We, the Alberta Teachers’ Association Social Studies council, in the spirit of education on equality and awareness-raising, invite you to join us at our Fall Conference, Magnifying the Mysteries of Canada’s History with a focus on Black History in Canada.
The Conference will be held at the Banff Park Lodge Thursday October 17- Saturday October 19, 2024. This year we especially want to welcome our Division I and II teachers to learn ways to engage younger youth on topics of fairness, justice, identity and inclusion. We have designed a program with specific offerings for elementary teachers as well as plenty for secondary teachers.
We are very excited to have as our Opening Keynote, Professor Natasha Henry-Dixon, Guest Editor of Kayak Magazine focusing on Black History of Canada and Assistant Professor at York University. Our Closing Keynote is Rt. Hon. Michaelle Jean, social activist, journalist, documentary filmmaker, Governor General of Canada 2005–2010, Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie 2014–2019. We’ve brought you the Director of the Prairie Institute of Indigenous and Prairie Archaeology, Dr. Kisha Supernant to speak to community archaeology and heart centered archaeological practice. Dr. Supernant was co-editor on two volumes: Archaeologies of the Heart and Blurring Timescapes, Subverting Erasure: Remembering Ghosts on the Margins of History.
The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2015-2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent and one of its main objectives is to “promote a greater knowledge of and respect for the diverse heritage, culture and contribution of people of African descent to the development of societies”. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action3 is a comprehensive United Nations framework that represents a new stage in the efforts of the United Nations and the international community to restore the rights and dignity of people of African descent.
It states that In the spirit of education on equality and awareness-raising, we should:
(g) Ensure that textbooks and other educational materials reflect historical facts accurately as they relate to past tragedies and atrocities, in particular slavery, the slave trade, the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism, so as to avoid stereotypes and the distortion or falsification of these historical facts, which may lead to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including the role of respective countries therein.
The exciting sessions we’ve selected will provide educators opportunities to share ideas and gather knowledge on how to engage students on topics that are under-represented in our Program of Studies. We will learn about the history of enslavement and freedom, the intersections of Black and Indigenous communities, migration patterns beyond Atlantic Canada, Black settlements in the prairies as well as contemporary history of Black communities in Canada. Our belief is that Black history is Canada’s history. Equipping teachers to teach Black History helps us widen our perspectives, authentically appreciate our diversity, and understand our history as a community.
We are so thrilled to have you join us!
Natasha Sarkar (she/her), B.A., B.Ed., M.A.
Conference Director
The Conference will be held at the Banff Park Lodge Thursday October 17- Saturday October 19, 2024. This year we especially want to welcome our Division I and II teachers to learn ways to engage younger youth on topics of fairness, justice, identity and inclusion. We have designed a program with specific offerings for elementary teachers as well as plenty for secondary teachers.
We are very excited to have as our Opening Keynote, Professor Natasha Henry-Dixon, Guest Editor of Kayak Magazine focusing on Black History of Canada and Assistant Professor at York University. Our Closing Keynote is Rt. Hon. Michaelle Jean, social activist, journalist, documentary filmmaker, Governor General of Canada 2005–2010, Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie 2014–2019. We’ve brought you the Director of the Prairie Institute of Indigenous and Prairie Archaeology, Dr. Kisha Supernant to speak to community archaeology and heart centered archaeological practice. Dr. Supernant was co-editor on two volumes: Archaeologies of the Heart and Blurring Timescapes, Subverting Erasure: Remembering Ghosts on the Margins of History.
The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2015-2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent and one of its main objectives is to “promote a greater knowledge of and respect for the diverse heritage, culture and contribution of people of African descent to the development of societies”. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action3 is a comprehensive United Nations framework that represents a new stage in the efforts of the United Nations and the international community to restore the rights and dignity of people of African descent.
It states that In the spirit of education on equality and awareness-raising, we should:
(g) Ensure that textbooks and other educational materials reflect historical facts accurately as they relate to past tragedies and atrocities, in particular slavery, the slave trade, the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism, so as to avoid stereotypes and the distortion or falsification of these historical facts, which may lead to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including the role of respective countries therein.
The exciting sessions we’ve selected will provide educators opportunities to share ideas and gather knowledge on how to engage students on topics that are under-represented in our Program of Studies. We will learn about the history of enslavement and freedom, the intersections of Black and Indigenous communities, migration patterns beyond Atlantic Canada, Black settlements in the prairies as well as contemporary history of Black communities in Canada. Our belief is that Black history is Canada’s history. Equipping teachers to teach Black History helps us widen our perspectives, authentically appreciate our diversity, and understand our history as a community.
We are so thrilled to have you join us!
Natasha Sarkar (she/her), B.A., B.Ed., M.A.
Conference Director