Toronto's first-ever conference on Teaching for Justice took place on April 1, 2017.
Conceived and developed by Beth Alexander, The Linden School teacher, and Michelle Munk, City View Alternative, TDSB teacher, the event took more than a year of planning. Not surprisingly, the response was overwhelming. Academics and teachers around the city flooded their inboxes with workshop proposals, and the event sold out quickly.
"We planned this conference because it was something we wanted to attend—a place to meet teachers and educators, community partners, and activists who do the kind of work we do. It is our goal today to expand our networks, learn new ideas, gain new perspectives, and derive inspiration and support from each other," shared Beth and Michelle at the start of the conference.
Donna Ashamock, Eeyou (Cree) community educator and practitioner served as the conference keynote speaker. Donna began her presentation by acknowledging that the land on which the gathering took place is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Petun, Seneca Nations, Metis, and most recently, the territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Ojibwe/Anishinaabe and Allied Nations to peaceably share and care for the land and water resources around the Great Lakes. On behalf of the gathering, Donna expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work and present in this territory.
Ausma Malik, TDSB Trustee, gave a warm welcome to the participants.
Beth Alexander, Linden teacher, and Michelle Munk, TDSB teacher (who formerly taught at Linden) conceived and organized the Teaching for Justice Conference.
The conference resource fair included community activist partners such as A Different Booklist.
Representatives from the Canadian Women's Foundation were available with reference material.
Workshop leaders Faye Guenther and Laura Schein.
Faye Guenther and Laura Schein leading a workshop on "Teaching Social Justice Through Song, Story, and Community: A Retrospective View and New Possibilities."
Conference participants included a wide variety of teachers and academics from across the GTA.
One of the conference highlights was the student panel on "Students as Activists."
David Stocker, City View Alternative, TDSB designed a special word cloud for his workshop on "Beyond Pizza Party Math: Mathematics for Social Justice."
David Stocker, City View Alternative, TDSB with his fantastic maththatmatters textbook. His interactive workshop provided participants a chance to try lessons from his new textbook.
Participants sharing their thoughts at one of the workshops.
Participants sharing their thoughts at one of the workshops.
Tasha Smith, Aboriginal Education Centre, TDSB, leading a workshop on "Indigenous Education: Promoting Allyship and Activism through Indigenous Education."
Michelle Munk, TDSB teacher with Maria Vamvalis, EAST Alternative/Critical Thinking Consortium (and former Linden teacher). Maria gave a workshop on "Nurturing Transformative Citizenship through Critical Inquiry."