Creating an Inclusive Future within our Centres and Beyond
At our centres, our educators and wee ones are always learning something new and expanding their knowledge on diverse topics. From religious and cultural holidays to notable key dates, there are endless discussions to be had in and outside of our centres. During the month of June, our team and children in our care are celebrating various important community holidays that are grounded in one very valuable word; inclusion.
In honour of National Accessibility Week (May 29 - June 4), Pride Month, National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21), we’ve leaned into our value of intention to showcase and share what inclusion means to us and why we believe instilling the action of inclusion within our centres is not only a choice, but our responsibility.
Read on to learn how we educate and celebrate with our team and children about the various community holidays this June and beyond, and how you too can contribute to creating a more accepting and inclusive future for all.
National Accessibility Week
Following this year’s National Accessibility Week’s theme ‘Inclusion from the start’, as a young organization we are continuously challenging ourselves to become a better, more accessible and inclusive workplace. Together, we strive to create an environment that is shaped around accessibility and creating equal opportunity for all. This involves challenging our beliefs and each other to continuously evolve our policies and practices so that we begin to remove barriers that we may have not seen before.
Over the years we’ve partnered with Mount Royal University’s Transitional Vocational Program which provides a variety of post-secondary programs and employment placements to adults with developmental exceptionalities. With continuous development, evaluation and change, this program has supported students to find and maintain competitive employment. We are honoured to be a part of this program and look forward to developing our relationship with MRU and other accessibility programs and initiatives in the future.
Pride Month
At the heart of what we do, we continuously strive to increase our understanding of all communities, cultures and backgrounds to make our centres a collective of stronger, more compassionate and effective learners and leaders. In honour of Pride Month and Pride Day on June 24th, 2022, our team is celebrating by deepening our partnership with Skipping Stone, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting trans and gender diverse youth, adults and families with comprehensive and low barrier access to the support they need and deserve. Since working with Skipping Stone, our team has participated in their Gender Diversity Training that has provided us with the knowledge to begin age-appropriate conversations around gender identity with our wee ones.
Gender roles typically form between the ages of two to three years old and grow into understanding gender identity as early as age four. Exploring gender roles, identity, norms and expression is a natural process of human development; therefore, we must provide the knowledge and understanding around gender, so they too have guidance while they're experiencing the process.
Luckily, with the work of Skipping Stone, they are creating more inclusive spaces and working towards normalizing gender diversity through education to children, families and schools!
All in all, the ultimate goal is to support and help those comfortably express and take action to live more authentically to them no matter the societal norms. In working towards this, here are five ways to support youth living a life more aligned with themselves:
Validate, normalize and celebrate our differences
Identify their needs and goals
Explore available options and share resources
Show up and play a personal role in supporting them
Validate them - “I see you.”
National Indigenous History Month
During the month of June, we are standing in solidarity with Indigenous peoples in Canada and living into our commitment towards truth and reconciliation within our community. As settlers, we believe it is our responsibility to educate ourselves and the children in our care to work towards restoration, repair and growth of the relationship between Indigenous and all peoples in Canada.
At our centres, we continue to provide educational opportunities for our team to deepen their understanding of our collective shared history. By building a foundation of knowledge with our educators, they then can share age-appropriate learning experiences with the little ones in their care. One of the ways in which we support our children's learning is through books, which become a getaway to connecting children to diverse narratives and authors. When we focus on the emotions and feelings within stories it forms a path that evokes empathy and understanding when reflecting upon their own human experiences. From there, we expand on the book discussion by creating appropriate inquiry activities that honour Indigenous history, culture and ways of learning.
While we recognize, acknowledge and celebrate the important contributions Indigenous Peoples have made and continue to make to Canada, there is still much work to be done. As an early education centre that loves and cares for our youngest citizens, we acknowledge that to build a brighter, more accepting future for all, we must invest our minds, hearts, and hands to restore, repair, and grow the relationship between Indigenous and Indigenous all peoples in Canada.
Although our actions may seem small, we trust that the steps we take today will impact our future tomorrow.
Ultimately, inclusion is intentional. It is about identifying and removing barriers, and creating a space where everyone has a voice that is then heard. At our centres and beyond, we work towards building an environment where everyone has equal opportunity, free of judgement and filled with belonging. From our hearts to yours, we encourage you to keep learning, sharing and celebrating all peoples and their communities, cultures and backgrounds to create an accepting and inclusive place for all.
