Class #6: MEd Summer Institute

I thoroughly enjoyed attending the MEd Summer Institute today. Despite being a gorgeous summer day the three speakers kept me really engaged and interested and the day flew by. It was evident that all three presenters are very passionate about what they’re doing and their topics were certainly relative and important perspectives for teachers today.  

International Human Rights for People with Disabilities – presenter Janet Duncan

        This presentation was very eye-opening. It was really interesting to hear how different countries around the world respond to disability and how although we are all grouped under the umbrella of the United Nations and the Human Rights Act there is quite a varied response to disability around the world. It’s interesting, but not surprising, that no matter where you are, the definition of disability is linked to poverty. There are wide variations in cultural definitions of disability, as well as the ways in which disabled persons are categorized under the term of disability. In some ways I feel that Canada is progressive in their extensive number of categories and yet sometimes these same categories/labels can be the exact limitations and confinement which set us behind others.

I found it really interesting to hear that Bangladesh despite being an impoverished nation is showing promise in the field of disability. In this country informal networks are being created between parents of children with disabilities and they have been instrumental in finding ways to make change despite a lack of funding. It was also interesting to hear about disability in China. China is well known for the abandonment of children with disabilities, often leaving these infants at hospitals or orphanages at birth. Janet talked about walking through the streets of Shanghai and not seeing a single person with a disability the whole time she was there. What was interesting to her (and me) was when the Special Olympics were held in 2007 there was a public service movement to teach people about disability. She shared that in talking to colleagues who were involved with Special Olympics that year, the overall the general public were welcoming, compassionate and helpful. What a stark contrast to my assumptions of how people would react!

Anti-Bullying Approaches – presenter Joanne Syms

        Joanne is an amazing presenter and I had a number of “aha” moments during her presentation. I liked how she started off by showing us that even among our group of well-educated leaders there are people who have been bullied and who have been bullies themselves. Often times, as a teacher, I feel parents expect today’s educators to “solve” the issue of bullying. Certainly we need to do our part to prevent, address and intervene, however Joanne helped us realize that bullying and conflict has happened in the past, is happening today and will probably continue to happen in the future. She explained that while we need to work to decrease bullying behaviors that the important part is what we do after bullying has occurred.

        Joanne talked about identifying and addressing the true cause bullying and calling it for what it is (ex. homophobia, racism, etc.). She also addressed the need to be diligent about responding to unacceptable behavior. The biggest take away for me was that we need to see bullying as an opportunity to teach and while certainly discipline is a part of this, the onus needs to focus on reconnecting and repairing relationships rather than on punishing the individual. Joanne’s personal stories of how she has learned to use restorative approaches with her students as well as the consequence of focusing solely on punishment were very powerful.

        Her final point was that there is no ready-made package or program for bullying prevention. In order to begin to reduce bullying we need to have schools which already have a foundation of inclusivity. We need to understand that we cannot “cure” bullying and that not everyone will change by solely introducing a new program. She also talked about the importance of teaching positive emotional/social learning through self-management, responsible decision making, self-awareness, social awareness and relationship building skills.

        There is a lot to think about after this presentation and I think that I need to spend some more time researching restorative approaches with children. This is something I would really like to explore further and look into implementing into my classroom. Joanne made reference to www.PREVnet.ca (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network) as a good guide for teachers.

Supporting Syrian Newcomber Families- presenter Rola AbiHanna

        Wow! Again this was a great presentation full of personal connections, stories and valuable first-hand information. Rola provided a great video background as to what was and has been happening in Syria and gave some background information about the Syrian families particularly in Nova Scotia. She helped us to view the process of becoming a newcomer through the lens of the individual rather than from our own perceptions and biases which have been shaped by the culture we have lived through.

Trauma Informed training is of particular value when working with newcomer families and I made a mental note to look into this professional development in the future. Two points that I will take back to my school/classroom as well as my own community are:

• You can not think about individual students as individuals but we must look at the needs, opinions, and decisions of the family as a whole.
• The more connections a family has to their community the more likely the family is to settle.