Technolandy

Day 17 (of 202/25) #orangeshirtday Wednesday (and always on my schools photo day…)

I’ve always encouraged ‘orange shirt day’ to be the last Wednesday of September… in part because of the shifting of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th – and because schools are closed that day… and of course I want to encourage that “orange shirt thinkings” are not limited to any one day… we need to embrace Standard 9 (the current language in our BC Teaching Standards) that highlights: 

Educators respect and value the history of First Nations, Inuit and Metis in Canada and the impact of the past on the present and the future. Educators contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing. Educators foster a deeper understanding of ways of knowing, and being, histories, and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Metis.

This means that educators critically examine our own biases, attitudes, beliefs, values and practices to facilitate change. Educators value and respect the languages, heritages, cultures and ways of knowing and being of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. Educators understand the power of focusing on connectedness and relationships to oneself, family, community and the natural world. Educators integrate First Nations, Inuit and Métis worldviews and perspectives into learning environments.

So we need to do regular equity scans… because of my my Landyisms is that ‘systemic bias and discrimination hide in plain sight.’ So it is easy to overlook or dismiss as not a big thing… because that’s how it hides… through distraction and assumptions.. 

And if you haven’t seen bias or discrimination (comments about how you look, followed as you look at things in a store, notice that you can’t have a day off for a religious/cultural observation – or have to take a day off because of someone else’s observation period… being just the easy ones to list…) that’s a pretty good, one might even say… privileged experience (like me thinking nothing of going for a walk at night on my own…)

That’s why many of us who have positions of privilege need to be the ones to point out where we see some possible points of privilege and bias… as an example of one I’m currently mindful of – the job application —> cover letters and cvs are a very middle class concept – I’m noting a lot of students making use of verbal applications and shares to get jobs… also notice that is how a number of “upper postings” get filled in the real world… nfl coaches don’t just get hired on their resume, they have to meet and talk and interact – and often get a shoulder tap rather than hoping they might apply… some learning we in education may be able to leverage as we do some thinking about “work experience”…