Pivotal moments in equity moments

Equity doesn’t just happen. We make it happen, together.

We embarked on our first full year in our renewed school building with an inspired goal to foster a greater culture of inclusion and sense of belonging for all students and staff at our school. We want UTS to be a place where we stand up to discrimination and racism, and where everyone is equally committed to making others feel that they belong here.

Disruption is the nature of anti-racist work and the 2022-23 school year became a time of change for UTS. The year was marked by building up and breaking down – a time of learning, unlearning, brave conversations and constant reckoning as we moved toward common understanding and meaningful action.

We looked inwards. The previous year, comprehensive recommendations which served as an internal equity audit for UTS were provided by renowned educational leader, Dr. Avis Glaze OOnt, in her report, Anti-racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion:

Our Shared Responsibility. Now our challenge was to determine how we could manifest change as a reality within our school halls.

Embedded into leadership

For the first time, UTS began the school year with equity firmly embedded into the senior leadership as Dr. Kimberley Tavares took on the role of coordinating vice principal, anti-racism, equity, inclusion, access and program innovation. She was drawn to our school because at UTS, antiracism is named first. Our work is framed around anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion and this stands for something more than the status quo. “UTS is brave to own anti-racism when many other organizations shy away from the word, and doing so speaks to the character of the school,” says Dr. Tavares. During the 2022-23 school year, her team evolved to include a dedicated senior officer, equity projects and implementation, as well as her oversight of the Admissions, and Innovation and Research departments.

Equity becomes core to our strategy

The UTS Strategy was refined to light our way. Equity was no longer simply a strategic initiative at UTS. It was becoming our mindset, incorporated into everything that we do. With that in mind, our purpose came to life in three cornerstones of our strategy: admissions, empowering our community and the partnerships that make our school strong.

Policies serve as our anchor

When questions or issues arise, we anchor back into our policies as the backbone. UTS policies related to equity and inclusion were strengthened and streamlined into a revised Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy. UTS Human Resources also made concerted efforts to improve policies in regards to equity this year. The revised policies give everyone common ground about expectations and what to do when encountering racism or discrimination. During the fall, all students and staff received an overview of the revised Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, including strategies to interrupt safely if they encounter racism, harassment or discrimination.

Messaging for change

Belonging and equity messages adorn the halls and the walls of UTS. ‘You Belong Here’ posters were part of an internal equity campaign for the 2022-23 school year, highlighting our commitment to ensure that everyone who is accepted into UTS knows and feels that this is a school for them. New digital display boards in the halls were also entirely devoted to equity messaging, and every classroom and office has ‘We Stand

Up Together’ guidelines about how to handle incidents of discrimination and harassment.

Deepening our understanding

Professional development for all UTS staff during the fall focused on deepening our understanding. We took stock of systemic barriers, and learned about common language for equity and how to create inclusive spaces. Scenarios based on real experiences that happened at our school helped staff understand the pervasive issues, and how best to intervene when incidents take place in the classroom or halls.

Setting goals and a plan to get there

In the second half of the school year, every UTS department set goals towards greater equity, and then crafted implementation plans to get there, spending the rest of the school year working towards these goals. We dug deep to find new ways of teaching, so that all students feel they are reflected in the curriculum and students experience