extracurricular activities means missing out on their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20274">academic, social, psychological and physical health benefits</a>. </p>
<p>Other fees are those charged to students taking particular courses who might want to use better materials, acquire certifications or go on related field trips. The fees are voluntary, <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/08/24/Public-Education-School-Fees-Across-Canada/">but they create two tiers within the same classroom</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288599/original/file-20190819-123699-1iw6bqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288599/original/file-20190819-123699-1iw6bqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288599/original/file-20190819-123699-1iw6bqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288599/original/file-20190819-123699-1iw6bqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288599/original/file-20190819-123699-1iw6bqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288599/original/file-20190819-123699-1iw6bqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288599/original/file-20190819-123699-1iw6bqd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School fees can be barriers to students’ involvement in school activities or sports.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The problem with waivers</h2>
<p>Some governments, boards and schools waive fees for families who can’t afford them. For example, <a href="http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96412_06">B.C.’s School Act</a> requires that boards have “policies and procedures to facilitate participation by students of school age ordinarily resident in British Columbia who would otherwise be excluded from the course, class or program because of financial hardship.” </p>
<p>But parents might not know about these policies: in the U.S., the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health based at the University of Michigan found that <a href="https://mottpoll.org/reports/pay-participate-impact-school-activities">only seven per cent of parents had ever requested a waiver or scholarship for participation fees</a>. The poll surveyed 961 parents reporting on 1,323 children in middle or high school. Families may also not want to ask for help. </p>
<p>Policies that require parents and students to ask for waivers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732308330246">ignore the stigma attached to poverty and financial hardship</a>. Sometimes <a href="http://communitysector.nl.ca/node/77">kids just miss out</a>. </p>
<p>Policies to waive fees also won’t help students who want to successfully compete for spots in some specialized programs that involve competing provincially and years of paying for training, travel and equipment. </p>
<p>Finally, waiver policies help institutionalize a fee-for-service approach in public education. The belief “if you want more you should pay more” is one of many ideas from the private sector now common in public schools. </p>
<p>This kind of thinking both shifts the balance between schools serving public and private interests towards prioritizing individual benefits, and it enables governments to underfund public education since they know parents will make up the gaps.</p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published on Aug. 21, 2019. The earlier story said only seven per cent of parents had heard of waivers or scholarships for school participation fees, instead of only seven per cent of parents had ever requested them.</em></p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120058/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Winton receives funding from Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>Some parents in Québec are being reimbursed after a ruling that they were overcharged school fees. If taxes cover public schools, should parents have to pay at all?Sue Winton, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.