Creating Ripples of Change

On April 29th, 57 ACE-WIL educators representing 18 post-secondary institutions in BC came together for our Spring PD session on Anti-Racism Training (A.R.T) with skilled facilitators Thanh Tazumi, Naomi Wolfe and Sanchit Mittal.

The session included rich conversation, powerful personal stories, interactive activities, and tools on how to be an active witness to racism. There is a clear commitment from members to create an inclusive environment for our students and explore how this training can be applied in our work integrated learning curriculum. In the post event survey, 91% feel that learning from A.R.T should be included in WIL programs and services, and 95% shared their knowledge of the witness centered approach to disrupting racism increased after this PD. Wow!

Here are some further comments from attendees about the PD:

  • “I really liked the facilitators’ stories and the animated videos at the beginning to connect the dots between a hit and run and witnessing a racist incident; it was very effective. I also liked being able to practice in the breakout sessions as it brought home that more practice is needed”.
  • “I enjoyed the storytelling approach and engaging exercises to apply the material”
  • “We were able to see the situation from many perspectives and were able to practice safely on how to respond”
  • “I liked how engaging and informative it was – powerful stories were shared”
  • “The facilitators created an inclusive environment and I felt comfortable talking and sharing”
  • “The opportunity to practice how to respond in a racist scenario as I’ve had a loss of words at different times. I feel empowered to do better to be an active witness, and share with others”

This session built off of the Unconscious Bias PD in the fall 2020 and the conversation is not over. As educators we are in a position to create ripples of change and will continue to work together learning (and unlearning!) how to make safe and inclusive environments for each other and our students.

If you are interested in joining our dynamic ACE-WIL PD Committee, we are looking for new members to join us. It is an honour to bring these learning moments to our membership and we have lots of fun in the process! Please reach out to PD Committee co-chairs Lindsay.Wood@kpu.ca and megt@uvic.ca if you have any questions.