Participants in the Burlington meeting were organized into small groups and asked to identify issues relating to equity and inclusion and what contribution that SPNO’s KNSWB Project might be able to make to address these issues over the three year term of the project ending in 2020.
The main issues and contributions that the groups identified were:
- The need to advocate for meaningful and transparent data collection to improve student achievement and provide knowledge on which the community could act to reduce/eliminate equities in education.
Herleen Sayal, Laidlaw Foundation fellow (L) and Melanie Bordeleau, Western Faculty of Ed (R) report our from their group discussions
- Addressing important social topics such as poverty, privilege, and diversity with suggestions for mandatory classes in teacher’s college on the topic of inclusiveness and anti-oppression as well as creating methods for ensuring teachers stay up to date on current models of teaching that ensure equity and inclusion for their students.
- Accessibility issues (i.e. Internet access, transportation in northern and rural communities, etc.) that are barriers to learning and inclusion for many low income students and require more flexible and innovative approaches and supports.
Yvonne Kelly, York Region DSB (L) and Trudy Beaulne, Waterloo Social Development Centre (R) report out from group discussions
- Working towards having sustainable and ongoing relationships with our communities of practice to ensure that this work continues after the completion of this project.
Participants in Burlington were organized into small groups according to their local/regional areas to discuss how the Project might take shape in their respective areas and be linked across participating communities.