Photo courtesy of Felix Munger/LinkedIn
From May 27 to 31st, policymakers, researchers, and frontline respondents — including a contingent of teachers — participated in the fifth international “Megaweek” conference organized by Public Safety Canada’s Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence.
The conference brought together more than 400 participants from 16 countries to share best practices and learn from one another. With extreme and hateful ideologies on the rise globally, this year’s conference theme centered around ‘local responses to global pressures.’
As headlines reporting hateful displays in Canadian schools have become all too common, education was rightfully a central focal point of discussion throughout the conference.
CIVIX was invited to present research on the current classroom climate across Canada, with a focus on polarization and radicalization. To support its research with real-life testimonies, CIVIX organized a panel discussion featuring four educators from across Canada who shared their experiences with a packed room of conference attendees.
The atmosphere in the room became emotionally-charged as these educators discussed many challenges that they believe exacerbate the negative climate in their classrooms: ever-increasing class sizes, lack of resources, and the growing reach of influencers promoting misinformation and hate, among others.
While the tone of the conversation was somber at times, the panel left many attendees feeling energized as teachers shared their own strategies for fostering a healthy classroom where students feel safe and supported to share their opinions and discuss complex topics.
The panel was a high point for conference attendees, and the panelists received a standing ovation for their testimonies.
Despite the somber tone of the conversation at times, the panel also left many in the room feeling energized and empowered. Some attendees shared with CIVIX staff that hearing directly from teachers reaffirmed their own commitment to combating rising extremism and helped them understand the need to equip teachers with the right resources.
Teachers need resources
Due to their proximity and privileged relationship with students, teachers play a frontline role in combating the extremist beliefs that are increasingly captivating Canadian youth. Research also shows that universal civic engagement programming in schools is one of the most promising avenues for interventions to counter the fascination of extremist beliefs among youth.
CIVIX offers a number of programs targeting key educational outcomes that experts argue can help counter radicalization to violence.
PoliTalks, CIVIX’s newest program, offers a framework for teachers to lead productive classroom discussions of political and social issues. It gives students the chance to develop crucial socio-emotional skills, such as empathy and perspective-taking, which make them more resilient to many of the factors that can lead individuals towards extremist beliefs.
Another CIVIX program, CTRL-F, is a digital media literacy program that supports learning to find and evaluate reliable information. CTRL-F helps students think critically about information they come across online, which empowers students to resist extremist messaging.
These programs are both accessible to teachers interested in bolstering their students’ civic engagement, free of charge, upon registration.
