{"id":785,"date":"2021-11-08T15:10:43","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T15:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/2021\/11\/08\/in-conversation-with-students-an-interview-with-the-director-of-education\/"},"modified":"2021-11-08T15:10:43","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T15:10:43","slug":"in-conversation-with-students-an-interview-with-the-director-of-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/2021\/11\/08\/in-conversation-with-students-an-interview-with-the-director-of-education\/","title":{"rendered":"In Conversation with Students: An Interview with the Director of Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Amelia and Vivian, two Grade 6 students from Empire Public School<\/a> in Waterloo, it was an opportunity to ask the Director of Education their burning questions. For the Director of Education jeewan chanicka, it was an opportunity to hear directly from Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) students, about what matters to them.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the first time that Amelia and Vivian had brought their questions to those in positions of leadership. They recently spoke with Tim Louis, member of Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga, about the environment and what the Canadian government is doing to protect and preserve it for all those who rely on it.<\/p>\n

Touching on a variety of hard-hitting issues, from the drinking water crisis, to addressing climate change on a global scale, the students demonstrated they weren\u2019t afraid to ask the tough questions to those in positions of power. With this experience in their back pocket, they prepared their list of questions for the director.<\/p>\n

The three came together virtually, along with their classmates and teacher, Peter Pettit, on Thursday, October 21. The virtual meeting was held so that the two students could interview chanicka for a school newspaper article. Amelia had the first question, asking chanicka to share \u201c…a little bit about yourself and the journey that has led you to where you are today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Director<\/p>\n

\u201cI come from a really mixed family,\u201d chanicka shared, adding that this includes a variety of cultures and faiths, including Hindu, Muslim and Christian.<\/p>\n

His journey to the role of helping to lead the WRDSB included challenging times. This included periods where he was unhoused and relied on food banks. chanicka expressed gratitude for these experiences, though, because of where they have brought him, and the opportunity they have created to support students in their learning and self-discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do my best to help all of you be the best that you can be,\u201d said chanicka.<\/p>\n

Vivian was up next, asking chanicka: \u201cAs the new Director of Education for the Waterloo Region District School Board, what is your vision for schools and students moving forward and where do you see the greatest overall need for change?\u201d<\/p>\n

The public education system as it currently exists, chanicka explained, is a system from a different era.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re using infrastructure that is from the 19th century for schools, today, in this century,\u201d he said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenge, for chanicka, is to rethink, and change public education to help students reach their fullest potential. A key factor is ensuring that schools are safe for everyone to show up and be their whole selves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that happens, the learning becomes easy,\u201d said chanicka. \u201cPeople feel appreciated for who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Director<\/p>\n

As the strategic planning process to achieve this is assembled, chanicka is committed to welcoming student voice and feedback in this process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I want to do is to really hear from students and then think about how we…make some real changes with that feedback,\u201d said chanicka. \u201cI think that you have a lot more answers than the adults do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vivian was pleased to hear of the focus on including student voices in a meaningful way. \u201cIt\u2019s really special that you\u2019re giving us a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amelia, focusing on Indigenous people in Canada, asked \u201chow would you like to see schools acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of the people on whose land we currently live?\u201d<\/p>\n

Beginning by acknowledging the land on which our schools are located, and where our learning takes place, is governed by a treaty partnership, chanicka explained. We have an obligation to uphold that treaty beyond a territorial acknowledgement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not enough to just say a land acknowledgement,\u201d said chanicka. \u201cWhat does that actually mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

For him, the focus needs to be on building relationships with those who are Indigenous in our communities, and acknowledging that we need to do better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not okay that we can drink water out of our taps, and we have heat in our homes and that isn\u2019t being afforded to the people who shared the land with us,\u201d said chanicka. \u201cThose are really important things for us to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n

For their final question, Vivian asked chanicka, \u201cIf a brand new young teacher were to approach you and ask you what you feel is the most important thing in teaching, what would you tell them?\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of preparing students for this world, and their future in it, chanicka sees opportunities for students to focus their learning on answering big questions that are connected to real world issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do we take that knowledge and use it in a way that\u2019s going to help all of you be able to go out and change the world?\u201d asked chanicka.<\/p>\n

Learning in this way will better equip students to approach the problems and questions they will face as they enter the working world in the future, and ultimately, shape their own futures, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to be the leaders,\u201d chanicka told the students.<\/p>\n

\"Director<\/p>\n

As they concluded their chat, Amelia and Vivian reflected on the opportunity to speak with chanicka, and ask questions about issues that were important to them and their peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great opportunity to get to talk to the director of education,\u201d said Vivian with a smile. \u201cMy mind is still in shock!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Amelia and Vivian, two Grade 6 students from Empire Public School in Waterloo, it was an opportunity to ask the Director of Education their burning questions. For the Director of Education jeewan chanicka, it was an opportunity to hear directly from Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) students, about what matters to them. This […]<\/p>\n

Read more about<\/strong> In Conversation with Students: An Interview with the Director of Education<\/cite> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schools.wrdsb.ca\/alternative-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}