1. VIDEO SCREENING: portions of two videos – TED Talks from Australia
Presentation at January Ward Council – Equity, Anti-Oppression and School Councils (Summarized by A. Smith)
SPEAKERS: Alison Gaymes San Vicente and Cherilyn Scobie, TDSB Centrally Assigned Principals, Equity Leads
Started with quick reminder to everyone that to speak about equity, bias, anti-oppression, racism etc is usually an uncomfortable conversation – want people to work through uncomfortableness
asked every person in the room to say one word that comes to mind when they hear the words equity & anti-oppression
sample of words that came back: trust, conscious, empathy, fairness, understanding, empathy, love, valuing, open, inclusion, no judgment, confusion
VIDEO SCREENING: portions of two videos – TED Talks from Australia
First video showed a white woman in a power wheelchair
She spoke about the problem of holding up all people with disabilities (PWD) as “inspirational” or “exceptional”
she thinks this is a form of objectification of PWD for able bodied people
Second video showed a Muslim (brown-skinned) woman in a hijab (headscarf)
She spoke about the many biases she faces every day by wearing a headscarf: is she a terrorist? Is she oppressed by her husband? Is she educated or ignorant? Etc
Wants people to work through these unconscious biases to really discover other people; in her case, she is a FormulaOne race car driver and does lots of “unconventional” things
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS: answer these questions:
What do these videos have to do with equity or anti-oppression?
Why are they relevant?
What ca we do to make schools/school council more equitable?
DISCUSSION STRANDS:
Videos showed speakers that appear as “the other” ie. not the norm because of disability or religion; but both speakers are challenging the box they have been put in
Disability is relevant to TDSB because many schools are not accessible; many students need help due to learning disabilities
Religion is relevant to TDSB because many students in this Ward are Muslim and also new to Canada; many wear headscarves, many families are devout Muslims
Videos are also highlighting that equity and anti-oppression conversations are not just about race or culture – need to always consider all unique needs of individuals,: ability, economic status, education level, race, gender, sexual orientation etc

2. Presentation at January Ward Council – cont’d…… Equity, Anti-Oppression and School Councils
DISCUSSION STRANDS cont’d….
Unearned power is typically still given to white males in our society; and many stereotypes and biases are still living in our society – they can and will come into the school environment and into the classrooms
Must continually challenge these biases; individuals can always challenge their thinking and try to understand bias in order to eliminate barriers
CURRENT TDSB EQUITY ACTIONS (**not full list)
- TDSB has a wealth of data re: demographics of students/staff/schools; who is achieving and who is not
Despite TDSB’s many years of innovation, there are still gaps in achievement that are likely due to bias / inequity
Role of Centrally Assigned Principals is to go into schools and work with Principals to achieve annual equity goals
Ministry of Education and the TDSB require all schools to have three goals each year:
Inquiry & Achievement Goal (academic)
Well-being Goal
Equity Goal
Principals follow a detailed process to determine their equity goal with measurables included
TDSB Superintendants, Principals and teachers are all receiving anti-bias training and do have online compliance training
Practical Ideas for Parent Councils to be more Inclusive
- make translations available (print & in meeting wherever possible)
- don't use acronyms and edu-speak
- timing of meetings (try different times to perhaps allow different parents access)
- location of meetings (prob not the best to have at someone'e house or a bar)
be conscious of bias - challenge assumptions – be aware of intent vs. impact
Who is not at the table? Can table go to them? Can they get voices heard through other channels?
Host events that can highlight those parents who don’t/can’t come to meetings eg. parent demonstrations for school/various classes with grafitti artist, samosa making.
use online survey tools (often free) to survey all parents (most have access thru smart phones or computers at home) - see what they are interested in from parent council