Dr. Kimberley Tavares Kimberley is an Education Officer, crossappointed to the Education Equity Secretariat and the System Evidence and Design Branch, in the Ontario Ministry of Education. She serves as an Educational Policy & Systems Advisor and the Equity and Literacy Lead,
Irfan Toor Irfan (He/Him) has been an educator for 28 years, teaching in a variety of settings including outdoor and alternative education, but primarily as a secondary science teacher. For the last 13 years, he has been working as a secondary vice-principal and principal and is currently the Principal of Equity, Diversity
Abe Wall “For the child of my father’s and my generation, school could be, and often was, a painful place. Everything valued by one’s parents, everything that made up one’s after-school life, was feared, misunderstood, occasionally ridiculed and always subtly undermined. Everything associated with the most significant 38 Fall 2020
respectively. Kimberley has been seconded from a vice-principalship in the York Region DSB, and prior to this was an Equity Officer in the York Region Board serving students of African and Caribbean heritage. As a result of her graduate work in anti-Black racism, leadership and equity, Kimberley’s current appointments centre on developing and supporting anti-oppression, anti-Black racism and equity policy and practice initiatives for the ministry. As an educator with over 20 years’ experience, she is most proud of her doctoral work with marginalized and racialized youth
who find themselves disenfranchised by schooling practices. Her most recent work focuses on how the educational structures can benefit from the experiences and expertise of those most willing to support the aspirations of Black, underserved learners, in particular, Canadian Black women teachers. Her goal is to render the invisible, visible. Kimberley believes that the real work of equity is to work with students, families, communities, school and system leaders to uncover and then address the systemic barriers limiting the opportunities and successes of marginalized learners.
and Inclusion for the Simcoe County DSB. Irfan is also involved with the OPC as a member of his local executive, a Provincial Councillor, a Member-at-Large for Provincial Executive and as an instructor for the OPC PQP program. He appreciates that the OPC will have a large role to play in advocating for more equitable practices in our school systems. As a Pakistani-born Canadian growing up in small towns but also living and working in Toronto for some time, Irfan has an appreciation for the diversity that is present across Canada, but also for the persistence of patterns of bias and discrimination that exist in our communities and schools. Reflecting back on
over 40 years of being involved in public education both as a student and then an educator, the diversification of the identities of educators has lagged far behind the identities of students as compared to other sectors. Irfan recognizes the importance of education leaders starting with self-reflection and personal identity if they want to create safe and inclusive spaces. He believes school administrators are integral to fostering inclusive pedagogical practices and dismantling systems of oppression and discrimination in education. Irfan is honoured to participate in the EDI Advisory Committee committee to support administrators in doing this work.
landmarks of human existence, everything that was most sacred, most poignant, most satisfying – all of that was somehow second- and third-rate.” The above quote summarizes so much of what Abe has experienced and observed in public education in Ontario. It is from a Mennonite reflecting on their memory of school in Canada at the turn of the last century. Abe is a first-generation immigrant and moved to Canada from a Mennonite Colony in Mexico as a six-year-old. School was not a safe place for him. Racism and systemic barriers kept him on guard and he never completely felt engaged.
Abe strives to identify and implement strategies to eliminate barriers that stem from racism and systemic inequities. Through education, information sharing and relationships founded on trust and respect, he is changing the narrative. As a classroom teacher, he championed for the disenfranchised and marginalized. As an administrator, he continued the work, through the development of programming focussed on culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy. Currently he works with a special project involving multiple districts, the Ministry of Education and the Mennonite Central Committee. The program (Tu Puente) focusses on sense of
