On Friday, February 3rd, 2017, I attended two workshops at the Social Justice in Education Conference at the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Education. The first workshop, “Our Students Who Learned Differently”, focused on universal design, differentiated instruction, and tiered intervention. The second workshop, “Multiculturalism and Education for Newcomers to Canada”, discussed the importance of promoting communities of inclusivity and engagement through education. Both workshops emphasized the importance of social justice for all and how we, as educators, are social justice advocates.

During the conference, an unfortunate incident has occurred during which a student anonymously posted an anti-Semitic comment. The comment, which was visible to the two hundred teacher candidates in attendance, offended several individuals. In response to the incident, executives of the Education Society took the initiative to film a video in which teacher candidates held up cards with degrading words that they were called, followed by cards with empowering words that outlined what they brought to the faculty and to the profession. As an active member of the Education Society, I participated in the filming of this project, which was showcased to all of the teacher candidates at a mandatory workshop on Friday, February 10th, 2017.

To view the video response, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opgt9V1fsfA

A month prior, I signed up to volunteer in between workshops throughout the conference. My responsibilities throughout the conference included welcoming and assisting guest speakers with setting up their displays and facilitating lunch lines and the distribution of pizza to all of the teacher candidates in attendance. As a representative for the Education Society, it was important for me to represent the student body at the Faculty of Education and to ensure that any events scheduled to benefit them would run as smoothly as possible.

My overall experience at the Social Justice in Education Conference, both as a guest and as a volunteer, has furthered my professional growth as an educator in the sense that I have learned that social justice is characterized by inclusivity and sense of belonging, two qualities that I can bring to my school community as not only an educator, but also as a social justice advocate.