DEIJ in Action in the Classroom
It was not long after the Chatsworth Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) committee convened their first meeting of the school year that students implemented DEIJ focussed activities in their classrooms. At the meeting, the DEIJ committee discussed topics that included assisting staff with strategies to help students showcase their learning and enable students to make connections to their culture and ancestry. The committee also discussed solutions to enable student success in their learning, as well as strategies to encourage thoughtful and respectful discussions within a safe learning and professional environment.
In recent weeks, homeroom teachers embedded DEIJ concepts into their unit of inquiry teaching and learning where relevant. In one of the activities, Year 5 students explored what makes up a person's identity using an apple as a metaphor. They learned that, just like an apple has layers, so do we. Six student leaders took this lesson a step further by collaborating with Year 3 students, guiding them in identifying the layers of their own identities. Through this activity, they shared valuable insights, explaining that while we may appear similar on the outside, it’s our core values, passions, and beliefs - just like the inside of an apple - that truly define who we are.
In another class activity, Year 3 students explored the meaning of identity: gender, culture, values, and religion. Students are learning to understand who they are at their core and learning that while they are similar to their friends in some ways, they are also unique. Over the course of the unit, students expanded gradually on their mind maps and added what identity means to them. Overtime, in an environment that implements authentic DEIJ strategies, students will see a difference in the way they view their existence, existence for others and in hope, to have the courage to build a more collective, liberative and justice oriented place for all.
Inspired by the Year 5s who visited their classrooms earlier and conducted an activity to help explore their identities, the Year 3 students shared their learning with the Year 1s. They used an apple to explain the different layers and were excited to implement the activity with their younger peers. These are examples of what communities of learning at Chatsworth are about, that learning is extended beyond the immediate classroom and student body. Our teaching team offers students learning opportunities that may be available in the wider communities of learning.
