The Anti-Oppression Working Group (AOWG) is a small group of parents/caregivers that meets in-person (or remotely) once a month. Throughout the school year we work together to create a more inclusive school community for all children, families and staff, while being mindful of the learning and unlearning that goes along with that process.
Please email us for more information about the AOWG, if you would like to join or if you have any specific inquiries. All parents, caregivers and staff are welcome to join the Anti-Oppression Working Group (AOWG) at Nelson School.
Email: TigersAOWG@gmail.com.
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Anti-Oppression Working Group:
Statement of Purpose
The Anti-Oppression Working Group (AOWG) of the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) at Nelson is a growing group of Nelson parents/caregivers 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, oppression towards people with diverse sexual orientation and/or gender identity & expression (SOGIE), patriarchy, classism, and environmental degradation are systemic pressures that are often echoed in our education systems.These issues need to be addressed urgently and adequately through the education system, as well as in society as a whole.
The purpose of the AOWG is two-fold:
As society changes, so should our approach to education, which includes the collective education of families alongside our children. Parents/caregivers will be encouraged by the AOWG to be engaged as active players to reinforce the good work already happening at Nelson, to communicate with their children regarding topics of inclusion, anti-racism, and equity, and to help support the areas where change is needed within our schools.
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. Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
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
Please email us for more information about the AOWG, if you would like to join or if you have any specific inquiries. All parents, caregivers and staff are welcome to join the Anti-Oppression Working Group (AOWG) at Nelson School.
Email: TigersAOWG@gmail.com.
——————————————--
Anti-Oppression Working Group:
Statement of Purpose
The Anti-Oppression Working Group (AOWG) of the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) at Nelson is a growing group of Nelson parents/caregivers 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, oppression towards people with diverse sexual orientation and/or gender identity & expression (SOGIE), patriarchy, classism, and environmental degradation are systemic pressures that are often echoed in our education systems.These issues need to be addressed urgently and adequately through the education system, as well as in society as a whole.
The purpose of the AOWG is two-fold:
- To create a network for parents/caregivers to advocate for and receive support for the safety, mental health, and equitable access to education for all students. Systemic and structural oppression can make it 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 providing support and collectively identifying resources and information to support a path towards more transparent forms of restorative justice in our school and the wider community. In addition we aim to provide educational materials and resources for the community at large to expand their own knowledge about systems of oppression, current events and notable dates of recognition.
- To create a network for teachers and administrators to bridge their curricular goals and to offer them tools to overcome challenges regarding the transition to an anti-oppressive educational approach. We recognize that evolving our education system to a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive approach is a process that will experience hurdles at times. Our aim is to contribute to and expand upon the anti-oppression education that the Nelson teachers, the VSB and the district PAC have already initiated in the school system. This includes an openness of parents/caregivers to also educate themselves about anti-oppression practices.
As society changes, so should our approach to education, which includes the collective education of families alongside our children. Parents/caregivers will be encouraged by the AOWG to be engaged as active players to reinforce the good work already happening at Nelson, to communicate with their children regarding topics of inclusion, anti-racism, and equity, and to help support the areas where change is needed within our schools.
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. Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
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
