Category: Webinars

Asian Heritage Month: Anti-Asian Racism

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While Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate Canadians of Asian descent , it is also an important opportunity to address the realities of anti-Asian racism. Below, we take a closer look at recent examples of the impact of Anti-Asian racism and what non-Asians can do to help.

Anti-Asian racism in Canada

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/asian-heritage-month/anti-asian-racism.html

In Canada, anti-Asian racism refers to historical and ongoing discrimination, negative stereotyping, and injustice experienced by peoples of Asian descent, based on others’ assumptions about their ethnicity and nationality. Peoples of Asian descent are subjected to specific overt and subtle racist tropes and stereotypes at individual and systemic levels, which lead to their ongoing social, economic, political and cultural marginalization, disadvantage and unequal treatment.

The term Asian encompasses a wide range of identities that the very term Asian can obscure. While all may experience being “otherized,” specific experiences of anti-Asian racism vary. Some are constantly being perceived to be a threat, some face gendered exotification and violence, some are more likely to be subjected to online hate and racist portrayals in the media, while others face Islamophobia and other forms of religious-based discrimination.

COVID-19 and anti-Asian racism

Xenophobia and racism toward Chinese and other Asian communities has been on a rapid rise since the outbreak of COVID-19.  To confront that racism, several Chinese Canadian organizations across Canada have partnered on the COVID-19 Racism in Canada incident reporting project (covidracism.ca) to amplify voices and experiences. For more information on reported acts of anti-Asian racism in Canada, check out the Fight COVID-19 racism website: https://www.covidracism.ca/

To learn more about the experiences of Asian-Canadians during this pandemic, check out this recorded CCDI Webinar:
The intersection of race, mental health, and stigma in the age of COVID-19.
May 28, 2020:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T106ittMlTo

Fighting anti-Asian racism

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/asian-heritage-month/anti-asian-racism.html

Here are some ways we can all contribute to tackling anti-Asian racism and building an even better and consciously more inclusive society where everyone is able to participate fully:

  • Learn about pan-Asian diversity and the unique identities and cultures that have enriched Canadian society
  • Challenge stereotypes and consider how they are rooted in the history of anti-Asian racism
  • Show solidarity with Asian communities in Canada, i.e. by supporting local Asian businesses and organizations
  • Be an ally – call out acts of racism, discrimination, and micro aggression and actively support those victimized by anti-Asian racism
  • Interrupt unconscious biases and consider how they can affect your behavior and decision-making

Interested in learning more about how to be an ally to Asian-Canadians? Check out these free training opportunities:

Bystander Intervention Training to stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment.
Via: Right to Be Foundation.

May 24, 2022: 8:00pm – 9:15pm EDT:  Link

Bystander Intervention in the Workplace: Mini Training.
Via: Right to Be Foundation.

May 31, 2022: 5:00pm – 5:30pm EDT: Link

A Night to Remember!

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Trivia Night was a HOOT, led by your very own…  

MACARONI MEGAN 

 

ALEX LASAGNE 

 

annnd JODI FETTUCINI!!​ 

Thank you so much to all who came out to have some fun with us. Participants went head-to-head for 3 main Kahoots – Child Care and Early Years Trivia, Local Landmarks, and Community Partner Logos. It quickly became clear that Jocelyne is the Kahoot Trivia extraordinaire!!  …but everyone was a winner because of the fun and laughs we had together! And nobody will forget all of our pasta-tively amazing jokes… 

Where did the spaghetti go to dance?  

The meatball! 

 The winners took home the following prizes:   

Let us know what types of prizes you would like to win at our next FUN EVENT in the comments below.  

Don’t be upsetti-spaghetti if you missed out on this incredible experience, there will be more fun to come… including, BINGO NIGHT! Join us on Thursday, April 21 for BINGO! We will have more awesome prizes, and maybe even some NEW JOKES! 

Please let us know in the comments below what other type of events you would like to see. Our participants shared some awesome pasta-bilities with us last night – draw-a-saurus, scattergories, karaoke, and more! Help us decide what to plan next.  

The Cultivating Hope Speaker Series 2021 Padlet!

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This resource sharing platform was lovingly curated by the Cultivating Hope Speaker Series planning team.  Featuring information from the five incredible sessions and the renowned presenters who shared their knowledge, passion, and skills with us! This is an interactive resource, so we are welcoming all to share their thoughts and perspectives using the comment sections within the padlet. We thank you for your feedback as it will support planning for future events and series within our communities!

Please check out the websites, resources and even RECORDINGS from some of the sessions:

  • HDLH: An ongoing invitation for transformation
  • Breaking the box: Gender and freedom in young children’s lives
  • There’s always a story: Strengthening Indigenous trauma-informed approaches
  • Nurturing futures in the face of climate change
  • Tools for wellbeing for yourself and the children

Click HERE to access the Speaker Series padlet!

Please join us!

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We are excited to be collaborating with some of our local service providers to offer Virtual Tours of your early learning spaces. This will be an opportunity for programs to share their strengths and the incredible work that they do for the children and families in our District. What brings you joy in your program? We are looking for volunteers who would be interested in giving a tour of their environments, services, or share how you practice Early Childhood Education in your settings.

These tours will be less than an hour with some time at the end for questions and conversation. The format of the tour is up to you. For example, we can go live, pre-record videos, create a PowerPoint, present pedagogical documentation, or any other format you can imagine!  

Do you need a better understanding before diving in?! Join us for our first tour with Abiinojiishiik-amino-yawook EarlyON Centre on Tuesday, March 29 from 10-11am!

Our hope is to share all of your beautiful spaces. Let us know if you are interested by e-mailing us at early.years@tbdssab.ca!   

EXCITING EVENTS COMING UP!

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Make sure to check out our calendar for upcoming events. Some exciting plans we have in store are:

  • Virtual Trivia Night! – Wednesday, February 23 from 7-8pm [we’ve got PRIZES!}
  • Virtual Tour with Abiinojiishiik-amino-yawook EarlyON Centre – Tuesday, March 29 from 10-11am

Don’t forget to register! You can visit the Calendar for more details, or register HERE.

Piazza ORA 2022: The role of the teacher

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The TBDSSAB pedagogical team will be participating in this year’s Piazza ORA (see information below). We encourage you to reach out to us if you are interested in this opportunity; a group of 5 or more from our community will allow everyone to receive a discounted rate. The focus this year is “Co-researcher, designer, provocateur: The role of the teacher”, more information about the content will be presented soon!

“In response to enthusiastic response from last year’s participants, ORA is providing another extraordinary opportunity to engage with Tiziana Filippini, pedagogista from Reggio Emilia, over the course of four encounters, in Piazza ORA 2022.

Embracing an image of the child that is central to the philosophy that is lived every day in the infant-toddler centres and preschools in Reggio Emilia (and that inspired our provincial pedagogy in Ontario) requires us to also embrace a corresponding image of the educator.  This is a teacher who can enter into a kind of intellectual dialogue with a group of children, who will recognize their questions and theories and strategies.  Tiziana Filippini wrote “We feel that the teacher must be involved within the child’s exploring procedure, if the teacher wants to understand how to be the organizer and provoker of occasions, on the one hand, and co-actor in discoveries, on the other”.  In this, our third Piazza ORA series, we will explore with Tiziana what it means to meet the view of the child to which we aspire, to create contexts for learning that recognize each child’s uniqueness within relationships, keeping in mind what kind of human being and what kind of planet we want.

Active engagement with ideas and translation to practice is essential for deeper understanding, so the series includes interim gatherings with break-out sessions where participants can share how their changing views are affecting what they are noticing, what they are curious about, what they are trying and understanding differently. The practice may be with children or with adults who are working with children. Documentation-in-the-works will be shared among participants to invite other perspectives.

There will be four 2-hour ZOOM gatherings with Tiziana, one per month beginning in early March, a “pre-series gathering” of participants and pedagogical companions to set the stage, and four interim gatherings. We are grateful that again this year, Reggio Children will make a recording of the gatherings with Tiziana available to registrants online for a period of time following the live gathering in order to make it possible for everyone to participate, regardless of work schedule. This makes the series more accessible to everyone. The gatherings with Tiziana take place from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. and interim gatherings will be scheduled in the evening.

ORA’s mission is to walk with courageous educators who inhabit a place of hope and optimism, who listen and act with intelligence and compassion, and always in relationship with…. We are in dialogue with the educators in Reggio Emilia, and exist to organize opportunities to come together to interrogate our assumptions about children, educators, families, communities, and the places we inhabit, and to recognize and challenge our discourses so we can incline toward the level of joy, creativity, relationship, complexity and engagement that is the “everyday utopia” of Reggio Emilia’s education and cultural project.”

Piazza ORA 2022 Dates

February 22 6:30-7:30 pm (introduction)
March 1 12:30-2:30 pm (gathering with Tiziana)
March 8 6:30-8:00 (interim session)
April 5 12:30-2:30 pm (gathering with Tiziana)
April 12 6:30-8:00 (interim session)
May 3 12:30-2:30 pm (gathering with Tiziana)
May 10 6:30-8:00 (interim session)
May 31 12:30-2:30 pm (gathering with Tiziana)
June 7 6:30-8:00 (interim session)

All participants who are interested in participating in these gatherings will have to be a member of the Ontario Reggio Association which comes at a minimum cost of $50 for the person or organization.

Please click HERE and complete the PD Registration form to express your interest in joining us. The deadline to join the TBDSSAB group is Tuesday, February 1st. If you have any questions, please contact us at early.years@tbdssab.ca.

Call Out: Virtual Tours!! 

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We are excited to be collaborating with some of our local service providers to offer Virtual Tours of your early learning spaces. This will be an opportunity for programs to share their strengths and the incredible work that they do for the children and families in our District. We are looking for volunteers who would be interested in giving a tour of their environments, services, or share how you practice Early Childhood Education in your settings. 

These tours will be less than an hour with some time at the end for questions and conversation. The format of the tour is up to you. For example, we can go live, pre-record videos, create a PowerPoint, present pedagogical documentation, or any other format you can imagine!  

Our hope is to share and celebrate a new location each month. Currently, we are looking to fill spots during the months of May and June… let us know if you are interested by e-mailing us at early.years@tbdssab.ca!   

 

Expression of Interest for Piazza ORA

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The TBDSSAB pedagogical team will be participating in this year’s Piazza ORA (see information below). We encourage you to reach out to us if you are interested in this opportunity; a group of 5 or more from our community will allow everyone to receive a discounted rate. The focus this year will be on the role of the educator, more information about the content will be presented soon!

Please click HERE and complete the PD Registration form to express your interest in joining us. The deadline to join the TBDSSAB group is Tuesday, February 1st. If you have any questions, please contact us at early.years@tbdssab.ca.

The Ontario Reggio Association is providing an extraordinary opportunity to engage with Tiziana Filippini, pedagogista from Reggio Emilia, over the course of four encounters. Active engagement with ideas and translation to practice is essential for deeper understanding, so the series includes interim gatherings with break-out sessions where participants can share how their changing views are affecting what they are noticing, what they are curious about, what they are trying and understanding differently. The approach to education in Reggio Emilia was founded on principles of democracy, of acknowledging and strengthening each person’s right to participate as a citizen in relationship, and to build a vibrant, inclusive, creative, responsible culture. What do these values mean to us? We know from our conversations with educators across the province that there is a hunger for ongoing conversation about these issues. All participants who are interested in participating in these gatherings will have to be a member of the Ontario Reggio Association which comes at a minimum cost of $50 for the person or organization.