shift some paradigm

It's Wednesday and I have already had an adventurous week. I just came back from "booth day" which is part of Ed Expo, a shoulder-rubbing fest of sorts, and feel quite encouraged in not only finding a job, but also just being an art teacher candidate. Compared to my other experience at a similar event, which felt more like brown-nosing than shoulder-rubbing, I felt more like a wanted commodity today rather than a desperate graduate willing to lick the boots of superintendents and other such people in suits. Of course I encountered a number of booths which expected such grovelling and sniffling; I met one man who was taken aback by my question about his division's approach to the visual arts and what they would provide for me, rather than the other way around. After a short chat he quickly shoved a logo-emblazoned canvas bag and ballpoint pen into my arms desperate to end the debacle. Most school divisions, however, were happy to answer my questions and even handed me pamphlets which outlined my benefits, allowances, and other such amenities for beginning teachers. I was able to pass out ten resumes, few of which I thought would go straight into a recycling box. It was odd, however, how many divisions chortled at the thought of a fine-art focused teacher or class even, but proudly displayed their dance classes on their portable tack boards. I encountered one school who's art department was dwindling, but thought it would be appropriate to fill the grade 12 art class with a kindergarten teacher. If the teacher lacks the skills or the heart, for that matter, of the subject, why would one assume the students (or their parents) believe it to be a worthwhile or relevant subject? It's tiring to be an art advocate when the visual arts are seen so commonly as 'fluff' material and treated with less dignity than a lunch hour library club. My common ammo is my background in screen-printing and graphic design and emphasizing to my students the commercial and industrial careers based on such skills. At least I receive a handful raised brows to such comments, maybe, just maybe, I made an impression today.

My other adventure occurred during the last half-hour of my Cross Cultural education class on Monday. Our professor announced that he was going to ask us a question, and we were going to answer it individually, and everyone in the class would express their answer. He asked, "Is Canada a racist country?" and gave us three minutes to think about it silently. Wow. What a question! The course so far had dealt with terms concerning ethnicity, multiculturalism, race, white-privilege, assimilation, acculturation, etc so this topic was not foreign to the class, but to ask for our INDIVIDUAL answer! Yikes. I realized immediately that everyone would answer "yes", but I could not come to grips with such a conclusion. Yes, there are racist people in Canada. Yes, Canada has a history of racism. Yes, there are incidents of racism currently in Canada. But I could not, for the life of me, say whole-heartedly that Canada is a racist country. So after six or so people individually responded to the question as "yes" coupled with their experiences and reasons, it was now my turn...I thought I should pronounce a disclaimer to my statement. Once people realized that I would not answer "yes", every eyeball was on me. My notes were set ablaze as my face beamed with blood vessels swelling to the surface. So, I explained that my answer was based upon MY experiences and also my hope for Canada's future as a multicultural country. All through elementary and high school, in Vancouver at least, we were beaten over the head with multicultural programs and themes. I had friends from a plethora of backgrounds, which I found fascinating, not frightening. And from the way that the country works currently with immigrants and refugees one just cannot say that Canada hates people of cultures, ethnicity, and backgrounds that are other than white Christians. If you would -I didn't say this in my answer- then wouldn't you say that you yourself are stereotyping the country's inhabitants and practically making a racist assumption that all white people are racist? GARG! the insanity. A couple of other students gave wishwashy answers, but no one else said "no". Wow. That was a weird feeling. I'm of course tempted to suggest that everyone now views me as the "ignorant, racist, suburbanite, Christian, whiteboy". But I won't.