Education leaders reflect on anti-racism initiative

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This article was published 11/07/2022 (1212 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The leaders behind Louis Riel School Division’s anti-racism initiative spent their first year Indigenizing curriculum, overseeing equity training, and asking students how to make their facilities safer and more welcoming.

The division, which oversees the education of 15,500 pupils in southeast Winnipeg, created a department dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism services at the start of the 2021-22 school year.

“I look at what we’ve accomplished and I think it’s a lot, but we’ve barely scratched the surface,” said Michelle Jean-Paul, a divisional principal who oversees the initiative.

“The issue with equity work — and it’s a welcome issue — is the more we engage in this work, the more we recognize we need to address.”

The longtime educator officially joined the division at the start of 2022. Jean-Paul said she was drawn to the project because of LRSD’s bold statements against racism and willingness to engage in “the discomfort that comes with this type of work.”

Recent self-declaration data show 47 per cent of the student population identifies as Indigenous, Black, or a person of colour in the division. Roughly 10 per cent of pupils are learning English as a second language. A total of 0.4 per cent of students reported they are non-binary.

The new office has a wide-ranging mandate that aims to guide inclusive changes in schools and support students who identify with one or more marginalized groups.

It is tasked with bringing together community members to address issues of systemic racism and introducing equity-based curriculum review processes that emphasize decolonization.

Darcy Cormack, an assistant superintendent who works on the equity file, and Bobbie-Jo Leclair, divisional vice-principal of Indigenous education, make up the tight-knit team that runs the first-of-its-kind education department in Manitoba.

Cormack said the office formalizes longtime efforts and “sets the bar” for the division to start making tangible actions in terms of policy development and adjustments to practice.

“School can be such a place of tradition and culture that we have to stop and reflect about why we do certain things and how we can do things that are more inclusive,” she said, adding there is an increased understanding about the importance of seeking out lived experiences from staff, students and community members in the district.

Among the areas of improvement that are being explored is how schools can better prepare students who are neurodiverse and have cognitive disabilities for the workforce, Cormack noted.

All staff members have a responsibility to “develop greater intercultural understanding, knowledge about historical and ongoing impacts of colonialism, compassion and mutual respect,” per the division’s new policy on diversity, equity and inclusion.

The board of trustees approved the new document at the end of the school year to put LRSD’s commitment to anti-oppressive practices in writing and outline every community member’s responsibility when it comes to creating belonging in K-12 buildings.

A policy on employment equity, which draws from countless community consultations, is in the works. Once complete, it will fulfil one of the calls to action in the State of Equity in Education reports authored by the Winnipeg Indigenous Executive Circle and Manitoba’s Newcomer Education Coalition.

Much of the LRSD team’s work involves reviewing practices, hosting sharing circles, and seeking input from Gay Straight Alliances, environmental clubs, and other groups that support racialized students. The office also assists with events that increase awareness about diverse identities, such as “culture days,” and gets involved in responses to individual incidents.

Division leaders met with student athletes at Collège Béliveau and their principal after teenagers disclosed concerns about opponents making racist remarks towards them during the 2021-22 basketball season.

Jean-Paul said she learned about other issues — for example, a lack of awareness among students about the availability of prayer rooms in schools, in meeting with youth.

Throughout the school year, students have been asked to lead division-wide learning sessions around anti-racism, anti-homophobia and anti-transphobia.

The co-chairwoman of Equity Matters, a coalition of anti-racist educators and community organizations, said LRSD deserves “kudos” for being proactive by creating the new office.

“It clearly says to (students from minority groups): ‘You matter, your voice is important, we want to ensure that your needs are met and you’re meeting your potential. We have these things in place to support you, encourage you and ensure this is happening,’” said Suni Matthews, a retired educator.

Matthews noted resources must be allocated to such projects to ensure they can succeed.

The division’s budget for the upcoming school year includes nearly $940,000 in new funding to support the office’s initiatives, including the expansion of an Ojibwa language program and the launch of a community kitchen.

Parent Jordan Bighorn, however, remains skeptical that monumental change can happen from within a colonial system.

“I understand they have perhaps drawn much input from their community… (but) when you’re sharing such feedback from inside the walls — you clearly cannot envision what freedom is in terms of full inclusion and representation,” said Bighorn, a father in LRSD and advocate for anti-racism work.

Cormack said it is not always easy to hear community members’ critiques about where the division is missing the mark, but both the assistant superintendent and divisional principal agree this work is inherently uncomfortable.

“Over the past six months, I’ve seen a lot of willingness to engage in the messiness, a lot of openness to have hard conversations, and that makes me feel very optimistic about the long-term, sustainable changes that are going to continue to take place within the Louis Riel School Division,” said Jean-Paul.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie