Nelson Anti-Oppression Working Group
Statement of Purpose
The Anti-Oppression Working Group (AOWG) of the Parent’s Association Committee (PAC) at Nelson is a growing group of Nelson parents who recognize the need within our school's structure and community for a deeper engagement with anti-racist, decolonial, and inclusive education. Racism, ableism, sexism, LGBTQ+ oppression, patriarchy, classism, and environmental degradation are systemic pressures that are often echoed in our education systems, which has become increasingly visible during the last 2 years of living in a global pandemic.
The purpose of the AOWG is two-fold:
The AOWG will be a bridge between the PAC and staff of Nelson. We wish to ensure these efforts are brought to fruition in a sustainable and long-serving way moving forward. We hope to encourage engagement for our school community to be a part of a more welcoming, inclusive and equitable space.
Contact us at: tigersaowg@gmail.com
FROM AOEC (Anti-Oppression Education Collective - BCTF)
Anti-oppressive education requires that teachers actively challenge normative educational practices. We have to recognize that education emanates from a colonial system of domination that led to the genocide and marginalization of the First People of Turtle Island. The lineage of such a system is embedded in racism, sexism, ableism, LGBTQ+ oppression, patriarchy, misogyny, classism and environmental degradation. These social forces become structural within education because we reproduce them through our pedagogy and educational policy.
Key Words
Decolonization: The end result of decolonization is to return the land back to the original inhabitants who occupied the territory at the point of colonization. The process is transformative through the recognition of the violence and injustices inflicted by colonization, and strives to build better relationships and contexts for respecting Indigenous people, cultures and land. Some places to start could be to ask: What does it mean to be a good guest on this land, or to be a respectful settler or visitor here? Acknowledging the presence of the First Nations who have lived here for thousands of years is a first step in good protocol. How do we build on this in tangible, everyday ways?
Equity: Takes into consideration barriers and historical inequalities in trying to create equality of opportunity. It differs from formal equality in that it substantively addresses the existence of challenges that need to be overcome.
Oppression: "The use of power to disempower, marginalize, silence or otherwise subordinate one social group or category, often in order to further empower and/or privilege the oppressor. Social oppression may not require formally established organizational support to achieve its desired effect; it may be applied on a more informal, yet more focused, individual basis."
(https://theantioppressionnetwork.com/what-is-anti-oppression/
Restorative Justice: refers to “an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime.”
Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for Justice and Public Safety (2018). Principles and Guidelines for Restorative Practice in the Criminal Matters.
https://scics.ca/en/product-produit/principles-and-guidelines-for-restorative-justice-practice-in-criminal-matters-2018/
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/rj-jr/index.html
Systemic Discrimination: The patterns of behaviour, policies or practices that are part of the structures of an organization, and which create or perpetuate disadvantage for racialized persons. (http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/racism-and-racial-discrimination-systemic-discrimination-fact-sheet)
Statement of Purpose
The Anti-Oppression Working Group (AOWG) of the Parent’s Association Committee (PAC) at Nelson is a growing group of Nelson parents who recognize the need within our school's structure and community for a deeper engagement with anti-racist, decolonial, and inclusive education. Racism, ableism, sexism, LGBTQ+ oppression, patriarchy, classism, and environmental degradation are systemic pressures that are often echoed in our education systems, which has become increasingly visible during the last 2 years of living in a global pandemic.
The purpose of the AOWG is two-fold:
- A network for parents to advocate and receive support for their children's safety, mental health, and equitable access to education. The experience of structural oppression can be isolating, disorienting, and overwhelmingly difficult to find channels for restorative justice. While the AOWG is not trained to legally support members of our community who might be experiencing systemic oppression, we aim towards collectively identifying resources and information to support a path towards more transparent forms of restorative justice in our school.
- A network for teachers and administrators to bridge their curricular goals and challenges regarding the transition to an anti-oppressive education. We recognize that transitioning our education system to a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive approach is a process that will experience blindspots and mistakes. Our desire is to build on work related to anti-oppression education already started by the Nelson teachers, the VSB and the district PAC. This includes an openness of parents to also educate themselves about anti-oppression practices.
The AOWG will be a bridge between the PAC and staff of Nelson. We wish to ensure these efforts are brought to fruition in a sustainable and long-serving way moving forward. We hope to encourage engagement for our school community to be a part of a more welcoming, inclusive and equitable space.
Contact us at: tigersaowg@gmail.com
FROM AOEC (Anti-Oppression Education Collective - BCTF)
Anti-oppressive education requires that teachers actively challenge normative educational practices. We have to recognize that education emanates from a colonial system of domination that led to the genocide and marginalization of the First People of Turtle Island. The lineage of such a system is embedded in racism, sexism, ableism, LGBTQ+ oppression, patriarchy, misogyny, classism and environmental degradation. These social forces become structural within education because we reproduce them through our pedagogy and educational policy.
Key Words
Decolonization: The end result of decolonization is to return the land back to the original inhabitants who occupied the territory at the point of colonization. The process is transformative through the recognition of the violence and injustices inflicted by colonization, and strives to build better relationships and contexts for respecting Indigenous people, cultures and land. Some places to start could be to ask: What does it mean to be a good guest on this land, or to be a respectful settler or visitor here? Acknowledging the presence of the First Nations who have lived here for thousands of years is a first step in good protocol. How do we build on this in tangible, everyday ways?
Equity: Takes into consideration barriers and historical inequalities in trying to create equality of opportunity. It differs from formal equality in that it substantively addresses the existence of challenges that need to be overcome.
Oppression: "The use of power to disempower, marginalize, silence or otherwise subordinate one social group or category, often in order to further empower and/or privilege the oppressor. Social oppression may not require formally established organizational support to achieve its desired effect; it may be applied on a more informal, yet more focused, individual basis."
(https://theantioppressionnetwork.com/what-is-anti-oppression/
Restorative Justice: refers to “an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime.”
Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for Justice and Public Safety (2018). Principles and Guidelines for Restorative Practice in the Criminal Matters.
https://scics.ca/en/product-produit/principles-and-guidelines-for-restorative-justice-practice-in-criminal-matters-2018/
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/rj-jr/index.html
Systemic Discrimination: The patterns of behaviour, policies or practices that are part of the structures of an organization, and which create or perpetuate disadvantage for racialized persons. (http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/racism-and-racial-discrimination-systemic-discrimination-fact-sheet)
