Fatty Legs novel study

Here is a link to a novel study for Fatty Legs, a children's book on the residential school experience of Margaret Pokiak–Fenton. This text is suitable for Grades 5-8.

The link includes a two-part webinar for teachers who are interested in using Fatty Legs in their classroom. Part 1 introduces you to the author, Christy Jordan-Fenton, as well as Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, the subject of the book. Part 2 has Kerry Aiken, a Grade 7 teacher, explain how she used Fatty Legs in her classroom.

The link also includes questions and handouts you can use with your students.

The Storytelling Project Curriculum: Learning About Race and Racism Through Storytelling and the Arts

The Storytelling Project Curriculum: Learning About Race and Racism Through Storytelling and the Arts (US based)

This resource has 33 lessons plus handouts and PDFs. 


Thank you for your interest in the Storytelling Project Curriculum: Teaching about Race and Racism through Storytelling and the Arts. We are eager to have others use lessons from the curriculum we have developed using the Storytelling Model and/or to have you develop your own lessons using our model. We have made this model and curriculum available as a free PDF and encourage teachers to use the lessons and/or modify them to meet the needs of your own students and subject area, as well as create new lessons that fit the different story types.

Article on low-emission cars and the racial demography of ownership

This is an interesting article ... a great way to encourage critical conversation about the connection between ecological justice and anti-racism education. Depending on the environmental/green strategy, who benefits? Link this article to other lessons on environmental racism.

http://inhabitat.com/study-finds-that-non-whites-are-less-likely-to-purchase-a-low-emissions-vehicle/

The History of Race

Want to learn more about the history of race? See the list of excellent sources below or check out our previous posts on this topic (with video clips). The documentary Race: The Power of an Illusion is a great resource to use in the classroom and is available at the University of Saskatchewan library. This video can be incorporated across subject areas: social studies, science, economics, health, language arts .

Banton, M. (1998). Racial theories. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Bernasconi, R. & Lotts, T. (eds.). The idea of race. USA: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

Dickason, O. (1984). The myth of the savage and the beginnings of French colonialisms in the Americas. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press.

Gould, S.J. (1996). The mismeasure of man. New York: Norton.

Hannaford, I. (1996). Race: The history of an idea in the west. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.

Kaye, H. L. (1997). The social meaning of modern biology: From social Darwinism to socio-biology. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers.

Malik, K. (1996). The meaning of race. New York: New York University Press.

McLaren, A. (1990). Our own master race: Eugenics in Canada, 1885 – 1945. Toronto: The Canadian Publishers.

Mead, M., Dobzhansky,T., Tobach, E. & Light, R. (Eds.). (1968). Science and the concept of race. New York: Columbia University Press.

Prentiss, C (Ed.). (2003). Religion and the creation of race and ethnicity: An introduction. New York: New York University Press.

Smedley, A. (1999). Race in North America: Origin and evolution of a worldview. Boulder: Westview Press.

Willinsky, J. (1998). Learning to divide the world: Education at empire’s end. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Young, R. (1995). Colonial desire: Hybridity in theory, culture and race. London: Routledge.

Slam Poetry as Anti-Racist Education

Anti-racist education works to counter and dismantle all forms of interconnected oppression. I recently found out about slam poetry from a student I taught last summer. Although it seemed very powerful and empowering, I wasn't introduced to poets who use slam poetry to counter oppression. Then, I met an inspirational young man and teacher who does just that and has won national awards for his work and passion. We were fortunate to have Khodi Dill present at our EraceISM conference this year. His presentation focused on the spoken word and how it can be used with students of all grade levels as anti-racist education. Here is a link to some of his incredible work on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsDwOKUHZbA&feature=related

Teaching Tolerance offers some links about Slam Poetry as anti-racist education. Check out this blog post about a group of students called Rapid Fire at an American high school: Full post http://www.tolerance.org/blog/change-rapid-fire-pace

Amazing and courageous work!

A group of talented young poets has emerged at my school, Life Academy, over the last three years. They call themselves “Rapid Fire.” When they speak, there is heat, and their words do catch. They’ve met critical success in district and area slam competitions. This year, the team placed second in the preliminary Unified District Poetry Slam sponsored by Youth Speaks and went on to place second in the finals. Not only are their words deliberately beautiful, but their messages can transform and teach tolerance.
Through poetry Mendoza, Phan, and Garcia have found their political voice. “I learned to get involved in social issues that affect me, like immigration and gangs,” Mendoza said. “Through poetry I realized that I wanted to major in women and gender studies for college. It's just completely transformed me and helped me grow.”
As these three seniors leave Life Academy for college, they gift the school the legacy of poetry, the message of change. They also leave big footsteps to be filled by their younger classmates, the next generation of poets.

Choose Your Voice: Free Resources! Grades 6, 7 & 8

This free resource includes various lessons on historical acts/systems of racism in Canada including lessons on slavery, the Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver, and Residential Schools among many others. More current examples of oppression are also included. This resource (the recipient of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation Award of Excellence 2010) focuses on teaching students about the importance of speaking out against oppression and provides profiles of many Canadians who have risked their lives to helps others. It is a good introduction to anti-racism education and can be modified and supported with additional resources (i.e. lessons on white privilege, power inequities, patriarchy and colonialism). For more information see the Fighting AntiSemitism Together website. 

Choose Your Voice: Antisemitism in Canada
Educational Program for grades 6, 7 and 8 students:
- DVD in 4 segments (Duration: 22 minutes)
- Teacher’s Guide with 4 lesson plans or activities; DVD Discussion Guide
- Provincial Curriculum Connections
The Choose Your Voice resource kit was originally designed for teachers of students in Grades 6, 7 and 8 based on provincial curriculum requirements. It is also adaptable for high school students, ESL and gifted learners.
The kit gives teachers tools to help their students learn about the dangers of hatred and stereotypes, and find their voices to combat them. It encourages students not to be bystanders or perpetrators but heroes, by speaking out.
It meets curriculum requirements for many different subjects:
Language Arts – English, French, Writing
Social Sciences – History, World Issues
Religion
Physical Education – Health Unit
Arts – Drama, Music, Visual Art and Dance
It is also used in programs for Safe Schools, Character Education, Anti-bullying and Holocaust Education. It was designed to be flexible so that lessons can be taught individually or as a unit.
The kit contains four lesson plans, written by a team of teachers and curriculum experts. Each lesson contributes to a better understanding of the ways in which we construct stereotypes and the ways in which prejudice and misunderstanding have contributed to our past and our present in Canada.
Fact sheets on specific incidents can be used for research and relate to the goals of the lesson. Many different racial minorities are profiled. The kit also contains an award-winning DVD with compelling messages about the dangers of antisemitism and racism.
Our new English kit includes a free poster (20” wide by 30” deep) for classrooms, libraries and hallways. Download the FAST poster in PDF format (206 Kb).
Fact sheets on specific incidents can be used for research and relate to the goals of the lesson. Many different racial minorities are profiled. The kit also contains an award-winning DVD with compelling messages about the dangers of antisemitism and racism.
To order a bilingual version please see our French site.
For information about the Choose Your Voice Education Program, please click on order your free copy or Contacts.

Stereotypes and Tonto

See the full lesson at Teaching Tolerance:

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/stereotypes-and-tonto

This lesson revolves around Sherman Alexie’s poignant yet humorous and accessible essay, “I Hated Tonto (Still Do).”...In this lesson, students identify stereotypes commonly applied to American Indians and think critically about how certain groups benefit from perpetuating stereotypes. Students can extend their understanding by formulating a mock interview that tackles the lesson’s essential questions or drafting a letter to protest stereotyping in today’s media.

Anti-racist or colorblind? Learning about racism through songs

See EdChange's link to a list of Race and Racism Songs! Although some of the songs promote colorblindness rather than anti-racism (and most are not current), they can be used to teach students about the difference between claiming to be 'colourblind' and working against racism.

Lesson Ideas (Grade 5 - 12 with adaptations):

1. Teach students about the difference between anti-racism and claiming to be colourblind. Identify the limits and dangers of colourblind claims when working towards racial equity (i.e. (1) ignores the differences in power distributed according to race/skin colour (2) normalizes and makes racial inequality 'invisible' (3) without naming racism, inequalities are assumed to be a result of personal differences and/or deficiencies (4) can be used as an excuse to avoid examining personal beliefs about race (5) claiming not to see colour dismisses the historical and present experiences of racially privileged and oppressed people).

2. Review some of the song lyrics (or find the videos on YouTube) and ask students to identify which ones promote colourblindness and which ones promote anti-racism and explain why.

3. Students can then bring current songs (and music videos) into the classroom that they think challenge racism to share.

4. In small groups or as a class, students can review the lyrics of their selected songs and answer questions. Possible questions could include: What are the messages about race and racism? Do they challenge power inequities and racial stereotypes? Are the messages contradictory (i.e. seem to challenge racism but are sexist and homophobic)? Have the messages in songs about racism changed in the last few decades? Why or why not?

Below is a working explanation of 'colorblindness' from Teaching Tolerance:

To be "colorblind" implies the invisibility of race, something we all know to not be invisible. My experience of the world is informed by being white; other people experience and interact with me informed by my whiteness so, for me, colorblindness feels like an erasure. To be colorblind is to not see my family, where we come from, our history, and our ways of being. "Colorblind" avoids difference rather than recognizing and valuing it. I do not see how a white activist can be an ally from a position of colorblindness. I understand that many people use this term to challenge racial stereotyping, to not see people "as" their color and the associated racial stereotypes, but it functions as assimilation. If we become "colorblind," than to which worlds and ways of being are we being blinded? What are we not "seeing?" And in which "hue" will we be operating? (see link: Dianne Flinn, TeachingTolerance)

A Novel Study: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

A novel study on Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. It is an amazing novel. The website is a great resource for getting ideas for lessons while studying this novel. Perfect for grade 7, 8, 9 middle years. 

I came across this (see below) on a blog called blogging censorship (National Coalition Against Censorship)...could lead to an interesting class discussion about stories, which ones get told, and why.

A disappointing ruling came out last night regarding Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in Stockton, Missouri. The Stockton School Board voted 7-0 holding firm in its decision to remove the book from school classrooms, notwithstanding pressure from many educators to keep it. The board also ruled in favor of banning the book from the high school library.

Environmental Racism: Video Resources

Environmental racism is a topic that is rarely taken up in classrooms but is one of the most glaring examples of how Indigenous and racially oppressed land and bodies are racialized as insignificant. All of the following video clips can be used to introduce students to environmental racism, a global epidemic that is rooted in colonialism and artificial racial hierarchies. How do we, as a society, justify and ignore environmental racism? These powerful video clips can create critical understandings of how space and bodies are racialized (whose land and bodies matter) and lead to community action. Thanks to Sheelah M, Marcia M and Janice R for sharing these resources.

Some of the clips below will be shown at the March 2 STARS event (4 - 5:30 room 2060 in the College of Education, U of S). We hope you can join us!

Check out these powerful links:

What is Environmental Racism

The Story of Stuff

Blue Gold: World Water Wars

The Gardener: Three Levels of Racism (This is a metaphor for communities that do/do not have access to resources such as water and food)

Dene Chief addresses Mackenzie Pipeline issue

H2Oil

Downstream

Land of Oil and Water: Aboriginal Voices on Life in the Oil Sands

White Privilege & Anti-Racist Cartoons

The cartoons provided on this post can be used to open space for students to think critically about and understand local racialized contexts and white privilege. Both of the cartoons highlight the 'myth of meritocracy' or the false belief that there is equal opportunity if one works hard enough. The cartoons also demonstrate how white privilege is normalized and often difficult to recognize. It is also important to highlight what the cartoons may not explain. For example, students could be left with the impression that equity initiatives alone can lead to racial equality. Anti-racism education requires more. We must also learn how to identify, dismantle and counter the racist ideas and practices that are used to justify and maintain racialized hierarchies. For more cartoons check out http://www.leftycartoons.com/category/antiracist/.

This cartoon was found at a blog called Double Consciousness:

Environmental Racism and Justice

According to Teaching Tolerance: Environmental racism is a term that was coined by Rev. Benjamin Chavis, who conducted a study which found that communities of color are more likely to bear the brunt of environmental hazards than are white communities. That study found that these environmental disparities occurred because of lax enforcement of environmental rules and regulations, as well as the placement of landfills and dumps and the disposal of hazardous waste in minority neighborhoods. The problem is compounded by the fact that members of affected communities are seldom found on city councils, planning committees or regulatory boards.

Teaching Tolerance offers several Pre K - grade 12 US based lesson plans that can be used to initiate student studies on environmental racism in Canada.

Introducing Kids to the Idea of Environmental Racism (Pre K - grade 5): http://www.tolerance.org/activity/introducing-kids-idea-environmental-raci

Environmental Justice (grades 3 - 12): http://www.tolerance.org/activity/environmental-justice

Reporting on Environmental Racism (grades 9 - 12): http://www.tolerance.org/activity/reporting-environmental-racism

Environmental racism in Canada continues to displace and oppress First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples, as well as other racially oppressed communities. Leave a comment to share examples of environmental racism in Canada with your colleagues and visit the Indigenous Environmental Network (http://www.ienearth.org/).

PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

1. Environmental justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction.

2. Environmental justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias.

3. Environmental justice mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things.

4. Environmental justice calls for universal protection from nuclear testing, extraction, production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land, water, and food.

5. Environmental justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples.

6. Environmental justice demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous wastes, and radioactive materials, and that all past and current producers be held strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and the containment at the point of production.

7. Environmental justice demands the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation.

8. Environmental justice affirms the right of all workers to a safe and healthy work environment, without being forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood and unemployment. It also affirms the right of those who work at home to be free from environmental hazards.

9. Environmental justice protects the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive full compensation and reparations for damages as well as quality health care.

10. Environmental justice considers governmental acts of environmental injustice a violation of international law, the Universal Declaration On Human Rights, and the United Nations Convention on Genocide.

11. Environmental justice must recognize a special legal and natural relationship of Native Peoples to the U.S. government through treaties, agreements, compacts, and covenants affirming sovereignty and self-determination.

(to read more see: http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/princej.html at the Environmental Justice Resource Centre http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/Welcome.html)

Black or White: Kids on Race. A CNN analysis of race

Although CNN doesn't provide a thorough race analysis of this study, the study is interesting and important because it tells us that children are STILL internalizing the hierarchy that STILL exists in our society. It also tells us that kids are thinking about race in complex ways. This documentary can be used in the classroom to show students how the history of race and contemporary racist ideologies, that support beliefs in white superiority, continue to hold power and influence everyone. One of the important messages in the study is that we have to examine our own beliefs before and as we teach children about racism - children model adults' behaviors (what we do and say) and these observations influence children more significantly than what we try to teach them. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYkUMqxr_o8

CNN tried to hold individual parents accountable for the children's responses, however, they did not explore the history and purpose of race or the structures existing in our society that allow racism to occur. These structures normalize the false beliefs that whiteness is ideal and dark skin signifies inferiority. Clearly, as this study demonstrates, it is never too early to start to teach children about racism and anti-racism education.

Some questions for students: How would you apply this study to a Saskatchewan context? What policies and practices do these messages justify? Who benefits? What are the social and material outcomes of these beliefs? From where do these ideas originate and why? What has to happen to challenge and change these ideas? What can one person do?

Thanks for sharing Janice!

Islamophobia resources

Western society, especially the media, focuses on the cosmetic issues of the burqa and the hijab instead of real social, political and economical issues that are occurring in Middle Eastern countries. Muslim and Islamic people in our society are constantly vilified in the media. Here are a few useful links that you can use in your classroom.

Videos:
See Yemen Through My Eyes
http://www.ted.com/talks/nadia_al_sakkaf_see_yemen_through_my_eyes.html

Dylan Ratigan Discusses the problem with the media portrayal of Muslims
http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2012/01/31/isna-president-discusses-islamophobia-on-msnbc/

Scholar Edward Said discusses Orientalism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdE18HdfanI&feature=fvw

Documentary - Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdRc8c8jhU8

Noam Chomsky on Terrorism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8_8773TUmA

Maz Jobrani: A founding member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, Maz is an Iranian-American comedian touring with his solo comedy show Brown and Friendly.
http://www.ted.com/speakers/maz_jobrani.html

Resources:
http://www.democracynow.org/

Hamdan, A. (2009). Muslim women speak: A tapestry of lives and dreams. Toronto: Women’ Press.

Hasan, E. (2010, March/April). Blanket condemnations: Contested feminisms and the politics of the burqa. Briarpatch. 39(2), 16-19.

Joya, M. (2009). A woman among warlords: The extraordinary story of an Afghan who dared to raise her voice. New York: Scribner.

Mernissi, F. (2005). Conclusion: Women’s liberation in Muslim countries. In W.K. Kolmar’s Feminist Theory: A Reader. Boston: McGraw Hill.

Said, E. (1979). Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books.

Sensoy, O., & Marshall, E. (Winter 2009/2010). Save the Muslim girl. Rethinking Schools. (14-19).

Mickey Mouse Monopoly Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power

One of my former students sent this link to me. Thanks Jocelyn! The Media Education Foundation's study guide for the film provides excellent anti-racism and anti-oppressive teaching resources/discussion questions for children (with some modifications) and youth. Mickey Mouse Monopoly part one (all five parts are on YouTube):
Mickey Mouse Monopoly youtube playlist

Media Education Foundation (click on study guide):
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=112The Disney Company's massive success in the 20th century is based on creating an image of innocence, magic and fun. Its animated films in particular are almost universally lauded as wholesome family entertainment, enjoying massive popularity among children and endorsement from parents and teachers. Mickey Mouse Monopoly takes a close and critical look at the world these films create and the stories they tell about race, gender and class and reaches disturbing conclusions about the values propagated under the guise of innocence and fun. This daring new video insightfully analyzes Disney's cultural pedagogy, examines its corporate power, and explores its vast influence on our global culture. Including interviews with cultural critics, media scholars, child psychologists, kindergarten teachers, multicultural educators, college students and children, Mickey Mouse Monopoly will provoke audiences to confront comfortable assumptions about an American institution that is virtually synonymous with childhood pleasure. Sections: Disney's Media Dominance | Disney's Gender Representations | Disney's Race Representations | Disney's Commercialization of Children's Culture

The RACE Project

The RACE Project is the first national [American, but an important website for all anti-racism educators] collaborative effort to present an integrated view of race and human variation through biological, cultural and historical perspectives. The public education program explains how human biological variation differs from race, when and why the idea of race was invented, and how race and racism affect everyday life. The program has three primary messages. (1) Race is a recent human invention. (2) The idea of race is about culture, not biology. (3) Race and racism are embedded in our institutions and everyday life.

For more information and grade 5 - 12 lesson plans and activities visit: www.understandingrace.org

The Kit: A Manual by Youth to Combat Racism Through Education (2000)

The KIT is an amalgamation of three complementary sections, all addressing racism: information, tools, and resources. The Information section looks at current issues and key concepts in racism, and debunks a range of myths and misconceptions. Want to discuss privilege, practice intercultural communication, or hold a debate on racism in Canada? The Tools section includes a wide range of interactive workshops for a variety of ages and interests, as well as a step-by-step guide for organizing an activity. A multitude of books, films, youth organizations, and educational materials are listed in the Resources section for further reading, action, and inspiration! And, a time line noting key moments in Canadian history relevant to racism and anti-racism runs throughout the KIT. 

Find the Kit here. 

United Nations Association in Canada youth corner