New online resources launched to help Ontario schools combat Islamophobia
Ontario students and teachers now have access to a set of online resources aimed at combating Islamophobia in schools.
The Muslim Association of Canada, a national non-profit organization, launched a website Thursday that features three courses, four workshops and six hours of educational videos to help address anti-Muslim biases that teachers and students may have.
Memona Hossain, a member of the association's team that developed the site, said the resources on offer are important to help schools address Islamophobia.
"This is definitely necessary work," said Hossain, who is also a PhD student at the University of Toronto. "Our hope is that this type of work will inform long-term change, not just short term."
The federal government convened an emergency summit on Islamophobia in July, a few weeks after a Muslim family was run down in London, Ont., in what police have called a targeted and deliberate act. Four members of the family died and a nine-year-old boy was seriously injured.
In recent months, a spate of hate-motivated attacks have targeted hijab-wearing Muslim women in Alberta. In September of last year, a Muslim man was stabbed to death while volunteering at a Toronto mosque.
The Muslim Association of Canada received a $225,000 grant from the Ontario government in June that supported its work on the website, which can be found at islamawareness.ca.
"The outcome of this project far exceeds the original scope and offers very easy access, practical, and concise resources for educators, students, parents and anybody that is willing to address Islamophobia within the sphere of education," Sharaf Sharafeldin, the association's executive director, said in a statement.
Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce said many Muslim students continue to face discrimination in their schools and communities.
"That is why we are investing and partnering with community leaders -- who are leading this effort-- to counter racism and better support Ontario's Muslim students and their families," he said in a statement.
Hossain, who worked on the online platform, said the association used feedback from some of the largest school boards in Ontario to improve the resources on offer.
"We've also been getting some good feedback, hearing that they are ready to use this in their classrooms, that they are sharing this with their colleagues," she added.
The Peel District School Board, which was among those that provided input on the platform, said it was implementing an anti-Islamophobia strategy that mandates anti-Islamophobia training for all staff.
"PDSB unequivocally stands against all forms of discrimination and oppression, including Islamophobia," said spokesperson Malon Edwards. "We have taken these actions to ensure equitable and inclusive learning environments and experiences for our students and staff."
Paul Gareau, a Metis assistant professor at the faculty of native studies at the University of Alberta, was also asked to review the new platform and provide his feedback based on his experience in teaching Indigenous perspectives. He said the site tries to dispel myths and misconceptions about Islam.
"That's always the uphill battle for us as Indigenous-studies folks or Indigenous people, that how do you educate people on Indigenous perspective so that we can sort of break these cycles of anti-Indigenous racism. The same can go for the Muslim communities in Canada," he said.
"Things like this, dismantling Islamophobia in school or Islam in education, I think those are good things to to have available."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.