Deep Learning Project
EDUC 6105: LGBTQ+ Issues & Mental Health in Nunavut
The Assignment
Develop an inquiry project that deepens my learning and practice in:
Health Promoting Schools or
Living Schools
Of these two models I prefer the Living School model because it....
"extends beyond health and technology by incorporating sustainability, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainable happiness, social and emotional learning and connecting
with nature with approaches to learning that assist students and teachers to be choice-makers
and change-makers" (O'Brien, 2016).
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Living Schools
Classroom Planner
In going through the Living Schools classroom planner (found here), it was clear I would not currently characterize my school as either a Health Promoting School or a Living School. This was I was happy to see that my own classroom practices are in strong alignment with the Living Schools framework. When I looked at my school as a whole, and what I feel I have the most agency to affect positive change, I chose to focus on the attributes of Living Schools above.
In thinking about work that meets these goals, I wanted to focus on doing a deep-dive into something that:
I feel connected to and passionate about so it makes me feel recharged and hopeful instead of drained and overwhelmed
would allow me to highlight and centre amazing things my students and former students are doing - they are the change makers!
I could see as a positive step towards making our whole community safer in relation to the suicide crisis in Nunavut, as my community lost 4 precious youth to suicide in the last year alone, including one young man I loved very much while I was working on this project.
Where is my heart?
Shared from EDUC 6104
https://cbulms2.cbu.ca/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=55701#p129844
In reply to: Team 1 - John Dewey
by Beth Sampson - Friday, 1 October 2021, 7:27 PM
"Dewey argued that schools are a place of social change and reform. Can you provide an example of this you have witnessed in the classroom?"
This immediately brought my mind to a Dewey quote from our Creative Schools text for the class, “Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.” (Robinson & Aronica, 2016, p. 141). Never thought of myself as a midwife before, but I love that analogy! ;)
It's impossible for me to think about social change without thinking about my amazing kids in our "Rainbow Army" at my school, and the radical transformation I have seen in the last decade with respect to LGBTQ+ representation and acceptance not just in my school, but in my little community of 1800 people.
When I first moved to Cambridge Bay in 2008, I did not know of a single openly gay/trans/queer person in town. The vibe was incredibly homophobic, to the point where even teachers in my school would make homophobic jokes (in front of students even)! It felt very much like the little rural town I was raised in in Cape Breton, but even worse. Coming from 7 years living in Halifax for university, where there is a very visible and active queer community, I was shocked. I had my little rainbow ally sticker on my classroom door, and kids asked about it, but my explanations were usually just followed by "oh"... not a lot of discussion.
I had 3 students come out to me during my second year, and very quickly drew a connection to the astronomically high suicide rate (Affleck et al., 2020) in Nunavut and these terrified kids sharing with me what they were feeling, while knowing that things were even worse in smaller Nunavut communities than ours. But I had no idea what to do about it, or if I had any place even as a non-Inuit settler to use my voice to try and make change.
For the next few years, the number of kids coming out privately to me exploded, until one day a new kid from Ontario came out as trans to me and shared what a difficult time they were having living in a place that was so homophobic. "I wish we could do something to change it", they said. It hit me like a brick in the face. So many of my kids were letting me know our system was hurting them. It hurt me too (I was a closeted queer person at the time).
So this kid and I went to our admin and said "we have to do something... 1. What will you allow us to do? (i.e. what are the institutional restraints) and 2. Will you go to bat for us with this? (i.e. can you be the voice for this so it's coming from "the school" and not any 1 person?). Thankfully, we had an administrator who believed as Dewey did, which allowed us the safety to start working more actively to change the culture of our school (and community).
Why is this work needed?
Inuit Societal Values: grounded in connection, complicated by colonization
The documentary film, Two Soft Thing, Two Hard Things (Woods & Yerxa, 2016) does an incredible job of framing the issue of 2SLGBTQ+ issues in Nunavut, using a mix of personal stories and a historical lens that takes into account the effects colonization and religion had on Inuit expressions of gender and sexuality.
Please watch this documentary film in its entirely if you can.
(Runtime: 71 minutes)
If you are not able to do this, similar material is covered below in the embedded audio file through a dialogue between two 2SLGBTQ+ Nunavummiut (one Inuk, one settler), sharing their first hand experiences living in Nunavut as queer people.
Ideally, to gain an understanding of this issue and the connections is has to: Health Promoting Schools, the impact of the residential school system on Inuit identity, the suicide epidemic in Nunavut, and how we walk forward together to build healthier schools and communities, you should watch this documentary and listen to the conversation below.
What can we do?
healthier schools, healthier communities
How can we help our queer kids, friends, Elders, family members and coworkers... the people we love, feel safer in our schools and communities? If you are not a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ rainbow yourself, how can you act as an ally?
We can work together using the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit values of Tunnganarniq, Inuuqatigiitsiarniq, Piliriqatigiingniq and Pijitsirniq to guide us back stronger communities.
Not sure what that could look like? Not to worry! The kids of Kiilinik can help!
Sources of Vigour
EDUC 6101: Kids these days
The Assignment
Identify a `source of vigour` close to you and your community.
It may be a group, an NGO, an individual, an initiative, a business, a technology, government program, education initiative, policy or plan etc., that is addressing a sustainability issue (cultural, economic, social, environmental challenge) close to where you live.
I am excited to highlight work my students and I are doing to together in our school and community, and share resources you can use to start similar work in your own community if you feel so inclined.
I will finish this cross-curricular project by sharing a truly unexpected source of vigour that emerged from a chance conversation with a former student that led to a praxis project we both feel very excited about pursuing further, together!
Change Makers
Inuuqatigiitsiarniq in action: making the world brighter, one rainbow at a time
For years my students have been doing amazing work to help make our school and community more inclusive. Above you can see some students and I painting a rainbow on a building outside of our school in 2014.
That same year, students who couldn't agree on a single colour scheme for their grad decided to go with a rainbow theme as a compromise that would allow everyone to have their favourite colours - which included hot pink and gold as well! ;)
At the start of the 2020/2021 school year, a long time dream of mine came true when a couple of students asked if I could help them organize time and space for queer students, teachers and allies to just hang out and be together in a safe, supportive environment.
We made some posters, and the Rainbow Army was born.
Together our little group of several students and a few teachers decided we primarily wanted to hang out, chat, and maybe watch queer tv or movies together while we had lunch 1-2 times a week. Just a low key chance to build connection and community, and a safe place to ask questions, get support, and watch Drag race! ;)
Through our conversations about what we'd like our school to feel like, the kids developed a vision of covering the school in rainbows. I donated a chunk of cash, and we set to work! They made a list of things they thought people would like: flags, stickers, pins, posters, buttons - all kinds of things.
And pretty soon we had lots of students and teachers coming by to get things for their classrooms, lockers, phone cases, binders
(and even flags to take home)!
We started to add to the library I had already started of queer lit for kids and teens, and letting other teachers and students know we had a little library of books anyone could borrow if they wanted, or peruse in my room during rainbow army. The kids even asked me to get some children's books for different reading levels as well!
When I think back to what our school felt like in 2008, I could not be more proud of my kids over the years for constantly inspiring me to step up and get on their level!
Below you can see some examples of the ways we make our world brighter. If you would like to show your support as an ally of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, but you're not sure how, do not underestimate the power of all things rainbow! 🏳️🌈
It's part of the hidden curriculum you can easily incorporate into your classroom, wardrobe, correspondence with families, or school hallways that can go a long way to helping your queer students and colleagues feel safer with you.
Here's a link to most of the things we have purchased for Rainbow Army so far, in case you are interested in doing something similar at your school, but aren't sure where to start! (Big flags, stickers and pins are what I have re-purchased most often).
Dorky teacher aside: holy heck, the button maker is FUN! And hot tip, friend to friend? If you get some little magnets and super glue the kids can put their magnets in their lockers or on the fridge at home! ;)
How else can we help?
widening our circle of care
After watching Two Soft Things Two Hard Things in Rainbow Army, we had a lot of positive energy and optimism. We talked about what we could do to help make our community feel safer outside of our school walls. We discussed:
screening the movie at the community hall
having a BBQ or outside family fun day or hike in the summer
opening up our weekly lunch meeting to the community (not just staff and students)
doing online events and draws for rainbow-themed gear on our community Facebook group
asking our school to raise the rainbow flag for June (pride month)
We decided that these were all good ideas we would work on over time (and as COVID restrictions lift), but getting the flag put up seemed like a good place to start!
Unfortunately our school wasn't able to raise the pride flag, but undeterred, my student Onna got our Hamlet to raise the Pride flag for the first time ever!
And this video shows Spencer (another awesome former student of mine :), also raising the pride flag for us at the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS), where he works! 😊
Sharing our stories
Being 2SLGBTQ+ in Nunavut: A conversation with Beth Sampson & Aedan Corey
In the conversation that follows, recorded on December 3, 2021, we (Aedan and Beth) share our experiences living in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, as queer people.
Aedan is Inuk, currently feels most comfortable identifying as two-spirit, and uses they/them pronouns.
Beth is white, currently feels most comfortable identifying as queer, and uses she/her pronouns.
Aedan was born and raised in Cambridge Bay but currently lives in Ottawa, where they are attending university. Aedan is an artist, author, and a traditional Inuit tattoo artist. Beth is a settler originally from Nova Scotia who moved to Cambridge Bay in 2008. Beth has been a math and science teacher for grades 10-12 at the high school for the last 13 years.
A note from Beth:
Aedan and I have known one another for a long time; first as student and teacher, and now as friends. This recording is the first time either of us had done this type of taped conversation, and it was a process we felt our way through together. This is also the first time either of us has shared our experiences as queer Nunavummiut in quite this way; although we are both very open about our identities (and we each do advocacy work in our own ways), I know I only felt the safety to share in this way so publicly/vulnerably/in such depth because I was doing this with Aedan.
I believe sharing our stories is powerful, and that when we do it together, we are building something more sustainable than we ever could on our own; we are building community. Quana for being in community with us. ❤️ 🏳️🌈
References
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