Disrupting Islamophobia and Intersecting Oppressions in K-12 Schooling

From The Centre for Feminist Research Presents: Spotlight on Islamophobia Series

Despite a diversity of histories and lived realities, the dominant discourses of Muslims and Islam in Canada are presented as monoliths, steeped in deficit lenses and racist, xenophobic beliefs. This webinar explores Muslim students’ and families’ experiences of Islamophobia and intersecting oppressions including, anti-Black racism, in K-12 schooling contexts and beyond. Islamophobia and gendered Islamophobia manifest in the absence of policies and structures that acknowledge its existence or respond to its presence in Ontario classrooms. These ideas are discussed in the context of realities of Ontario schooling experiences, as well as decisions that include the possibility of transformative education to disrupt and dismantle these harmful discourses and enactments in service of justice. 

This webinar was one session that was part of a series entitled “Spotlight on Islamophobia.” The Centre for Feminist Research’s Spotlight on Islamophobia Series, which began in the 2019-2020 academic year, focusses on key aspects of the social forces that shape and reinforce contemporary practices of Islamophobia. It aims to gain a better understanding of the many forms of islamophobia currently prevailing in multiple contexts,  grasping their historical origins in specific national contexts, and their intersections with other regimes of inequality and oppressive forces structuring contemporary human experiences.

The webinar was co-sponsored by the Facutly of Education, the vice-Provost’s office and the Cente for Feminist Research at York University. The Centre for Feminist Research / Le centre de recherches féministes promotes feminist activities and collaborative research at York University and works to establish research linkages between York scholars and local, national, international and transnational communities. Feminist research is conceived of in broad terms, as being concerned with issues of women, gender, class, race, sexuality, ability and feminism. The CFR is part of a North American network of feminist research organizations and is the host institution for the interdisciplinary feminist sessions at the annual Congress for Humanities.

Panelists

Gilary Massa

Human Rights and Outreach Officer, Toronto District School Board

Gilary Massa is a proud Afro-Latina Muslim who lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband and two young children. She has a long-standing history in community engagement, public education, and activism related to equity, human rights, and social justice, and is the lead consultant for Inclusive Leaders. With roots in both the labour movement and student movement, Gilary has spent the last 15 years supporting school boards, advocacy organizations, labour unions, government agencies, and private enterprises through organizational change work that centers human rights, equity, and inclusion. Gilary currently works as the Human rights Outreach and engagement officer at the Toronto District school board, and run a small human rights and equity consultancy called Inclusive Leaders. Prior to this, Gilary spent three years working with the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), supporting their efforts to respond to the rise in racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia across Canada. Through her work, she successfully secured a grant from Ontario’s Ministry of Education to train and support educators across the province in better understanding and supporting the needs of Muslim Students in Ontario. She trained over 3,000 educators, principals, and superintendents in anti-oppression and challenging Islamophobia, and has supported over 15 public and public Catholic school boards in Ontario in developing best practices concerning human rights and equity legislation, and has advised on policy positions and programming priorities. In addition to working directly with school board administrations, Gilary is the author of a community-based research project focused on amplifying the voices of Muslim students in public schools. The report that came out of this project has been used system-wide to inform teacher training and changes within the school boards across Ontario

Amira Elghawaby

Journalist and Human Rights Advocate

Amira Elghawaby is a journalist and human rights advocate. She is currently a contributing columnist for the Toronto Star and PressProgress. 

Before joining the labour movement, Amira spent five years promoting the civil liberties of Canadian Muslims at the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) between 2012 to the fall of 2017. 

Amira is currently involved with several initiatives to counter hate and promote inclusion, including as a founding board member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and the Silk Road Institute. She recently served as a Commissioner on the Public Policy Forum’s Canadian Commission on Democratic Engagement.

Her 2019 TEDXOttawa talk is titled “Multiculturalism: Worth Defending”.

Omar Zia

School Administrator, Peel District School Board

Omar Zia is a secondary school administrator with the Peel School Board. He is the Chair of the Muslim Employees Association of Peel and Chair of the Muslim Educators Network of Ontario. He is active within the Muslim community as a well-known Khateeb and lecturer in the GTHA, specializing in faith-focussed, evidence-based Parenting Workshops and youth empowerment workshops called Deen 4 Teens.

Samiya Ahmed

Parent and Community Activist

Samiya Abdi, is a senior Public Health specialist, she holds a master's degree in Public Health and Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation and Systems Thinking. Her experience spans from co-creating local community engagement programs such as Aspire2Lead and the city of Toronto political Muslim Youth Fellowship to co-founding international movements such as the Somali Gender Equality Movement and Famine resistors.

Samiya has managed multimillion dollar projects within the corporate sector as well as led provincial health care initiatives.  Samiya is the winner of The Lori Chow Award for exceptional leadership in health promotion.  The winner of the Woman of the Year Award, by The Federation of Muslim Women, and the MAX Woman of the Year Award.  Samiya is a mother, a community transformer and a proud Scarborite

Moderators

Sayema Chowdhury

Sayema is a mother, daughter, partner, aunt, life-long learner and educator currently seconded to the Faculty of Education at York University where she teaches a variety of subjects, with a focus on Diverse and Equitable Classrooms. She is one of the co-chairs of FESI, York University's annual Equity Conference. Sayema has an interest in supporting mental health and wellbeing from a community and anti-racist perspective, participates widely in diversity and equity initiatives throughout Ontario and is committed to anti-oppressive education and learning.  Sayema’s home board is the Peel District School Board, and prior to secondment, held the central role of Climate for Learning and Working Resource Teacher, science department head and teacher. 

In addition to her Equity and Anti-oppression work, Sayema delivers workshops on Leadership Development and Conflict Resolution. She is a member of the board of MENO (The Muslim Educator’s Network of Ontario), a member of the City of Toronto's History Museums’ MHS IDEA Programming Advisory Group and a certified MBTI (Myers Briggs Personality Type Inventory) and Restorative Practices trainer through the IIRP (The International Institute of Restorative Practices).

Vidya Shah

Dr. Vidya Shah is an educator, scholar and activist committed to equity and racial justice in the service of liberatory education. She is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at York University, and her research explores anti-racist and decolonizing approaches to leadership in schools, communities, and school districts. She also explores educational barriers to the success and well-being of Black, Indigenous, and racialized students. Dr. Shah teaches in the Master of Leadership and Community Engagement, as well as undergraduate and graduate level courses in education. She has worked in the Model Schools for Inner Cities Program in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and was an elementary classroom teacher in the TDSB. Dr. Shah is committed to bridging the gaps between communities, classrooms, school districts and the academy, to re/imagine emancipatory possibilities for schooling.