IN THE CLASSROOM
Children have a natural sense of fairness. By shaping the discussion to include ideas of who is affected by injustice we can help them develop empathy; this is a focus that begins in Kindergarten programs. Discussions about advocacy are next; these can help children understand that even small actions can make a difference, allowing them to see themselves in advocacy roles. I’ve found a small sampling of resources to help you get started.
• ETFO’s resource Social Justice Begins with Me provides a comprehensive list of resources for classroom use (
etfo.ca/build- ingajustsociety/equityresources/pages/
socialjustice.aspx)
• Imagineaction is the social justice pro- gram of the Canadian Teachers’ Federa- tion (
imagine-action.ca)
• Teaching Tolerance includes free resources for classrooms (
tolerance.org)
• The National Institute of Environment Health Sciences has teaching resources and online content for children (
niehs.nih.gov/topics/environment- health/environmental-justice/
index.htm)
• KQED Mind/Shift has teaching resources, and shares news from work done in U.S. schools (
kqed.org/mindshift/48592/7- books-that-teach-kids-about-social-jus- tice-and-activism)
• Road to Racial Justice is a free, download- able social-justice-themed board game for ages 13+ (
roadtoracialjustice.org/)
• Education World has a sampling of activities suitable for elementary grades (
educationworld.com/a_lesson/social- justice-activities-stude)
My great-grandfather would probably
be sad to know that his farm is never com- ing back to us. Our community continues to struggle, on one hand; on the other, I see my people building capacity to address the chal- lenges we’ve faced. Environmental racism is but one challenge, but as I see it, an impor- tant part of moving forward in this work is to invite educators to open their minds and hearts and learn about these issues and then share our learning with our students. Will you accept this invitation? n
JoAnne Formanek Gustafson is an Anishinaabe of Gojijiing and a member of the Rainy River Occasional Teacher Local.
ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 19
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