THE EARTH CHARTERAnna Johnson and Ira Udow

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Principle 12. Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health, and spiritual well-being, with special attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.

Principle 9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental

Principle 10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner

Earth Charter Principlesa. Eliminate discrimination in all its forms, such as that based on race, color, sex,

sexual orientation, religion, language, and national, ethnic or social origin.b. Affirm the right of indigenous peoples to their spirituality, knowledge, lands

and resources and to their related practice of sustainable livelihoods. c. Honor and support the young people of our communities, enabling them to

fulfill their essential role in creating sustainable societies. d. Protect and restore outstanding places of cultural and spiritual significance.

Context• UNESCO Associated Schools Network;• International Research Institute in Sustainability; • Provincial Priorities, Curriculum and ESD policies; • Winnipeg School Division and South District Priorities and• School priorities:

– Strengthen and Enhance Education for Sustainable Development initiatives that address local and global environment, social and economic issues.

– Strengthen and Enhance Aboriginal Education

UNESCO ASSOCIATED SCHOOLS NETWORK• Established by the United Nations in 1953, the UNESCO Associated Schools Network

includes 16+ schools in Manitoba since 2002 and almost 7,800 member schools and institutions in 175 countries - Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Middle East, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and the U.S. representing differing cultural, economic and social systems, at various stages of development, and in rural and urban areas.

• The network provides a forum for the promotion of UNESCO ideals such as global citizenship, social justice, student leadership, democracy, human rights, solidarity and mutual understanding .

• It is about establishing a culture of peace through curricular and extra-curricular projects related to:– World Concerns and the role of the UN– Human rights, democracy– Intercultural learning– Environmental issues

• The UNESCO International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century advocated the strengthening of four main pillars of learning:– learning to know;– learning to do;– learning to be; and– learning to live together

International Research Institute in Sustainability University of Gloucestershire

In September 2011, the Project “Linking Culture, Education and Sustainability:

Good Practices and Experiences from Around the World” was established by

UNESCO as a contribution to the UN Decade in Education for Sustainable

Development.

The Project has sought to investigate what constitutes best practice in the areas of

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and culture.

A Project website has been developed to showcase a wide range of projects, from

across the globe, which are rich in detail and innovative in terms of how they have

integrated culture components in ESD.

The Project website can be viewed at: http://insight.glos.ac.uk/SUSTAINABILITY/UNESCOCULTURE/.

An expert Review of Processes and LearningProf. Daniella Tilbury (University of Gloucestershire, United Kingdom) is the author of this publication commissioned by UNESCO 2011.

• Key pedagogical processes underpinning ESD frameworks and practices:

– processes of collaboration and dialogue (multi-stakeholder and intercultural dialogue);

– processes which engage the ‘whole system’;

– processes which stimulate innovation within curricula and teaching and learning experiences

– processes of active and participatory learning

• Often learning is interpreted as the gaining of knowledge, values and theories related to sustainable

development but ESD learning also refers to:

– learning to ask critical questions;

– learning to clarify one’s own values;

– learning to envision more positive and sustainable futures;

– learning to think systemically;

– learning to respond through applied learning;

– learning to explore the dialectic between tradition and innovation.

Integrating Cultural Diversity within the Elementary Classroom for a Sustainable Future

• A partnership – Al Hijra Islamic School, St Emile Catholic School, First Nations Niji Mahkwa School and English/Hebrew Bilingual Brock Corydon School

• Provide a rich learning context enabling Gr. 5 and 6 students and teachers to:

– engage in intercultural dialogues,

– understand different cultures and faiths,

– interact with other children and teachers from other cultures in Canada, and

– learn about how sustainable development issues are addressed by different cultural communities.

• Students are encouraged:

– to critically examine their own cultural traditions, values and beliefs;

– to become aware of the cultural and religious tensions and conflicts that exist in their community and in other countries; and,

– to collaborate with children from different backgrounds in dialogue and in joint ventures so as to envision a sustainable peaceful coexistence.

ESD LEARNING OBJECTIVES RELATED TO CULTURAL DIVERSITY (IRIS)

• Learning to appreciate cultural differences and expand one’s cultural horizon (i.e., developing a deeper understanding of the different cultures and cross-cultural dynamics that exist in a territory and promote those as a positive learning tool).

• Learning to develop human and creative capacity (i.e., human capacity developed in areas such as critical thinking, futures thinking, acting with local to global responsibility, participating in democratic decision-making, understanding different worldviews, challenging assumptions, freedom of expressions).

• Learning to recognize and work with culturally specific worldviews (i.e., gathering stakeholders with different views of nature and society to learn together and construct a common future).

• Learning to interact through intercultural engagement (i.e., empowering people to learn and take action through partnerships).

• Learning to understand the significance of the past for a sustainable future (i.e., engaging in heritage safeguarding, apply multiple perspectives to history teaching and learning).

• Learning as a journey for inner growth (i.e. develop capacity for self-reflexivity, non-violence and gain understanding of one’s own identity).

CULTURE STAKEHOLDERS

The keynote speakers:• Minister of Education, • a children’s songwriter and entertainer, • a young Metis fiddler, • an Aboriginal Elder and Cultural Advisor, • an Aboriginal School Division Consultant,• a Muslim businessman• a Catholic Deacon who writes Aboriginal children’s books.

Others:• The pipe ceremonies are led by a female Elder who explains the ceremony. • The clerics in each of the houses of worship talk with the students and answer their

questions.• The Regional Coordinator for the Canadian Centre for Diversity is directly involved in

planning and implementing the field trips and workshops. • Grade 5 and 6 teachers and their administrators came together for professional dialogue • Guest speakers representing various cultural groups are invited into classrooms for

presentations and opportunities for interaction, questions and answers.

Project Phases and Activities

• September – June – Classroom teachers integrate ESD within their curricular activities

engaging students in exploring the meaning of sustainable development and the local and global issues related to unsustainable development.

– Students research and critically analyze various texts and media sources (newspaper, internet, TV, radio, literature, etc).

– Students discuss and journal what they know, understand and what more they want to know about:• the cultural groups represented in the 5 schools, • the problems that exist locally and globally that hinder and pose

obstacles to sustainable development• May

– Program Coordinator from the Canadian Centre for Diversity, meets with each Grade 5 class from the 5 schools.

Project Phases and Activities

• June - Grade 5 Cultural Diversity Workshop: – Keynote speaker from the First Nations, Muslim, Jewish or Catholic Community – Group discussion and activities - students divided into heterogeneous groups :

• Get to know each other - students share a personal item they brought explaining why it is important to them and how it represents who they are.

• Look at what makes up our identity (language, religion, skin colour, hobbies,) and identify feelings related to inclusion and exclusion

• Explore feelings and attitudes people have about their own identity and of others drawing out the positive (acceptance) and the negative (racism, prejudice)

• Time for reflective writing in their journals – will include answering some of their wonderings they had recorded in the KWL activity.

– Engage in a joint art (banner) and sport (soccer) activity – The next day, students in their respective classes,

• continue their written reflections and share their thoughts in group and class discussion

• choose a group of student representatives who will meet the following year with representatives from each of the 5 schools to decide on and develop a joint initiative related to sustainable development.

Project Phases and Activities

• September - Grade 6 student representatives meet to develop a joint sustainable development project and report back to their respective classrooms. These students meet several more times during the school year to continue their plans with input from their classmates.

• October - Program Coordinator from the Canadian Centre for Diversity visits each Grade 6 class to discuss the up-coming field trips, and to explore students’ understanding of the cultural groups they will be visiting.

• November - Grade 6 students from the 4 schools attend a morning pipe ceremony at Niji Mahkwa to learn about this spiritual exercise.

• December,- Grade 6 students from all 5 schools visit a Mosque, a Church and Synagogue where each of the clerics at these houses of worship explain aspects of their religions and customs. Students record what they are learning and their reflections which they will share back in their classrooms.

Project Phases and Activities

• Grade 6 Classroom discussions and activities will continue to explore the relationship between cultural diversity and sustainable development within their own communities and within the context of their city, country and in other countries.

• Each school is building up the Grade 6 classroom library with similar picture books and novels related to the topic of cultural diversity which the students read, discuss and reflect on both at school and at home.

• Students are given home assignments that encourage family dialogue related to cultural diversity and sustainability issues.

• Throughout the year, students are given the opportunity to creatively express their understanding of cultural diversity through the arts such as creating hallway murals, learning the songs and dances of each others cultures.

• Guest speakers representing various cultural groups are invited into classrooms for presentations and opportunities for interaction, questions and answers.

Keynote Speaker

Getting to know each other

Multi-cultural Groups

Workshop Activity

Eating Lunch Together

Creating an Art Banner

Relationships have been Formed

SUCCESSES• These cultural diversity events created a tangible, concrete

experience for the students enabling them to bring meaning to the abstract lessons that take place in the classrooms.

• The intercultural dialogue that took place amongst the students, the physical presence in the houses of worship, the critical exploration of current cultural issues, the opportunity to question and find answers to their wonderings enabled the students to apply their learning and collaboratively plan for a positive future.

• The students being paired up with a student from another school encouraged a human exploration that would not have taken place otherwise.

• Muslims, Jews, First Nations and Christians travelling throughout the city together visiting the houses of worship, eating lunch together, creating art and playing games – what better way to break down cultural barriers and misconceptions.

SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES

• The teachers and administrators clearly value, on a personal and professional level, cultural diversity education for a sustainable future.

• The positive impact it has made on the school community. Students in younger grades look forward to participating in these annual events; other teachers are interested in incorporating intercultural activities within their unit planning, for example, Grade 3 and 4 teachers in one school have connected with their counterparts at the First Nations school to visit and engage their students in joint events.

• Parents of the students and Parent Advisory Councils have supported these events and have become more aware of the learning taking place.

• The challenge is to find the balance within the school day to address the multitude of expected curricular learning outcomes and to give the appropriate attention to promoting cultural rights and understanding, reinforcing intercultural competencies and intercultural dialogue.

• Distance between schools is a challenge in getting students together as well as for teachers to come together to plan.

• Niji Mahkwa School has its challenges…

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE

9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative– Guarantee the right to potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil,

shelter, and safe sanitation, allocating the national and international resources required.

– Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.

– Recognize the ignored, protect the vulnerable, serve those who suffer, and enable them to develop their capacities and to pursue their aspirations.

10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner.– Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations. – Enhance the intellectual, financial, technical, and social resources of developing

nations, and relieve them of onerous international debt.– Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and

progressive labor standards. – Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act

transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.

YORK LANDING• York Factory

– Swampy Cree– Traditional way of life

• York Landing– Relocation – one of 5 reserves– Community supported by INAC– George Saunders Memorial School– Challenges

• Loss of language, traditional and cultural ways of life• Psychological impact of Residential Schools – alcohol, drug abuse, family

dysfunction• Physical Isolation –cost of living and transportation; turnover in teaching

staff• Health Issues – lack of healthy food, diabetes,

– Actions towards stability and provision of basic needs• School breakfast program • Community garden and composting programs• Recycling program (Thompson) – land fill, plastic

Discussion

• What Cultural Diversity programs and Intercultural Dialogue are taking place in classrooms and schools?

• To what extent is the Aboriginal perspective integrated in classrooms programs?

• How to introduce cultural diversity education within a single cultural school i.e. York Landing?

• What can York Landing and Winnipeg Schools offer each other and is this possible?

• What is the understanding of students of the situation in Northern Manitoban Reserves?

• Should issues of poverty in our own province take precedence over world poverty issues?