DAY 1 ~ Shifting Perspectives

I arrived in Canada the year known in Victoria as "The year of the blizzard" - 1996. My encounter with snow was unique as I had never seen that much snow in my life. I learned to make snow angels and learned how not to make snow people..... I was gathering snow instead of rolling it. When one is used to desert and arid zones, like me who was born in Northern México, making snow figures was an ordeal... 

There was much more I learned in those first months but one of the events that will forever stay with me is when in late October, I watched people wear a poppy on their lapels, and some acquaintances talked about their school aged children reciting "In Flanders Fields" for the school Assembly. I had no knowledge or experience with the celebration of Remembrance Day given that Mexico barely participated in the World Wars and thus, we don't have day of remembrance. Being the curious learner that I am, I decided to go downtown and witness the ceremonies. 

I learned about honoring the unknown soldier; and I witnessed the reverence people hold for their citizens, the veterans, and their country, which I had yet to call my own. I made it a responsibility to go downtown every year to pay respect to the moral responsibilities, to the fallen, and to the histories and the stories behind the celebration. 
In all these years, I have never heard anyone say things like: "Oh, but this is history, why don't people get over this". Or "Oh , here we are with the poppy again...." or "Why can't the veterans just move on? That happened more than 50 years ago". I could have asked this questions and justify myself by declaring ignorance. But I also think about how my ignorance could have been interpreted had I asked in a certain tone or with a particular intention because I did not know....

What would have given me the right to ask those questions or to make such comments?, Would I have found someone to teach me?, Would I have unknowingly offended people?

                                            The motto of Remembrance Day is "Lest We Forget". 

Would we one day want to not  remember?, Would we want to 'just move on'?, Don't we have a duty to pass on these histories and occurrences to the young generations?

Why then, I wonder, do we still hear people say about Residential schools or the history of the Sixties Scoop or about other historical injustices in this country: " Why don't people just move on? or "That happened so many years ago"....

What is different amongst these histories?; As feminist and social justice scholar Judith Butler would invite us to consider: " Why do we mourn some lives and not others"? 

How does one find balance between feeling upset at disrespectful comments and being accepting of other people's ignorance?

This first day, I invite us to consider these and other questions that might emerge for you from reflecting on my story, and perhaps on your own stories about challenging perspectives. What happens when we consider things from a different side?, Can we actually 'walk in someone else's shoes'? 

ACTIVITY:

The reading by Özlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo offers us principles to start working towards equity and equality through  challenging the common guidelines in social justice education. Read the piece and work on this activity:

• Focus on 4 principles/ideas that resonate with you (i.e., "Everyone’s perspective is not equally valid when some are uninformed, unexamined, or uphold existing power inequities"; p. 4).
• Think about how you might deconstruct or use the statement, articulate it, reflect on it, and/or engage your students to think about it. 
• Keep a record of your ideas in a particular format (i.e., voice recording, scribble, etc.)
• Choose one idea to share via the forum below entitled "My Thoughts- Day 1".

         As a reflection for the day, I invite your to consider how life is all about Perspective....