Have you ever witnessed a racist or discriminatory incident but didn’t know what to say or do and felt conflicted and regretful about not responding? This session will help students develop their “response-ability” or readiness to respond to such incidents. Participants will engage in some experiential learning and empathy building activities to better understand the theoretical underpinnings of prejudice, discrimination and oppression, with an emphasis on racism.
The session will introduce a wide range of verbal and behavioural responses when someone is being victimized by an offensive and disrespectful remark or inequitable treatment. Participants will learn to shift from passive bystanders to active witnesses and will feel empowered to respond to racism and discrimination on an individual basis.
The goal is to build awareness of the various forms of discrimination and to empower one to respond to discriminatory remarks and social situations on an individual basis. Together, we can break the silence and make an ethical commitment to collectively fight prejudice, discrimination and oppression of any form in society.
Angela has been teaching at the Vancouver Board of Education for 20 years. She held the district position of Anti-racism and Diversity Consultant position for 7 years, implementing Anti-racism and Anti-oppression education in K-12 classrooms. She was seconded as a Faculty Associate in the Professional Development Program at SFU to mentor student teachers in the Indigenous Perspectives Module. She is currently a District Mentoring Support Teacher mentoring K-12 early career teachers in the Vancouver school district. Angela also works as an Education Consultant in the areas of Anti-racism/Anti-oppression education, Diversity awareness and Social Justice in Metro Vancouver school communities and community-based organizations across BC. She holds an undergraduate degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of British Columbia and a Master’s degree in Diversity in Curriculum and Instruction from Simon Fraser University.
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