“In the devastating context of global conflict and displacement, education gives hope to ref- ugee children and youth to envision and build a secure future.” – António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
S
ince the tragic photos of Ahmed Kurdi appeared in Canadian newspapers and on TV screens last August, the plight of asylum- seekers from Syria, the Horn of Africa and other parts of Af-
rica and the Middle East has mobilized and energized communities across Canada. This has led to an outpouring of support for private, blended visa and government-fund- ed refugee sponsorship. Canada, and On- tario specifically, have reached out to bring scores of families – many of whom include young children – to live in our communities. Teachers and education workers have spent hours outside of their classrooms working toward sponsoring families. In many com- munities, students have been learning about the refugee experience by examining the issues surrounding asylum-seekers, fundrais- ing for emergency relief or participating in the sponsorship process themselves. My classroom at Rose Avenue Public
School, like most of our school, has students from all over the world. I like to think that many of my students’ experiences are reflec- tive of other immigrant and refugee student experiences. Children frequently make refer- ence to the reasons their families chose to come to Canada (education, job opportuni- ties) or were forced to make the difficult de-
ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 37
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52