LET’S was excited to have the opportunity to deliver a Disability Awareness workshop, with sections from our workshop Neurodiversity at Work, at a conference entitled The Anti-Oppression Toolkit: From Theory to Practice at Byrne Creek Community School.
Our participants were all teachers. The grades and locations varied, which allowed for a more rich conversation. The audience was engaged by the workshop material and had great questions based on their real life experiences. This not only enhanced the learning for the other educators in the room but also for our facilitator who was provided with examples that they could incorporate in future workshops. It is vital to LET’S that our facilitators understand our audiences can provide vital learning opportunities and the ability to boost our workshop materials and references.
(A teacher helping their students.)
Following our workshop, we had 2 participants who gave up their break time to have a conversation with our facilitator about particularly sensitive and frustrating experiences. 1 experience was about parents who were denying their child was neurodivergent and how the teacher could help when the parents refused to get the child tested or meet any of their access needs. The other experience was about how to build empathy in the classroom when a neurodivergent and/or disabled student is allowed to opt out of sections of the class time or have breaks that other students do not have access to. While both teachers had different issues, they and the facilitator bounced ideas around. We are glad that when the participants left, they had solid ideas of things to try with the students.
Teachers across the province face many challenges in providing an inclusive education for all students. Anti-oppression tools for the classroom that build a progressive lens for learners are needed for teachers who are overwhelmed and unsupported when approaching these topics. The Anti-Oppression Educators Collective PSA turns theory into practice. The full day conference helped teachers build a reliable, practical toolkit for making the classroom a place of equity, inclusion and radical learning.
“The Anti-Oppression Educators Collective (AOEC) is a provincial specialist association dedicated to challenging systemic oppression in education. Originally known as the BC Peace and Global Educators, our PSA underwent a name change in 2019 to become the Anti-Oppression Educators Collective. Our name change reflects our commitment to ensuring our work in peace and international solidarity is grounded in an anti-oppressive framework.
We know injustice is rooted in the historical and ongoing context of colonialism, and the only path to justice is to unlearn the colonial.We invite you to join our PSA and embark on this challenging and invigorating work with us!”