Oodenawi Public School Visit

After spending the first day understanding the Toronto District School Board and collecting basic information on the education system in Canada, it was now time for us to visit our first school. Waking up early, we headed 45 minutes south of Toronto to the Halton School District. As an educator, seeing a different school is an exciting moment because this is often one of the best types of professional development; watching others in action and seeing the successes happening at other institutions. My group was assigned to visit the Oodenawi Public School located in Oakville, Ontario. Oodenawi is an elementary school that hosts Kindergarten through Grade 8 and teaches just under 1,100 students.

We were greeted by Matthew Reid, a Grade 5 virtual teacher at the school and began our visit in the principal’s office. We were introduced to the principal and the assistant principals of the school and went through the beginning of the school day with them, which was a land acknowledgment announcement followed by the playing of the Canadian National Anthem. This is done every morning before students start their school day along with some student-led announcements for the community. Matthew was kind enough to introduce us to some of the basic facts about the school including its ethnic and language makeup. Hardly any students at the school are recorded as having English as their mother tongue language and because of this, there is a very strong Multi-lingual Language (MLL) program at the school. We were also told that the learning focus going on in the building is inquiry-based, which there was evidence of this around the school from their classroom setups, to their classroom displays, and to the way students answered our questions.

Matthew along with the Principal, Gabriela Echeverria also took us into a deeper dialogue speaking on the equity and inclusion work being done for the Indigenous community in Canada. The name of the school Oodenawi is a reference to the Ojibwe term “community,” which is the language spoken by the Mississaugas tribe, who had once lived on the lands of the school. Part of the work for reconciliation done by the school and the school district is to work alongside a treaty partner and continue work towards forming a relationship. They have also been given permission to work with an Elder from the treaty community who can help guide them in their inclusion practices at their school. This work is done in part with the government Truth and Reconciliation Commission, for more information regarding this commission please see the link here. Part of this work is that all educators were called to teach the truth about Indigenous people. Gabriela gave us the example of something simple, such as the recognition of lands on a map and the impact that can have. She also said that one of the big goals for Oodenawi was to teach respect for the land.

Now that school was in session, Matthew took us on a school visit to see different classrooms and the teachers who were we were visiting had been kind enough to put together videos to us introducing their programs. We started in the main hallway where we saw a display case of some of the artifacts discovered when excavating the land to build the school. We also saw displayed the districts Discriminatory and Harmful Language Protocol, which works to protects students at school. With all of the equity and inclusion work being done in my own school, I was especially curious about this protocol.

Walking around the school, it was clear that student learning was being displayed everywhere you went. Brightly colored bulletin boards, displays of student art, and even some posters discussing social actions were all over the school. Matthew was able to take us to see a variety of classrooms but first started off with some of the school’s youngest, a Kindergarten class. When we entered into the class, the students were working on various center activities. Some were on iPads, some playing with legos, a few students on a light-box, and some working with their teachers on letters and numbers. The students were friendly but also very engaged in their activities so not wanting to talk too much and instead focus on their own play. The classroom was neat, organized, and colorful and the two teachers had clearly taken a great deal of care in setting up their classroom space for these little ones. Kindergarten in the Canadian school system is set up for the 3 to 4 year olds, so these are some of the youngest students in this school who are below the compulsory attendance age - but this room is still full and a buzz of many students.

Next, we were taken to visit a Life Skills class, which is a set of classrooms designed for students who in the Special Education program at the school. Lead by one lead teacher, we walked into a room that held almost a full sized kitchen with a washer and dryer. In her introductory video she had explained that the main part of her work was creating learning experiences designed with teaching students independent skills that they could also use in life. They learned how to cook, how to wash their own clothing, and had individualized plans given to each student. When we were there a set of physical therapists were in the room also checking on a child’s equipment - so we didn’t wander too much in fear of disrupting the work that was being done at the time. As a private school educator, this type of student does not attend my school and even though I have no professional connection to it - I can still see the massive amount of impact that a program like this can have one a child and I am so happy that we were given a chance to see this type of program in a Canadian school.

Due to the fact that two of us were music educators, Matthew had also planned to take us to the school’s music classes where we met a group of 8th graders working on a fun little end of year parody project. The music room itself was full of instruments from one side to the other with a small practice room in the back and instrument lockers everywhere. It is very clear that this is a growing program and the teacher had mentioned the inclusion of a band program - but no other ensemble programs at this point in time. Instrumental Music Education (ensemble based learning) is from what I have learned traveling around a very American thing - whereas in other cultures, music education mainly focuses on the “general,” music. Another point that was made during our visit was that their music teacher had a music background, which I found to be a curious thing to mention, and required some followup questioning from me afterwards to dig up more information about that statement.

Finally, we made our way to our final stop on the tour, a bustling Grade 4 classroom. I remember from my elementary school days that Grade 4 and 5 students typically are the biggest “share-er’s” when it comes to meeting strangers, and this group was no exception. We walked into a small portable classroom that was covered head-to-toe in immaculate decorations. Every inch of spare wall space had been taken up with student work, encouragement posters, or other teaching materials that were useful to the students. This teacher had clearly gone above and beyond to create a space that was welcoming and inviting for her students. With all of their excited energy the students had been working on a reflective activity for the school year and had been asked to take it out and to talk us through it. The activity was about their strengths and their own personal perceived growth throughout the year and their answers were very insightful. A student told us about how her teacher was her role model this year and taught her to step out of her comfort zone and make new friends. Another student told us about how when she first came she was new from America but she had learned so much about her new school quickly and felt like she was adaptable. These kids were gushing with pride as they walked us through their work and they even boasted that we should go and find them on Twitter because they are famous: @msmcrae

We stopped and said hello to the teacher and asked her about her school year with the students and she said how kind this group had been with her and that she was going to miss them at the end fo the year. Then as a surprise, the teacher stood up, got their attention, and said that it was time for the wheel spin - and gave each of us a chance to spin a little wheel in the corner of the room for a chance for the whole class to win Jolly Ranchers. The students all sitting at their desks chanted loudly every time the wheel spun and luckily one of us almost hit the mark - so as any teacher would she caved and gave them the Jolly Ranchers anyways. Letting them get to lunch, and not wanting them to become too unruly we said our goodbyes and headed back into the main building for our next session with the District Leader.

The final part of our time at Oodenawi would include a presentation about the Halton School District, given to us by Michelle Lemaire - a System Principal at the Halton School Board Welcome Center. Having taught and moved up within this school district, it was very easy to see her passion for this area of Ontario. She discussed with us details concerning the number of students serviced in the district, the different types of High Schools in the area, and just also wanted to chat with us! She also has had experiences working abroad, so that was another way that we could connect to her as a global educator.

Her role in the school district is actually very interesting as well - which is to help place students who are coming in new to Canada in the proper type of school. The work with her team includes assessments in a child’s studies and is very student centered. She works with newcomer and refugee families and helps to provide support to people who are transitioning into their Canadian lives. I would imagine having a welcome center of this type of help work with families and place students appropriately perhaps has a larger impact on student success. I would be curious to see more data on this type of program and wonder why more places in America don’t offer these types of services to new families.