As we move towards Sept. 30, many schools and universities will be talking about observing the new National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Many schools formerly observed this day as Orange Shirt Day to acknowledge the intergenerational impacts of the residential schooling system — but Sept. 30 has now been declared a statutory holiday by the federal government in response to calls by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

When it comes to all of our institutions — and educational institutions in particular — it’s critical to move far beyond a single day of remembrance.

We are educational researchers who seek to understand how teacher education programs are — or aren’t — addressing truth and reconciliation education. Reconciliation in education begins by acknowledging how educational systems — in particular, our universities, teacher education programs and curricula — have reproduced systemic anti-Indigenous racisms across Canada.

Read the full article written by �첥��Ƶ Faculty of Education Assistant Professor Kiera Brant-Birioukov and her colleagues Nicholas Ng-A-Fook (Professor of Curriculum Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa) and Lisa Howell (PhD Candidate, part-time professor, Faculty of Education, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa) on .

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Even before COVID-19, education experts were sounding the alarm about the future of racialized children in our schools. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only underscored – even deepened – the divide. Carl James, professor of education at �첥��Ƶ and Kulsoom Anwer, a high school teacher who works out of one of Toronto's most marginalized neighborhoods, Jane and Finch, were on The Conversation Canada Podcast episode 3 to discuss the injustices and inequalities in the education system – and the way forward.

Listen to the episode

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"With schools reopening after COVID-19 closures, concerns about the safety and certainty of public schooling have driven some parents to consider alternatives to sending kids back to brick-and-mortar classrooms," says Sue Winton, Associate Professor at �첥��Ƶ's Faculty of Education in a recent piece for the Conversation.

One option making headlines is the formation of “learning pods” also known as “pandemic pods.” Pandemic pods are small groups of children from different families who learn together outside of traditional school buildings.

While pandemic pods may seem relatively harmless, they are part of a growing trend towards education privatization that undermines public education and democracy. The advent of pandemic pods has been facilitated by micro-communities of organized parents operating in communities across Canada — where public education has been privatizing for decades.

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Across Canada, some provinces have either opened or are looking at opening their child-care centres again following pandemic closures. But all families do not have the same opportunity to participate in early childhood education and care. To simply expand what we now have would not serve all families equally writes Gillian Parekh, Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair��in��Inclusion, Disability and Education at �첥��Ƶ's Faculty of Education.

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Nationwide, long-term care facilities, primarily occupied by residents who are elderly or live with disabilities, are in deteriorating condition, says Assistant Professor Gillian Parekh at �첥��Ƶ's Faculty of Education, and Ryerson University's Kathryn Underwood. But little has been done to actually address the organizational decisions that lead to these dangerous conditions. COVID-19 has exposed many inequities within Canada’s care systems.

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Associate Dean Research Heather Lotherington analyses four apps for language learning in a recent piece that she wrote for The Conversation Canada.

“None of these four top-selling apps are capitalizing on how language is changing in online communication where features such as emojis or hashtags — conventions used in texting and tweeting — are fundamentally altering how people communicate,” said Lotherington. “The #hashtag’s emergence as a new kind of word shape with its own form and spelling conventions is actually restructuring how we build words and meaning in a new way. Why not teach languages the way we actually use them?”

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