Sidney Gibb

Teaching Children About Racism

March 11, 2023 / / 1 Comment

Conversations about race, ethnicity, religion, identity and gender can start at early ages, these ideas are powerful however its importance should not lead to us shying away from them.

This short two-minute clip addresses the concept of racism through a critical but easy and reflective lens. Short films and examples like this video provides an active experience for children, gaining their attention in a way that they can comprehend. While this video teaches kids on the importance of prating anti-racist behaviour, it also inspires them to continue with education. In this way the film inherently informs the audience that education and libraries are spaces for fun and activity.

Because this film would be shown to kids from Kindergarten to grade 3, the hope would be that they talk to others and share their ideas around differences and how this makes us all unique. As this film encourages kids to talk to their parents and peers it actively ignites a sense of passion for discovery.

After watching this film, the class would go on to do an art project creating their own puppets on paper including goggly eyes, fun fabrics and paints which would allow each child to explore their creativity while acknowledging that other puppets may not look like their own and that is okay. This would further develop their interactive skills, promoting their communication, creativity and independence. The technology used would be looking at puppet designs online and watching the video on Youtube (Bates, 2019).

After completion of the project students would be assessed on what they learned and what they thought about their puppet alongside their classmates, this assessment would be done through a conversation between the student and teacher. If the student enjoyed engaging with the materials or made efforts to understand the task this would be a successful demonstration of course materials. The teacher would then send an email to the parents or guardians of the child of a picture of their child’s poppet project in order to create opened dialogue. For open lines of communication and assessment the teacher would hold a zoom call that would act as a forum for the guardians of the child to discuss how the student did and what the child enjoyed about the class. This conversation would be open for the student to add what other types of projects that they would like to do, further removing the experience of isolating tasks (Bates, 2019). This form of engagement and check in over zoom can allow for a sense of community between the guardians and educators focusing on leaner-generated interactions (Bates,2019).

Art projects and class activities are constantly included into Elementary school circulars and applying the lens of anti-racism can act as a tool can remove the trend of “filler” and further establish creativity within expanding their information on racism (Bates,2019). The zoom calls with parent and class activities would be extremely manageable and inspire self direction, as these are things that already occur within our education system. Discussing racism is extremely important especially when most schools and classrooms are built on top of constructs such as settler-colonialism. This project could be produced and called larger into assembly plays, films and activities within the school.

References

Bates, A. W. (T. (2019, October 10). 9.6 interaction. Teaching in a Digital Age Second Edition. Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/

What is Racism? (2022). YouTube. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://youtu.be/_uz5BcMzqZs. 

Universal Design

March 5, 2023 / / 1 Comment

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Universal design is not only equitable, but these essential mechanisms demonstrate a concurrent set of positive, progressive and reactive realities reinforcing what our world has to offer.

The core values that universal design contribute to are a wide range of opportunities, supporting an array of individuals through a lens of flexibility. One of universal designs greatest qualities under an engineering outlook is that this system reimagines spaces and becomes a multifaceted tool for a wide range of individuals.

For example, the sliding doors we see today are mechanical devices that can be located across the globe. This device has become one of many universal designs that has helped more than a select few. Those who have impairments or disabilities surrounding sight and mobility may have been at one time the central focus on this design, however this mechanism now supports anyone and everyone. Universal design’s like this are not just a mechanism, rather it is an approach of reimagining a fixed reality into a solution. Having the ability to actively influence and demand alternative ways, impacting individuals perceptions of the globe and others around them.

 

Mechanisms like the mechanical sliding doors are great examples of what learning and theory can do for us today. This example of universal design not only demonstrates the qualities of critical thinking, but it also endorses individuals to move towards more inclusive ways of thinking and being. Universal design implements a level of equity into learning that is extremely important as it builds qualities of  representation, action, expression, engagement, empathy, and creativity. Looking through a historical lens we can see how ideas surrounding gender, race, and sexuality have continued to change. As we prepare each student and learner into a world that has endless possibilities at their fingertips through technology, it is vitally important to demonstrate the significance in shaping them to be inclusive, kind and critical individuals.  Furthermore, universal design when applied in the classroom, wether this be demonstrated through learning American Sign Language (ASL), using technology to translate languages or support neuro-divergent students, needs through adapted school projects and lessons, each and every individual will benefit from these practices as it shapes them into critical consumers who understand and can adapt to real world scenarios.

Bibliography

Automatic Sliding Door.” IndiaMART. Accessed March 3, 2023. https://m.indiamart.com/proddetail/automatic-sliding-door-9706062148.html. 

Schwartz, Sarah. “White Characters Still Dominate Kids’ Books and School Texts, Report Finds.” Education Week. Education Week, December 1, 2021. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/white-characters-still-dominate-kids-books-and-school-texts-report-finds/2021/12.

“10 Things to Know about Ud.” Centre for Excellence in Universal Design. Accessed March 3, 2023. https://universaldesign.ie/what-is-universal-design/the-10-things-to-know-about-ud/. 

Uskov, Vladimir L, Robert J Howlett, and Lakhmi C Jain. “Making Your Classroom Smart: Universal Design for Learning and Technology.” In Smart Education and E-Learning 2019, 144:501–510. Singapore: Springer Singapore Pte. Limited, 2019.

Direct Instruction Approach

February 11, 2023 / / 1 Comment

Now this approach may sound daunting, but after doing some readings I have come to find that this approach is kinder than it sounds.

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think!”
– Albert Einstein

Its characteristics include a teaching model that is based on skill orientation and teaching practices that aim to focus on small group activities that directed through a face to face atmosphere. This method is supported by a teachers careful articulated lesson that breaks down ideas into smaller units. Through the paper published by Carnine D. Silbert J. and the other authors they claim that this method of teaching has been known to increase students learning outcomes within remembering and applying the methodology (Carnine, Silber, and Tarver, 1997). The direction is given by a teacher to the students, where teacher uses models and demonstrations to show the leaners how to achieve the result and the process behind it. this model can be turned into a flexible and versatile method of teaching as it can be incorporated into disability discourse.

As my group is focusing on the topic of racism and teaching children from grades K–3, this method would be very practical but would require modifications, specifically due to our group’s commitment towards a growth mindset. Our group through this method will allow students to find what they truly enjoyed from the experience of each lesson. As we will allow students to have some decision over the tasks they are intrested in doing, whether this be playing a diverse and inclusive game, colouring or reading. We do not necessarily want a stringent result from each lesson, rather we would hope that the kids enjoyed their experience, and further developing their skills creatively and inquisitively rather than simple yes or no answers.  In hopes of not teaching our students to just regurgitate information, we would use this method in a way that will develop critical thinking skills.

Citation

Carnine, D., Silbert, J., Kameenui, E. J., & Tarver, S. G. (1997). Direct instruction reading. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

The Skill’s of Life

January 26, 2023 / / 0 Comments

“there was never a day so misty and grey that the blue was not somewhere above it” – Keira Knightley

Growing up in a small town has shaped me into the person I am today. As I grew up in a town that was a destination for many due to its beauty and nature, it attracted many teachers who enjoyed their work because in part they enjoyed where they lived. As a child who had always hated school it was not until High school where I was able to focus on the things that peaked my interest, primarily social studies and art classes. Due to smaller class sizes, this allowed my teachers to guide my path through a Constructivist lens.

My most memorable learning experience was in my grade 12 year, I had applied to universities and was striving for a 4.0 average. I decided that I would take up Calculus. That turned into a very bad decision as I had no real focus or interest in math or formulas in this calibre. My exceptional art teacher Mr. Randall offered me the opportunity to take a one on one class called Genocide studies, where he would require me to write formal papers using citations and research. In my whole education path I had never even seen or heard of the word ‘citation’. Obviously this was only the beginning of what I would discover. And so on a whim I agreed to Mr.Randall’s class. This course opened my perspectives to the world around me, not just the realm of politics, colonialism and genocide. His kind gesture allowed me to expand on my potential and capabilities which I had never know I could achieve. To this day this will forever be one of my favourite classes I ever took as it demanded such discipline but it sparked my passions. For this I will forever be grateful for Mr. Randall.

With the support of my education course that I am currently taking, I am able to see the methods that Mr.Randall had used. The Cognitivist approached that was applied encourages a learner to develop deep connections between the process and solutions, not focusing on the nitty gritty details1. Anchored in the involvement of authentic tasks, this approach divides knowledge in order to inform but also build a critical consumer complex, breaking down each idea and finding a solution2. Cognitivist ways of learning from my own personal experience allowed me an open and non judgemental space that continues to impact the way I problem solve and create, for this I will always be grateful.

1Peggy A. Ertmer, and Timothy Newby., Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective ( Performance Improvement Quarterly, 2013), 7–9. 

2Peggy A. Ertmer, and Timothy Newby., Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective ( Performance Improvement Quarterly, 2013), 7–9. 

Bibliography Peggy A. Ertmer, and Timothy Newby. “Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective.” Performance Improvement Quarterly,7–9. 2013. 

image showing person walking in pre-painted footprints
Photo by Flickr user jfchenier under CC license: BY-NC 2.0

Welcome and Introduction

May 2, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Before proceeding with this first blog post, we expect you to consider your privacy preferences carefully and that you have considered the following options:

  1. Do you want to be online vs. offline?
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  3. Do you want to have your blog public vs. private? (Note, you can set individual blog posts private or password protected or have an entire blog set to private)
  4. Have you considered whether you are posting within or outside of Canada? This blog on opened.ca is hosted within Canada. That said, any public blog posts can have its content aggregated/curated onto social networks outside of Canada.

First tasks you might explore with your new blog:

  • Go into its admin panel found by adding /wp-admin at the end of your blog’s URL
  • Add new category or tags to organize your blog posts – found under “Posts” (but do not remove the pre-existing “edci335” category).
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Do consider creating categories for each course that you take should you wish to document your learning (or from professional learning activities outside of formal courses). Keep note, however, that you may wish to rename the label of the course category in menus (e.g., as we did where it shows “Learning Design” as the label for the “edci335” category menu.  This will enable readers not familiar with university course numbers to understand what to expect in the contents.

Lastly, as always, be aware of the FIPPA as it relates to privacy and share only those names/images that you have consent to use or are otherwise public figures. When in doubt, ask us.

Please also review the resources from our course website for getting started with blogging:

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Test Learning Design Post

May 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

This post  will appear in a few places:

  1. in the blog feed on the front of your website
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Feel free to delete this post once you understand this. If you have any questions, please reach out to your instructor.

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