Equity & Diversity

BLACK HISTORY MONTH AT ST. FRANCIS XAVIER

 The students and staff of St. Francis Xavier High School were involved in a number of initiatives during Black History Month (February). 

Students learned about significant people and events on the daily oral announcements. . As well, students in grades 7 and 8 were invited to participate in a poetry writing contest. On February 21, an assembly was held featuring traditional African dances, speeches and readings, and a fashion show.

Under the direction of art teacher Mr. Ketcheson, four students painted beautiful mural panels for the school atrium. The student artists were Alexandra Bouchey, Sarwa Ali, Subin Lee, and Christian Padrones. The murals commemorate significant events including Rosa Parks' courageous decision not to move to the back of a bus, the Underground Railway to Canada, and Martin Luther King Jrs' I Have a Dream Speech.

CHINESE NEW YEARS CELEBRATIONS

On Saturday, February 9, I was pleased to attend the Chinese New Year celebrations hosted by the International Languages programs at both Holy Trinity High School and St. Joseph High School.  Hundreds of parents attended both celebrations and were treated to many performances by children in the Chinese Manderin classes.   At Holy Trinity, the parents even got into the act with  a few dance performances!  At St. Joseph, the children enjoyed a number of traditional Chinese games.  Notre Dame High School's International Languages program also held a Chinese New Year celebration.

Dragon Dance during Chinese New Celebration at St Joseph HS

The Year of the Dragon was certainly welcomed in style by the staff, students, and parents of the Ottawa Catholic International Languages program!   

EQUITY

by Randall B. Lindsey

Equity is comprised of a collection of articles by a variety of authors.

In the first chapter, editor Randall B. Lindsey, along with 3 other contributors, identifies and elaborates upon the 4 tools of cultural proficiency.  The first tool is overcoming barriers to cultural proficiency.  According to the author, the main barrier is unawareness or indifference to systems of oppression, such as racism and sexism.  The second tool is a set of guiding principles which point to the centrality of culture in society and individual lives.  A 6-point continuum of behaviours and institutional practices is the third tool.  This continuum begins with 3 unhealthy behaviours and practices – cultural destructiveness, cultural incapacity, and cultural blindness - and leads to 3 healthy behaviours - cultural pre-competence, competence, and proficiency. 

Tool 4 includes 5 essential elements of cultural competence.  These elements are standards or guides for people and institutions such as schools.   They include:

-          Assessing cultural knowledge (learning about others’ cultures and how a school reacts to others’ cultures)

-          Valuing diversity (creating decision-making groups inclusive of people with viewpoints and experiences different from the dominant culture of the school)

-          Institutionalizing cultural knowledge – making learning about cultural groups an important part of the school staff’s professional learning

In “Why Race?”, the second chapter, Glenn Singleton and Curtis Linton make the case that the most significant achievement gap in schools is the racial gap, and that institutional racism is the most “devastating factor” contributing to poor achievement by students of colour.  Factors such as inclusive hiring and promotion practices for teachers and recognizing the unique experiences and perspectives of cultural groups in the curricula are the sorts of institutional reforms that the authors believe schools need to adopt to close the racial gap.

Chapter Three, written by Ruth S. Johnson and Robin Avelar La Salle, is about school data analysis.  It is entitled “The Wallpaper Effect” – a phrase which stresses the importance of “peeling off layers of data to uncover practices, programs, and policies that contribute to and exacerbate educational inequities.”    

The multiple authors of “Teacher Quality Equity” recommend that schools and districts conduct rigorous equity audits in the area of teacher quality to ensure that students of diverse cultural groups have equal access to the most experienced and well qualified teachers available.

Bonnie M. Davis in “Reaching Diverse Learners Through Strategic Instruction” shares practical tips for teachers for supporting diverse learners.  For instance, she recommends that teachers select content materials that match the ethnic diversity of their students.

In Chapter 6, “Diversity and Power”, Carl A. Grant makes the important point that teachers – the power brokers of classrooms - must learn about and affirm diversity.  As well, school staffs must be particularly cognizant of the hidden curriculum, to ensure that their words, attitudes, and actions don’t communicate cultural insensitivity.

Chapter 8, “Connecting Home and Home” is written by Concha Delgado Gaitan and makes the important point that schools must employ “culturally responsive, systemic approaches” that allow all parents to become partners in their children’s schooling.