Through the Focused Ed professional development program, I attended three fantastic webinars on Friday, February 13th.

  • Student AI Literacy Lessons K-12
  • NFB K-12: More than Just Great Canadian Films!
  • I Am Because We Are: Grade 6-9 Black Canadian Learning Resource

I’m really glad we had this experience. I learned a lot and added a bunch of resources to my future teacher toolkit.

I feel like I’ve written boatloads about AI already in my weekly reflections. I found the Student AI Literacy webinar helpful and interesting, and I will absolutely be borrowing their PowerPoint-based lessons about what artificial intelligence is, its environmental impact, and how students can use it safely. However, I want to focus this week’s reflection on something that was totally new to me – “I Am Because We Are,” the Black Canadian Learning Resource tailored to Grade 6-9.

I Am Because We Are: Black Canadian Learning Resource (Grade 6-9)

Video overview of the “I Am Because We Are” learning resource

I learned so much from this webinar. At first, I was apprehensive about how the instructor was a white woman like me, but she was so knowledgable and respectful and acknowledged her positionality. This actually made me feel better about teaching topics that are outside of my personal experience.

Visual depiction of positionality (created by WISE – the Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment). I am a white, cisgender, straight woman from a middle-class background, and all of these aspects of my identity inform my perspective and can affect the way I view my students and teach, even subconsciously – that’s why I think it is important to consider our positionality.

I want to teach upper elementary or middle school, so I was immediately interested in this program because it is designed for my target grades. I will absolutely incorporate “I Am Because We Are” into my teaching.

When I was in school, we learned little about the history of Black Canadians except for stories of suffering (e.g., transatlantic slave trade, reading books about the Underground Railroad) and one-off stories of individual success (I remember learning a little bit about Viola Desmond). I like “I Am Because We Are” because it doesn’t do that at all! It tackles important and heavy topics like erasure of Black Canadians from history, but it also highlights heroes and rebellions, Black joy, Black identity, and Black excellence. Here are the 7 topics covered in the program (it’s recommended that these are completed in order).

  • Ubuntu Philosophy
  • Black Joy
  • African Diaspora
  • Heroes and Rebellions
  • Erasure
  • Black Identity
  • Black Excellence

Isn’t that cool how Black joy is talked about right away, rather than as an afterthought?

I also knew next to nothing about Ubuntu principles. I learned that Ubuntu is an African philosophy that emphasizes values like interconnectedness, compassion, respect, and harmony. The crux of Ubuntu is “I am because we are”- it’s about understanding oneself in the context of others. Another cool thing about this Focused Ed resource is that it intertwines Ubuntu principles with the First People’s Principles of Learning.

Quote by Nelson Mandela about Ubuntu (source). I had to look up “parochial” – it means having a narrow outlook or scope. So, in this context, Mandela was saying that the idea of Ubuntu comes from Africa but is applicable everywhere.

“I Am Because We Are” is a fantastic resource for Canadian students of all backgrounds. Our prof Roz Stooke, who teaches our reading class, showed us a powerful quote that reminds me of the importance of programs like these:

Children need texts that are mirrors and texts that are windows.

For my students who are Black, these lessons would be validating – they would act as mirrors where they could see themselves and their history reflected and appreciated. I think that “mirrors” are all about representation and seeing oneself as an important part of history and the world today. For my students who are not Black, “I Am Because We Are” would act as an important window into the perspectives and experiences of others.

Check out the resource here!

PS: Here is a picture of our Pods Group hard at work on our inquiry into French and Ed Tech. Lol.