I have found it very annoying that the discourse around the Health and Physical Education curriculum has been reduced to the simplistic misnomer of the Sex Ed Curriculum. If you look at the most recent curriculum, created in 2015, you will not find that in the table of contents or in the Healthy Living section of the document. Here are two examples of how it is framed from Grade 1 and Grade 8:
The section is called Human Development and Sexual Health. I think the PC government fanned the flames of bigotry by suggesting that this was Kathleen Wynn's document. Most people are aware of the fact that she is a Lesbian and for many social conservatives, she is somehow immoral and, by association, the curriculum is immoral and needs to be eradicated. It felt that the attacks on the document were also homophobic and misogynistic attacks on the former Premier.
I am biased. I have worked with this curriculum and think it is brilliant and developmentally appropriate. Many critics of the document have never read it and I think you should check it out before it is gone: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/health1to8.pdf
There is so much more to this document than "sex." One of the reasons I think it is a brilliant document is that it begins conversations about how we should relate to one another and how we understand the idea of difference. In my recent Grade 7 and 8 class, we had a lot of great discussions around Gender and how we defined it and are sometimes trapped by our narrow definitions. In my Grade 6 class, two years ago, we looked at how Stereotyping and the danger of "the single story" can create a lot of misunderstanding among groups of people.
Unfortunately, it seems the Progressive Conservative (PC) party would rather sensationalize a few items discussed in the document and ignore the other elements which all students, in this pluralistic society, should be aware of. The PC's approach to the Human Development and Sexual Health topic feels regressive and ignorant. It reminds me of Dicken's warning about the dangers of ignorance and it seems to me that this government's view of education is quite narrow.
If the definition of doom is something seen as being adverse or unfavourable, then I believe this move is. It feels like a backward move to a time period where we pretended like issues did not exist; I suppose that is one way of understanding ignorance.
On the Global News website, there are two interviews that should be viewed. One is from Andrea Horwath and the new Education Minister, Lisa Thompson:
https://globalnews.ca/video/4330070/sex-ed-curriculum-repeal-will-drag-ontario-back-into-another-century
In June, Toronto educator, Nadine Thornhill created a YouTube video, based on her fears of the change that she anticipated was coming to the curriculum:
Links to these stories are here:
Andrea Horwath's response: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/519-sex-ed-opposition-campaign-1.4745403
Nadine Thornhill: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-educator-to-create-online-video-lessons-teaching-scrapped-sex-ed-curriculum-1.4745141
The cancellation of this project is unfavourable, especially when we are speaking about the matters of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. From a teaching perspective, this feels very similar to the reversion to the 1998 Health curriculum; it is a dialing back of valuable knowledge which is meant to be shared. In 1998, there was no mention of Residential Schools or talk of a student questioning his or her identity in schools.
Both issues feel regressive and conservative in a time when we know so much more and have a responsibility to introduce ideas, as challenging and difficult as they may be, to our students, who are the future citizens of this nation. Some of you may not be familiar with this story and will provide a link from CBC's The Current which will offer up a more nuanced look at this issue relating to Truth and Reconciliation: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/the-current/episode/15556383
As I try to pull this entry to a close, I am feeling a little stuck. Based on the construction of this blog, it seems easy to suggest that "the people" Doug Ford champions are likely not those who have personal connections to the content or experiences found in the 2015 Health curriculum or with the teachers who are looking to be more inclusive and complete in their teaching of Canadian history. But this sounds naive and powerless.
Everyone. EVERYONE has some connection to the lived realities and experiences explored in the topics deemed controversial in the "Sex-Ed" curriculum. Also, for all non-Indigenous Canadians, we are on Colonized land and need to be aware of this and how our stories have been contingent on the history of Indigenous people and the evolution of Canada.
In other words, we "the people" are truly connected. A leader who smiles while playing the fear and doom card is not a part of any progressive party. I know that progressive voices, like those linked in the stories posted on this entry, will continue to offer up ideas, resistance, and teachings to counter the ignorance trickling into the rhetoric and policies at Queen's Park.
I am biased. I have worked with this curriculum and think it is brilliant and developmentally appropriate. Many critics of the document have never read it and I think you should check it out before it is gone: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/health1to8.pdf
There is so much more to this document than "sex." One of the reasons I think it is a brilliant document is that it begins conversations about how we should relate to one another and how we understand the idea of difference. In my recent Grade 7 and 8 class, we had a lot of great discussions around Gender and how we defined it and are sometimes trapped by our narrow definitions. In my Grade 6 class, two years ago, we looked at how Stereotyping and the danger of "the single story" can create a lot of misunderstanding among groups of people.
Unfortunately, it seems the Progressive Conservative (PC) party would rather sensationalize a few items discussed in the document and ignore the other elements which all students, in this pluralistic society, should be aware of. The PC's approach to the Human Development and Sexual Health topic feels regressive and ignorant. It reminds me of Dicken's warning about the dangers of ignorance and it seems to me that this government's view of education is quite narrow.
 |
| http://welchwrite.com/blog/2014/12/10/my-favorite-quotes-from-a-christmas-carol-33-the-boy-is-ignorance-the-girl-is-want/ |
If the definition of doom is something seen as being adverse or unfavourable, then I believe this move is. It feels like a backward move to a time period where we pretended like issues did not exist; I suppose that is one way of understanding ignorance.
On the Global News website, there are two interviews that should be viewed. One is from Andrea Horwath and the new Education Minister, Lisa Thompson:
https://globalnews.ca/video/4330070/sex-ed-curriculum-repeal-will-drag-ontario-back-into-another-century
In June, Toronto educator, Nadine Thornhill created a YouTube video, based on her fears of the change that she anticipated was coming to the curriculum:
Links to these stories are here:
Andrea Horwath's response: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/519-sex-ed-opposition-campaign-1.4745403
Nadine Thornhill: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-educator-to-create-online-video-lessons-teaching-scrapped-sex-ed-curriculum-1.4745141
curriculum writing erased
Both issues feel regressive and conservative in a time when we know so much more and have a responsibility to introduce ideas, as challenging and difficult as they may be, to our students, who are the future citizens of this nation. Some of you may not be familiar with this story and will provide a link from CBC's The Current which will offer up a more nuanced look at this issue relating to Truth and Reconciliation: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/the-current/episode/15556383
As I try to pull this entry to a close, I am feeling a little stuck. Based on the construction of this blog, it seems easy to suggest that "the people" Doug Ford champions are likely not those who have personal connections to the content or experiences found in the 2015 Health curriculum or with the teachers who are looking to be more inclusive and complete in their teaching of Canadian history. But this sounds naive and powerless.
Everyone. EVERYONE has some connection to the lived realities and experiences explored in the topics deemed controversial in the "Sex-Ed" curriculum. Also, for all non-Indigenous Canadians, we are on Colonized land and need to be aware of this and how our stories have been contingent on the history of Indigenous people and the evolution of Canada.
In other words, we "the people" are truly connected. A leader who smiles while playing the fear and doom card is not a part of any progressive party. I know that progressive voices, like those linked in the stories posted on this entry, will continue to offer up ideas, resistance, and teachings to counter the ignorance trickling into the rhetoric and policies at Queen's Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment