Our Stories: Monalisa
Our Stories: Monalisa
Our Stories: Erica
Our Stories: Diego
Canada is well known for its diverse population and is home for many individuals and families coming from across the globe. ‘Diaspora’ is a term that addresses the large-scale migration that groups of people have experienced upon leaving their home land. Diaspora addresses generations of people coming out of a homeland and immigration addresses the act of moving from one country to another. Although Canada has many diverse populations and communities, the dominant culture in Canada is white Anglo-Saxon. The act of a dominant culture absorbing another and trying to make it adapt to it is called assimilation. An example of assimilation is when European settlers came to Canada, tricked Indigenous people to giving them food and goods then forced them to convert to Christianity as well as forfeit their cultures and languages. By doing so, Indigenous people of Canada had to assimilate to the culture of European settlers.
SYSTEMS AT PLAY
BARRIERS & ACCESS
LANGUAGE & TIPS
RESOURCES
Learning and Teaching Global Maters in Local Classrooms (Thornwood Public School)
A multi-cultural fairy tale (Steven Pecar)
11 books to teach kids about residential schools (Alex Mlynek)
Approx. 50-70 minutes
OBJECTIVE
Engage with the stories of First-Generation Canadians and create a two-minute biography.
THEMES
Assimilation, First-Generation Canadians, Internalized Fatphobia.
PREPARATION | - Load Monalisa's Our Stories Video; - Load Erica's Our Stories Video; - Gather paper and writing utensils. | 2 mins |
REVIEW | - Check-in with your participants; - Review your foundations; - Encourage participants to take notes; - Emotionally prepare your participants. | 5-10 mins |
VIEWING | - Watch Monalisa and Erica's video as a group; - Remember your "During Each Lesson" tips. | 8-12 mins |
DISCUSSION | - Did you identify any Systems, Barriers and Access in Monalisa and Erica's stories? - Monalisa and Erica take two different approaches to discussing their experiences as first-generation Canadians, what are some of their similarities? What are some of their differences? - What is the difference between nationality and culture? - How important is your nationality? How important is your cultural background? - What does it mean to be Canadian? - What are the problems with people expecting others to adhere to one idea of being Canadian? Connective Question: - If participants already watched Shejuanah's Our Stories Video, ask if they see any connections between Monalisa and Lola (the character she portrayed) in Shejuanah's video. Are they complimentary or contradictory? | 15-20 mins |
ACTIVITY | - Say: "Telling your story in 3-5 minutes is difficult and only provides a snapshot of who you are. If you had 2 minutes to tell your story, what would you include?"; - Provide participants with lined paper and writing utensils and encourage them to draft a two-minute story of their life; - After 5-10 minutes, ask if anyone would like to share their story with the larger group; - Ask them how the exercise felt and if it impacted their opinions of the stories shared in the videos? | 15-20 mins |
DEBRIEF | - Refer to "After Each Lesson" for specifics. | 5 mins |
Approx. 55-75 minutes
OBJECTIVE
Write a stream-of-consciousness passage for a “voiceless” participant.
THEMES
Language Barriers, Criminal Justice System, Bullying, Immigration.
PREPARATION | - Load "The Assault" Our Stories Video; - Gather paper and writing utensils. | 2 mins |
REVIEW | - Check-in with your participants; - Review your foundations; - Encourage participants to take notes; - Emotionally prepare your participants. | 5-10 mins |
VIEWING | - Watch "The Assault" video as a group; - Remember your "During Each Lesson" tips. | 10-15 mins |
DISCUSSION | - Did you identify any Systems, Barriers and Access in Diego's story? - How did you feel about the opinions shared by: • Julio? • The cop? • The two teachers? • Diego's Classmates? • Tyrone and Matthew? - If these people were witnesses in Diego's case, what do you think the outcome would be? - Imagine that Diego spoke with an accent when he stood up to Tyrone and Matthew. Using this new perspective, why wasn't Diego speaking when the cop was interrogating him? - What human and legal rights was Diego denied? Why? | 10-15 mins |
ACTIVITY | - Say: "We don't get the chance to hear from Diego in this story. Instead, we hear from everyone else around him to make sense of the situation. We don’t get the chance to know exactly what Diego was thinking." - Provide participants with paper and writing utensils and instruct them to write a stream of consciousness for Diego ending with his arrest and starting from any of the following places: • His first day in Canada; • His first day in his new school; • The first time he was bullied by Matthew and Tyrone; • The assault in the cafeteria; - Ask participants to think of Diego’s feelings, his family, what he may have experienced in his life, etc. - When participants have completed their narrative, ask them to swap narratives with someone else. Ask them to continue swapping and reading other narratives until everyone has read at least three different narratives. | 25-30 mins |
DEBRIEF | - Refer to "After Each Lesson" for specifics. | 5 mins |