Learning Log #4 - Module 11 - Beyond Library Walls: Working for Social Justice in the School Library
An Anti-Racist Toolkit for Teachers
According to the British Columbia Ministry of Education (2014), digital literacy is defined as “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, create and communicate with others”.
Media literacy includes “being able to access media on a basic level, to analyze it in a critical way based on certain key concepts, to evaluate it based on that analysis and, finally, to produce media oneself.” MediaSmarts (2019).
“Critical literacy is concerned with the social and cultural contexts…it requires us to go beyond what we read on the page to consider the larger narrative in which a text is situated, asking questions about who created a text and why.” McNicol, S. (2016).
Two years ago, as a middle school teacher, I had a group of students who were very vocal about their experiences as BIPOC and allied youth in our school community. They spoke regularly to administration about injustices they saw and experienced and raised alarm bells left, right and center about race issues. As 12 and 13 year old rabble rousers, they were somewhat of a challenge for admin, despite everyone’s best intentions. They were often in the office in the middle of a conflict or talking in a large group in the halls about injustices they were facing rather than going to class. Finally, administration asked them if they would like to start a formal lunchtime club to raise their concerns at a school-wide level and invite others to join them, and the Arbutus Antiracist Student Leadership Group was formed.
The problem, at the time, was that they were so outspoken as a crew that it was difficult for them to come together to do anything proactive or organized. Admin tried to run the club, but this just extended the talk about injustices to lunchtime and very little was accomplished outside of that. Our VP tried having students give some presentations at our assemblies (on Zoom at the time) but the presentations were made by her. Finally, our VP came to me and asked if I would try helping to organize them. They were loud, but as their teacher, I knew them well enough to pick the leaders from the talkers and eventually, after a few listening sessions, we started to pull together plans for presentations and activities that they wanted to host in the school based on what they thought were priorities.
One issue they deemed of immediate importance was addressing some of the islamophobic sentiment they heard and felt in the halls. Ramadan in previous years had been a source of discomfort for some students who were fasting, and they wanted to teach students and staff about Ramadan so that their fasting could be acknowledged in a respectful manner and even supported rather than being ignored, made fun of or misunderstood. So, as a group, they put together the following slide show and went from class to class teaching students and their teachers about Ramadan.
Just as one might have used the video The Invisible Discriminator in Module 11 to teach anti-racist critical literacy, students used digital, media and critical literacy to share their concerns and teach students about Islam. The use of video, vocabulary and images gives students a base of understanding about Ramadan to be more open and respectful of practicing muslim students.
Later, we began to come up with more general presentations about racism to teach students how to be actively anti-racist. The presentation below was given by our middle school Antiracism Student Leadership Group last year:
Another school-wide initiative last year was a “Black History Month Bingo” Class Challenge where classes were called to learn about black history by completing a “line” of the bingo card below. The first class to complete their line won a movie afternoon with popcorn and treats in the library. In this case, classes were encouraged to use critical, media and digital literacy to research, understand and create new media to teach themselves and others about Black History.
Despite some of the initial difficulties of organizing students to begin to challenge the status quo at our school in the ways they were hoping to (rather than simply talking about it), the club was an opportunity for students to come together. Many were able to voice their concerns in a constructive way, speak to classes and teachers, educate, and more importantly, they learned from each other by listening as much as they spoke.
Some quotes from students who joined Anti-Racism Student Leadership Club in its first year:
I actually went to a Black Lives Matter protest with my little brother and mom in early 2020 and I feel the need to use my privileges as a white person to support people of color and Indigenous background. I am in the anti-racism club because I want to learn more about racism and what I can do to help so that I can then pass that information on to other people. - Harmony
As someone of privilege I have never been bullied or harassed about my race. The first few times I came to an anti racisme [sic] meeting it was because I didn't want to be alone during recess. But as I kept coming I realized that there was racism at our school, something I hadn't noticed prior to joining. The anti racism group has opened me up to what other people have experienced that I haven't. - Milo
Personally I have not experienced racism at least that I know of. I am Metis so I am half indigious and half european. My mom's side of the family has experienced a tranmendice amount of racism, including residential schools, and of how my family was treated. … My mom grew up with no parents because my gramda committed suicide because she couldnt haddle the stress and because of her pas of being abused and raped.
My grandma died when my mother was 12 years old.
Since my mother was twelve with no parents she had to go into foster care and she couldn't go with her grandparents because of the government. multiple of my family has commited suicide because of trauma and not knowing there culture.[sic] - Preston
Ever since I was little because of other people I saw how different me and my family was, the way people would react to my parents' accents by talking to them like children or the things people would say to us when we spoke our language, that if we wanted to speak that we should go back to our country. Being a child of immigrants in this society always made me feel like the things we were doing were wrong or that I should be embarrassed about my culture because it was different from everyone else. - Saanvi
We have Indigenous studies but that’s just not enough. …i don’t want to spend my childhood not fighting for this because when i’m older and stuff like this starts to happen to me, it’s going to hit 10x harder. i don't want to not know what to do when a cop pulls me over, i want to learn now so that i don’t have to struggle later. To answer the question, my experience with racism is on so many levels, my great great grandma was an indentured worker serving in trinidad and she had a tattoo on her arm with 4 numbers so they knew who she was, they didn’t give her a name or use the name she had because she was a savage or as they liked to call us “coolies” which is a racial slur for my people. My dad has been pulled over by police and has been held at gunpoint, our truck has been searched, and he’s been called probably every racial slur you can think of. from everything i’ve been told it has made me quite scared. with everything that i’ve said i just wish there was one thing that i could say were i won. like i wish there was one battle were either me or the anti racism club could say “hey we did this and i’m proud” but there just isn’t. i hope that sometime before adulthood i can have one big battle where i won so that i can head into life with a positive outlook. I think that if we focus our energy we just might be able to win one of these battles at least in our school. i have confidence in us and i have hope, we just need to make sure everyone has that same hope. [sic] - Loewen
Originally when I heard about an anti racism club I thought it would be a way to hang out with my friends but I soon realized that it was much more than that. Anti Racism to me is more than a club. It's a way for white people and people of color to come together and do our best to lower the tolerance of racism at [our school]. Anti Racism has changed my view on diversity for the better and I was definitely one of my favorite parts of middle school.
As a person of color unfortunately racism is something I experience personally on a regular basis. Talking with classmates in anti racism has taught me how to deal with racist behavior and escort myself out safely. - Samir
What I have learned by running this club, is that it can be quite nerve-wracking for adults to supervise a club or teach a class where students can simultaneously be triggered, feel vulnerable and have differing opinions. To jump into a topic where a teacher might feel uncomfortable or out of their depth, while at the same time holding a safe space for students, is frightening and may be avoided as a result. Teachers tend to need/like to feel “in control” and so to put themselves outside of their comfort zone with certain subjects can be a challenge they are not willing to take on.
As a futures teacher librarian, it will be important for me to provide students with diverse literature so that students feel seen and heard, where they see themselves in the characters, where they see their experiences in those of the protagonists. But also, it is the job of the teacher librarian to provide resources and support for teachers who may need a little push outside of their comfort zone or who may need to delve into an issue that makes them feel vulnerable. It may even be up to the teacher librarian to share the burden of discomfort if they are the best suited to do so to provide a safe space for all students within the school.
Not all schools have the ability or people-power to have a student-led antiracism club like ours, but recognizing and responding to racism is an important topic in any school and should be brought up in one way or another, whether it be in class, in a library block, as a club, in assemblies, as specific units or year long discussion circles. It is helpful that teachers have resources at their disposal and face to face support should they need it.
As such, here is the beginning of my Anti Racism Toolkit for Teachers. Some of these resources are ones I have used in the antiracism club at school, others are ones students have shared with classes in presentations, still others are guides for teachers for use in class. This is a work in progress, but one that I will hold onto as I move forward as the antiracism student leadership supervisor and into my future role as a Teacher Librarian.
Anti-Racism Lesson Plans:
en-anti-racism-education-bc.pdf
fr-anti-racism-education-bc FRENCH.pdf
Lesson Plans - Anti-Racism - Resources at Alberta Teachers' Association
Anti-Racism Tools - Trying Together
Facing History & Ourselves Canada
Anti-racist poetry:
Poems for Black Lives Matter at School
Being an anti-racist educator:
A Guide to Equity and Antiracism for Educators | Edutopia
Teaching with an Anti-Racist Lens | NEA.
BC Ministry of Education Anti-Racism Action Plan
Discrimination and Unconscious Bias:
Having Difficult Conversations in Class:
LFJ-Lets-Talk-September-2022-09062022.pdf
Indigenous Reconciliation:
residential schools and reconciliation guide.pdf
Microaggressions:
Understanding Microaggressions Responding to Microaggressions
Peace, Equity and Global Injustices:
Cultivating Peace TA - CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS
Privilege:
Privilege Walk Lesson Plan | Peace Learner
Unpacking Privilege | MediaSmarts
Understanding racism:
understanding-racism-powerpoint_ver_4.pptx
Sources:
BC Ministry of Education. (2015). Digital Literacy Framework. Retrieved from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/resources-for-teachers/digital-literacy
MediaSmarts. (n.d.). Digital & media literacy. Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy
McNicol, S. (2016). Critical literacy for information professionals. https://education.library.ubc.ca/blog/critical-literacy-and-selecting-indigenous-literature
The Invisible Discriminator - Stop. Think. RespectBeyond Blue. (July 31, 2016). "The invisible discriminator. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/7FUdrd0Mg_4
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