Morning Meetings with Ms. Gray

 

Morning Meetings with Ms. Gray

Weekly Topic: Anti-Racism 

As part of my role as an educator I believe it is vital to engage people of all ages in learning about anti-racism. Each month with my students we will gather as a class and have a conversation about what we can do as a community of learners to stand up against racism in our school and community beyond. The reason we will meet monthly on this same topic is because it is important to check in, make changes, and re-evaluate how we can best show up in the spaces we occupy. Since we are now three weeks into a new school year, relationships have begun to form, trust is developing within the classroom, and students are excited to begin working on important issues that they are passionate about. 

As part of our conversation we brainstormed ideas of what we can do to be anti-racist and I have listed them below:

As a class we will:

• Become allies by educating ourselves and others on the history of racism in Canada
• Be an example by being curious, listening, and standing up against racist comments/actions
• Help our peers navigate their curiosity by suggesting resources and sharing what we have learnt
• Make antiracism and decolonization relatable by applying it to our community, province, and country
• Discuss mistakes openly
• Be an advocate for change within our classroom, school, and community

Our teacher will: 

• Engage students in critical racial literacy activities to raise their critical awareness
• Select children’s literature that represents diverse groups positively
• Include the voices of the BIPOC community in lessons and lesson planning
• Promote children’s voices and action against racism and other forms of discrimination
• Collaborate with critical scholars, educators, parents, and community members to construct inclusive lessons
• Connect with the district Indigenous education specialists and support workers with questions

A few resources that I will be introducing to my students (or already have) in the coming months are as follows:

1) The Kairos Blanket Exercise https://www.kairosblanketexercise.org/

2) The First Peoples Principals of Learning http://www.fnesc.ca/first-peoples-principles-of-learning/

3) As well as resources local to the school we are in (ie: If we are on Sinixt territory I would include lessons on counter mapping and colonial place names vs. Indigenous place names and use resources such as the Sinixt land map and the book "Not Extinct - Keeping the Sinixt Way" by Marilyn James and Taress Alexis