Allies in Teaching Institutions

Description

The past three years have brought North Americans a new round of awakening to issues of inequity. The pandemic highlighted the social determinants of health, the death of George Floyd triggered the Black Lives Matter movement and ground penetrating radar began to prove the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calculation that at least 6000 Indigenous children died in Residential Schools. Canadian nurses had their own wake up call when the family of Atikamekw mother of seven Joyce Echaquan released a recording of a nurse subjecting her to racial slurs as she died. These events have renewed the sense of urgency for those who are working at moving our institutions and professions toward equity.

Most successful equity movements are led by people who face a particular form of oppression directly supported by allies, who do not experience that form of oppression themselves, but are ready to use their privilege and position to move institutions towards equity. This course is about becoming an ally in an institutional teaching setting: in the classroom, in supervision settings, among colleagues and in leadership positions.

Dates

  • October 19, 2023, 1-3 pm EDT (10am-12 noon PDT, 11am-1pm MDT, 12 noon-2pm CDT, 2-4pm ADT)
  • October 26, 2023, 1-3 pm EDT (10am-12 noon PDT, 11am-1pm MDT, 12 noon-2pm CDT, 2-4pm ADT)
  • November 2, 2023, 1-3 pm EDT (10am-12 noon PDT, 11am-1pm MDT, 12 noon-2pm CDT, 2-4pm ADT)

Requirements

Participants will:

  • Complete a preparation assignment for each of three sessions (reading and 2-3 journal questions)
  • Take part in three live course webinars, including a discussion in a small group of people with similar learning goals followed by a presentation of key points and open discussion
  • Add at least two entries to the class annotated collection of reading and resources

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will have developed the following competencies:

  1. An understanding of allies, including the concepts required to become an effective ally, the complexity of our identities as both oppressor and oppressed, the depth of emotion that comes from our histories of oppression and current challenges to the concept of allies;
  2. An evaluation of their own past and potential roles as an ally in the classroom, supervision settings, among colleagues or in a leadership position;
  3. Knowledge of some current methods and resources for moving toward equity in the classroom, in supervision settings, among colleagues or in a leadership position;
  4. A plan for next steps in their ally journey.

Cost

$275 CAD for members
$300 CAD for non-members

Required textbook

Bishop, A. (2015) Becoming an ally: Breaking the cycle of oppression in people (3rd Ed.). Halifax
NS: Fernwood.

Instructor

Anne Bishop

Anne Bishop has been a social justice activist for five decades. For just as long, she has made her living doing adult education, group facilitation, research, writing and editing with a particular love for teaching equity and community leadership. Most of her work has been on a freelance basis except for three years leading the international development education program for Canadian University Services Overseas, eleven years developing and teaching community leadership programs for Dalhousie University’s Henson College of Continuing Education and six years creating and teaching the mandatory diversity and employment equity course for Nova Scotia Provincial Government employees. In the health field, she has led anti-racism and ally workshops for the Nova Scotia Central Health Board, the Nova Scotia Health Authority, Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, brought an ally perspective to a racism panel for the Canadian Federation of Mental Health Nurses and was part of the team that wrote the stigma section of the Canadian Nurses’ Association course on legalized cannabis. She has co-authored four books on adult education, one on the Canadian food system, and is the author of two books about allies, Becoming an Ally: Breaking the Cycle of Oppression in People (1994, 2002, 2015) and Beyond Token Change: Breaking the Cycle of Oppression in Institutions (2005). Her Henson College certificate course in community development was published as Grassroots Leaders Building Skills: A Course in Community Leadership. In 2019, she published her first novel, Under the Bridge.  All of her books are listed on her website, annebishop.ca. Anne and her partner recently retired from their small farm where they raised sheep, chickens, veggies, berries and tree fruit. She is passionate about spinning and knitting wool.

Policies

Cancellations

  • Registrations that are cancelled up to one week before the start of the course will be refunded minus a $50 administrative fee.
  • Registrations that are cancelled with less than one week’s notice will not be refunded, though the participant will have the option to defer the cost of the course to apply to another CNEI/CASN course.
  • There will be no refunds issued once the course begins.
  • CASN reserves the right to cancel this course if it does not meet minimal group requirements.

Course Content

  • Participants are responsible for access to any course materials, including articles and textbooks.
  • There will be no make-up assignments accepted.
  • Assignments will not be re-marked.
  • Late submissions will not be accepted, unless under exceptional circumstances.

Please see our complete academic policies online at cnei-icie.casn.ca/about/cnei-policies

Language notice

This course is available in English only.

Contact

If you have any questions or would like more information about the course, please contact Jodie Lachance, Nurse Residency Coordinator at education@casn.ca.