A PUBLICATION OF THE ALBERTA COUNCIL FOR GLOBAL COOPERATION
V O L U M E
WINTER 2014
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Educator Profile: Christina Kuzyk Christina Kuzyk is a music teacher at Ben Calf Robe – St. Clare School in Edmonton, AB, where she works with students from First Nations communities. Christina has always had a strong passion for learning about and encouraging global citizenship. During her time at MacEwan University, she was an active participant in the Walk for Darfur as well as part of the Project HOPE International Development brigade, which travelled to Nicaragua to work with an Indigenous community in the Bosawas Biosphere. Christina is also presently a member of Ceiba Association, a local nonprofit organization in Edmonton dedicated to educating and empowering students on the concept of global citizenship. All of these experiences have not only influenced Christina’s teaching method but also the way that she lives her every day life. Throughout her teaching experience, Christina has found that students are
drawn to the idea of global citizenship and are interested in learning about others. They feel an inherent connection and curiosity to others, regardless of skin color or language. Students want to learn about others and make sure that the world is a safe and caring place for all. She believes the best way to encourage students’ interest and motivation towards global citizenship is to make meaningful connections. In her classroom, global citizenship is an active topic. Students have had opportunities to participate in various activities that foster that sense of connection, including creating and painting a large mural showcasing Aboriginal culture while working with a mural artist from Nicaragua and writing and receiving letters from students in the Indigenous community of San Andres in the Bosawas Biosphere in Nicaragua. Christina frequently brings guests to
her classroom to share stories of their experiences abroad and working across cultures with her students. Some of the most impactful activities have been in the everyday. Christina believes that educators need to lead by example – the only way you can really make change is by first changing yourself. Students ask questions, crave experience, storytelling and discussion. They have many questions about issues that don’t make sense to them and don’t seem alright, and the most important thing a teacher can do is to allow students to share their voices. When a child feels that they can share their concerns, thoughts, and feelings about an issue it allows them to open up to new ideas and to take on a new perspective. Oftentimes students have the passion; they simply need the confidence, encouragement, and support of another to feel empowered to share their voice. For many of her students, Christina is that source of support and encouragement.
International Development Week - Youth Day ACGC invites you to register your class for Youth Day 2014 for FREE! Scheduled for Thursday, January 30th, 2014 in conjunction with the University of Alberta’s International Week, Youth Day is an opportunity for Grade 10 -12 students to step into a post-secondary environment and, with facilitation by experts in the field, address issues that are both immediate and controversial. Workshops and activities are designed to be meaningful and interactive and to provide students with a forum for constructive dialogue about important social justice issues.
The goals of Youth Day include exposing youth to basic and important international development concepts, challenging youth in their perceptions of international development, reinforcing youth social networks by meeting new people, and empowering youth to take action and work towards their own vision of social change. Registration is free and lunch is provide. For more information, or to register your class click here or visit the ACGC website at www.acgc.ca
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An Interview with Ross Anderson
ACGC Change Your World Peru participant Ross Anderson was recently interviewed by Moon Publications, a company that publishes books on international travel opportunities. He shared some insights about his experience with ACGC and Sombrilla in Peru in July 2012. Below is an excerpt from his interview about his stay in a community called Vicos, where the tour spent time with families, organized by an organization called the Respons Sustainable Tourism Centre (www.respons.org) What was a highlight of the experience? As part of our homestay in Vicos
with Respons, we helped build stoves with our host families. In North America, there is a disconnect between the products we use every day and the actual creation of those products. The time, effort, and knowledge that goes into building a stove, especially with the materials at hand, is one that cannot be understated. Also, in Vicos, I noticed the lack of lighting and electricity—there was one single light bulb, and it was in the kitchen. The positive effect of this one light bulb was enormous: allowing a family to accomplish meaningful tasks after dark is a powerful impact. What did you take away from the experience? In Vicos, I realized that culture and tradition are things that are extremely precious and valuable but also easi-
The JHC is proud to announce the successful launch of our newest education program, Free2BeYOUth! In partnership with (IN)spired, this youth inclusion initiative aims to inspire marginalized youth and their peers to spearhead meaningful change in their schools and broader communities. As these junior and senior high school youth learn about the issues faced by specific marginalized student groups (such as youth with disabilities, LGBTQ youth, aboriginal youth, and immigrants and refugees), students collectively work towards the understanding and appreciation of each and every individual. As a way of eliminating barriers that keep students from experiencing inclusion, JHC and (IN)spired will provide resources and deliver workshops to F2BY clubs in schools across the province to ensure that awareness, discussion, and action on critical issues are addressed so that we can all progress towards becoming a more inclusive society.
ly lost. It forced me to think about what is happening in my own country, and about why culture is important: It reminds us where we come from and who we are. It brings us together, makes us family, and gives us purpose as a community. Was there a downside to your experience? Every part of the experience in Vicos was valuable - the good and the bad. Nothing is without a negative, but when it is seen as an experience to learn from, there is no real negative. For the full interview, and more information about organizations and projects in Latin America, check out Moon Volunteer Vacations in Latin America by Amy E. Robertson (available on Amazon.ca)
JHC is also proud to be a certified facilitator of UNICEF Canada's Rights Respecting School (RRS) initiative! As a school-wide approach, RRS encourages schools to use the United Nations on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as a tool to inform school policy, practice, and philosophy. As a RRS lead agency, JHC is dedicated to helping schools become more respectful and peaceful learning environments for students and adults through the implementation of the CRC. The RRS initiative has been proven to complement existing school policies and practices as it has simultaneously helped schools achieve higher rates of student achievement, lower absenteeism, and higher rates of teacher satisfaction. JHC is dedicated to making Alberta a leading province in promoting student development and engagement through a rights-based approach and we would love to have you join us in this inspirational movement. Please visit www.jhcentre.org or email info@jhcentre.org for more information on how you can bring both of these exciting initiatives to your classroom and school.
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Ghost River Rediscovery—Summer Camps Ghost River Rediscovery (GRR) provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity for its participants to experience a program like no other. GRR camps are based on the strengths and teachings of Indigenous cultures, and through the use of Rites of Passage, provide opportunities for
self-growth, leadership development, connection to nature, and cross cultural sharing that leads to greater selfawareness and knowledge of place. Having fun and playing games is a serious business at GRR’s summer programs. GRR youth camps, for kids 818, are set in one the most beautiful places on earth. Connection is at the core of what GRR does. Participants are taken on a journey that explores their connections to themselves, to nature, and to
CBE International Youth Leadership Summit The Calgary Board of Education's annual International Youth Leadership Summit gathers students from across the city and from different corners of the globe to discuss matters of local and international importance. This year's summit will be hosted by Robert Thirsk High School from April 24th to April 26th and will embrace the theme of "Engaging Locally and Connecting Globally". The goal is to bring like-minded youth leaders together to inspire and motivate them to build community, engage in civic activities and contribute to the betterment of life in the global village. If you’re interested in participating or having some of your students participate, contact Julie Muhlberger for more information at JAMuhlberger@cbe.ab.ca
culture. GRR Elders, who come from local First Nations, share the teachings of the peoples who have called the land home for thousands of years. For the summer of 2014, GRR will be offering 8 youth camps between June 30 and August 29. This snapshot video is a great inside look to the camps! For more information, visit ghostriverrediscovery.com, or phone 403-270-9351.
The Mahatma Gandhi Canadian Foundation for World Peace For the first time, in 2014, the Gandhi Foundation will be promoting The Season for Nonviolence which marks the 64 days between January 30, the anniversary date of Gandhi’s assassination and April 4, the date when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The purpose of the Season is to focus education and community action on attaining peace and justice in the spirit of Gandhi and King. The Season teaches that every person can move the world forward in the direction of peace through daily nonviolent choices and actions. Stay tuned for events scheduled throughout the Season for Nonviolence by visiting www.gandhifoundation.ca.
More Opportunities! Calgary City Teachers’ Convention—February 13-14, 2014 Join ACGC as we present two sessions at CCTCA this year. Building International School Partnerships will explore some of the essential elements of a successful international school partnership, and how that partnership can contribute to global education in your classroom and school. The Power of Media explores concepts of media messaging, offering tools for educators to encourage students to be successful agents of social change with the ability to recognize, address and challenge systems of oppression displayed through different mediums of media. Check out www.cctca.com to find out when and where we’ll be presenting! Alberta Council for Environmental Education: Earth Matters Conference Join ACEE in Canmore Alberta on April 24-26 for their exciting Earth Matters conference. The conference promises to provide inspirational speakers, relevant workshops, and ample opportunities for you to work with other educators in a community of practice that is directly relevant to your work—because the Earth Matters. For more information, visit www.abcee.org
Featured Resource Rethinking Globalization Teaching for Justice in an Unjust World
Rethinking Globalization is a comprehensive 400-page book that helps teachers raise critical issues with students in grades 4-12 about the increasing globalization of the world’s economies and infrastructures, and the many different impacts this trend has on our planet and those who live here. It offers an extensive collection of readings and source material on critical global issues. Through numerous role plays, interviews, poems, stories, background readings, cartoons and hands-on teaching activities, the book offers a memorable introduction to the forces that are shaping the future of our world. Available online at www.rethinkingschools.org “Rethinking Globalization is a breathtakingly rick collection of essays, photos, cartoons, poems providing an extraordinary one-volume education on wealth, poverty, corporate power, and popular resistance in the contemporary world...I can think of no other book that teaches so much, so engagingly.” - Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States
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ACGC Teach is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD).
ACGC CURRENT MEMBERSHIP December 2013 Action International Ministries ˑ Ainembabazi Children’s Project ˑ Alberta Public Interest Research Group ˑ Alberta Teachers’ Association ˑ Altamas for Peace and Development Association ˑ Bridges of Hope International Network of Development Agencies ˑ Calgary Board of Education Global Learning Program ˑ Canada World Youth ˑ Canadian Association for Participatory Development ˑ Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace ˑ Canadian Department of Peace Initiative ˑ Canadian Humanitarian ˑ Canadian Moravian Mission Society ˑ Canadian Peacemakers International ˑ Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistanˑ Caro-Canadians Reaching Out to the World's Children Foundation ˑ CAUSE Canada ˑ CEIBA Association ˑ Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology ˑ Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Research ˑ Change for Children ˑ Covenant International Ministry ˑ Engineers Without Borders- Canada ˑ Four Worlds Centre for Development Learning ˑ Ghost River Rediscovery ˑ Global Education Program, University of Alberta International ˑ HIV Edmonton ˑ Human Development Foundation ˑ John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights ˑ Keiskamma Canada Foundation ˑ Light Up the World ˑ Maharashtra Seva Samiti Organization ˑ Mahatma Gandhi Canadian Foundation for World Peace ˑ Marda Loop Justice Film Festival ˑ Mennonite Central Committee Alberta ˑ Micah Centre ˑ Minkha Knitters Cooperative ˑ Mission of Mercy ˑ One Child's Village ˑ One! International Poverty Relief ˑ Operation Eyesight Universal ˑ Optometry Giving Sight ˑ Oxfam Canada ˑ Rainbow for the Future ˑ Rainbow of Hope for Children ˑ RESULTS ˑ Rotary Club of Edmonton ˑ Sahakarini Inter-World Education & Development Association ˑ Samaritan's Purse Canada ˑ Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute ˑ Sinkunia Community Development Organization ˑ SomaliCanadian Education & Rural Development Organization ˑ Sombrilla International Development Society ˑ STOP TB Canada ˑ Student Umbrella for Social Justice ˑ Trickster Theatre ˑ True Vision Ghana ˑ Unisphere Global Research Centre ˑ United Nations Association in Canada ˑ Women's Empowerment International Foundation ˑ World Fit For Children- Alberta Chapter ˑ