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What's New - May 2006
Respecting Diversity and Promoting Respect in the Classroom
Background
Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre (ACLRC)
© 1999-2004 Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, Calgary, Alberta
http://www.aclrc.com
The mission of the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, a Canadian non-governmental, non-profit organization, is to "promote awareness among Albertans about civil liberties and human rights through research and education."
Toward this aim, the ACLRC web site offers several online publications and an annotated alphabetical/topical bibliography of web sites as well as a video library listing (see http://www.aclrc.com/Video%20Library/Video%20Library.html). The listing of over 100 videos addresses a range of topics from racism and cultural awareness to children's rights. To arrange for a preview or to borrow these videos for classroom use, contact Melissa Luhtanen (1-403-220-2505) at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Law, Murray Fraser Hall Rm 2350.
(Note: To learn about the agencies that support ACLRC, see http://www.aclrc.com/funders.htm.)
Alberta School Act
© 2006 Government of Alberta
http://www.qp.gov.ab.ca/Documents/acts/S03.CFM
In support of diversity in shared values, the Alberta School Act stipulates that:
- All education programs offered and instructional materials used in schools must reflect the diverse nature and heritage of society in Alberta, promote understanding and respect for others and honour and respect the common values and beliefs of Albertans.
- For greater certainty, education programs and instructional materials must NOT promote or foster doctrines of racial or ethnic superiority or persecution, religious intolerance or persecution, social change through violent action or disobedience of laws.
Alberta Teachers Association - Diversity, Equity and Human Rights (DEHR)
© 2005 Alberta Teachers' Association
http://www.teachers.ab.ca/Issues+In+Education/ Diversity+and+Human+Rights/
The Diversity, Equity and Human Rights (DEHR) web site is a comprehensive online resource intended to help teachers build inclusive school communities in Alberta. If offers resources including brochures, activities, web links and more related to aboriginal education, anti-racism and religious beliefs, building inclusive school communities, gender equity, human rights and sexual orientation. The web site also provides a program overivew, an online newsletter, information about grants, competitions and awards designed to support inclusive learning communities, as well as information about conferences, events, and workshops related to promoting respect for diversity.
Central Alberta Diversity Association (CADA)
http://www.mycommunityinformation.com/cada
Funded by The Department of Canadian Heritage, Alberta Community Development, Human Rights, Citizenship & Multiculturalism Education Fund, and the Alberta Association for Multicultural Education, CADA's mission is to "value peace, harmony, equity and togetherness in the circle of humanity and will take positive messages deep into the hearts of our communities." In pursuit of their mission, the CADA web site offers teaching tools and educational resources, a sampling of which is listed below:
Education for All: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Education Needs (2005)
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/speced/panel/speced.pdf
The Ministry of Education in Ontario established an expert panel on literacy and numeracy instruction for students with special education needs. This panel was to recommend practices, based on research, that would allow Ontario's teachers to improve and reinforce effective instruction of reading, writing, oral communication, and mathematics to students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 who have special education needs.
This panel released a framework report entitled "Education for All: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6" which can be used by teachers for the benefit of all students in today's diverse classrooms.
It provides teachers with specific strategies to teach literacy and numeracy more effectively to students with diverse strengths and needs; show them how to develop a learning profile of classrooms and of individual students; provide assessment, evaluation, and planning strategies; and provide detailed information on instructional support and assistive technology.
Every Child Learns, Every Child Succeeds: Report and Recommendations. Alberta Commission on Learning (October 2003)
http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/commission/PDF/CommissionReport.pdf
Recommendations 29 through 52 in the section of the report entitled "Success for every child" relate to the report's statement that "Alberta's classrooms include a rich and diverse mix of students with a wide range of abilities, interests, backgrounds, languages, cultures and religions. Deliberate actions are needed to ensure that this diversity is embraced and every child has a chance for success in school." The recommendations put forward are categorized as follows:
- Improve education outcomes for Aboriginal children and youth
- Address every child's special needs
- Provide support for children with diverse languages and cultures
Guidelines for Respecting Diversity and Promoting Respect
© Government of Alberta 2003
http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/resources/calls/rfp/rdpr.pdf
The Guidelines for Respecting Diversity and Promoting Respect were released in October 1984 and updated in February 2003. These guidelines are used by Alberta Education in the design and review of curriculum and resources destined for classroom use. The guidelines take the form of questions such as:
- Do the program documents and supporting materials help each student to nurture a personal positive self-image by taking an essentially positive approach to human similarities and differences?
- Do the program documents and supporting materials convey that human endeavour and achievement may be found in different ways in all human groups?
The questions are designed to critically examine resources for their ability to support and promote respect for diversity (diversity arising from different age groups, men or women, various racial or ethnic groups, persons from different religious backgrounds, people with disabilities, or people of various social and/or economic status or with various political and or belief systems). These guidelines may also be used by educators as they evaluate the suitability/appropriateness of resources/activities they are considering for classroom use.
Help Make a Difference Initiative
© Government of Alberta 2006
http://www.helpmakeadifference.com
This Alberta Community Development initiative creates awareness about the importance and benefits of diversity in our communities and encourages Albertans to contribute to building an inclusive and respectful society through their own actions.
Phase one focused on the need for increased intercultural understanding and encouraged Albertans to contribute to building a fair and respectful society for everyone. Phase two expanded these themes to focus on the inclusion of persons with disabilities and recognition of skills and assets of all Albertans.
The Help Make a Difference initiative reminds us that in order to build strong and welcoming communities and workplaces, we need to ensure people are not excluded or discriminated against because of certain characteristics. Characteristics protected from discrimination under Alberta's human rights legislation include race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, source of income, family status and sexual orientation.
A sampling of some of the classroom resources available on the Help Make a Difference web site are listed below:
Learning Resources Centre (LRC)
© Government of Alberta 2005
http://www.lrc.education.gov.ab.ca/
Classroom resources to support respecting diversity and promoting respect can be found by searching the LRC. At the time of writing, a search of the LRC using the keywords "tolerance" and "respect" in the title field yielded a list of several resources including programs, kits, guides, and videos.
Our Words, Our Ways: Teaching First Nations, Métis and Inuit Learners (2005)
© Government of Alberta 2005
http://education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/OurWords/Words.pdf
As profiled in April's What's New item entitled Safe and Caring Schools Promising Practices, Our Words, Our Ways offers information about Aboriginal cultures and perspectives, practical ideas, and sample strategies that will help teachers meet the needs and recognize the gifts of Aboriginal students. Many of the sample strategies are good for all students and are relevant for a range of educational settings and contexts and as such, support this month's theme as well.
Partners Against Hate (PAH)
http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/youth/promoting_respect.html
Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Education, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, the Partners Against Hate strive to attain the following goals:
- To increase awareness of the problem of bias crime.
- To share information about promising education and counteraction strategies for the wide range of community-based professionals who work and interact with children of all ages.
- To help individuals working with youth better understand the potential of advanced communications technologies to break down cultural barriers and address bias.
The PAH web site offers resources to educators, parents and youth. For example, the Preventing Hate, Promoting Respect program (consisting of a CD-ROM and manual) can be used as a tool to engage students in thinking about their own biases, their experiences with diversity and discrimination, and the essential social skill for living in a diverse society. More importantly, this tool provides concrete strategies for moving students beyond just thinking, to actually changing their own social behavior and positively influencing that of their peers. To receive a copy of the Preventing Hate, Promoting Respect CD-Rom tool, contact: Project Director, Partners Against Hate, 1100 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite #1020, Washington, DC 20036, Telephone: 202.452.8310, Fax: 202.296.2371, webmaster@partnersagainsthate.org.
Another example is the Partners Against Hate Program Activity Guide (see http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/publications/guide_summary.html). This guide offers parents and educators of elementary school age children activities that provide opportunities for children to engage in creative self-reflection and to explore the diversity around them in open, honest, and creative ways, while learning about the causes and effects of prejudice and bias.
Additional resources can be found in the educator, parents, and youth sections of the web site and in the publications section at http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/publications/.
Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities (SACSC)
http://www.sacsc.ca/
As profiled in April's What's New item entitled Safe and Caring Schools Promising Practices, the Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities (SACSC) uses a framework of five topics to integrate character and citizenship education across all subject areas. Two of the topics in the framework are:
- Living respectfully/building a safe and caring classroom (developing positive classroom climates, and an understanding of and commitment to respect and responsibility)
- Respecting diversity and preventing prejudice (learning about and appreciating multiple perspectives)
For more information about how to address these diversity-related topics in the classroom, see the elementary unit and lesson plans available at http://www.sacsc.ca/Elementary_Unit_and_Lesson_Plans.htm and the secondary unit and lesson plans at http://www.sacsc.ca/lessons/lessonplans/.
The Heart of the Matter: Character and Citizenship Education in Alberta Schools (2005)
© Government of Alberta 2005
http://education.gov.ab.ca/charactered/PDF/HeartMatter.pdf
As highlighted in April's What's New item entitled Safe and Caring Schools Promising Practices, The Heart of the Matter provides an overview of what character and citizenship education is and offers a sample framework (see above) for building and sustaining a culture of character.
In particular, Chapter 6: Infusing Character and Citizenship Education Across the Subjects, offers a number of strategies based on "big ideas" for integrating character and citizenship education into existing subject areas. For example, an English language arts teacher may pay special attention to character traits in a novel or may introduce or elaborate themes such as initiative, empathy and fairness in a poem. A math teacher may acknowledge and celebrate perseverance of students who work hard to improve. A science teacher may emphasize the importance of being responsible as a member of a lab group. A social studies class may spend time examining courage or altruism of various cultural groups in history.
Chapter 7: Choosing Resources to Support Character and Citizenship Education examines types of resources and provides an assessment scale that can be used to decide whether a resource aligns with the philosophy of character and citizenship education. Appropriate resources for classroom use should reflect:
- the diversity of learner interests, needs, abilities and experiences
- accessibility to all learners
- opportunity for students to develop critical, creative and reflective responses to learning experiences
- sensitivity to individual diversity and multiple perspectives.
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