Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigeneity at EaB

At Emmanuel at Brighton Child Care Centre all members of our community come from diverse gender identities, diverse abilities, cultural, religious, socioeconomic, racial, linguistic, and geographic backgrounds. This wealth of diversity along with anti-bias curriculum contributes to the overall sense of belonging, vibrancy, rich learning opportunities, freedom of expression, and overall health of our centre. Every family offers expertise, resources, and opportunities to enrich all children's learning.

Within this diversity, it is inevitable that there will be varying viewpoints and differences in values, goals for children, and expectations. Anti-bias education supports open dialogues and opportunities to engage with differences rather than ignoring or minimizing them.

As a Forest and Nature School, we remain committed to building learning environments and opportunities that value and celebrate all equity deserving communities. With humility we actively learn with the mentorship of Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers to further our intentional actions towards Truth and Reconciliation.

At Emmanuel at Brighton Child Care Centre we are intentional in continuously challenging systemic racism, homophobia, transphobia, and other colonial structures that harm children, families, educators, and our communities. Within a dynamic and diverse community, we work together for transformative change.

Did you know that EaB has an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigeneity (EDI&I) Committee?

The EDI&I committee was established to better understand the environment at EaB, particularly from the perspective of racialized and equity deserving groups – and to make recommendations that aim to make EaB a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment in which to work, volunteer, and learn.

The EDI&I Committee’s mandate is to:

• Consult experts and community members in order to develop and articulate the Board’s approach to inclusion and diversity governance; ensure that our strategic plan and its human resources elements meet leading practices; and identify what can be done to achieve inclusive governance goals and address any past issues of underrepresentation and discrimination.

• Make concrete and on-going recommendations to the Board on what actions are necessary to accomplish the above goals, including the provision of training to Directors, Leadership team, and Staff, and identify key areas for community advocacy.

• Listen and provide a safe forum in which all EaB community members can share their perspectives on discrimination/racism and raise issues of concern related to equity within EaB

• Identify areas within the EaB community wherein issues of discrimination/racism/equity have been inadequately addressed in relation to equity deserving groups

As a starting point in our journey to ensuring EaB is a welcoming workplace for all staff and families all permanent educators, office staff, supply educators, and several board members (as of 2022) enrolled in the Antiracism Course with Selam Debs. https://www.selamdebs.com/antiracism-course

Significant days, months, and celebrations that EaB includes as part of our curriculum and events (not an inclusive list):

New Years Day

Lunar New Year

Black History Month

Pink Shirt Day- wear pink to support inclusion and kindness and fight against bullying

Valentine’s Day- Share messages about love and kindness

International Women’s Day

Family Day- we celebrate all parents/guardians and loved ones in February rather than celebrating Mother’s Day and Father’s Day

Holi- Festival of Colours!

Easter

International Transgender Day of Visibility

World Down Syndrome Day

Autism Awareness Day

Earth Day- discuss taking care of our Earth, climate change, nature, etc

Ramadan

Eid al-Fitr