Equity and Inclusion in Schools

Academically reviewed and Up to date

Ministerial directives have been handed out to multiple boards including the Peel District School Board (PDSB), York Region District School Board (YRDSB) and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) which all exist within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) one of the most diverse regions in Canada. Schools and boards have responded to these directives and are looking forward to creating environments that are more equitable and inclusive. One of the key elements of the directives was to collaborate with organizations and collect data on equity and inclusion.

Data Collection for Equity, diversity and inclusion:

Most data collection often done is through a board census survey that collects data on demographic and ranking questions on equity and inclusion. These surveys can give a general breakdown of the board but do not provide insight into individual schools. Also, parents are often not motivated to fill out the form and lack engagement with these surveys. In order to combat this a holistic approach is needed that is individualized to schools and communities.

Ei Amplified’s ability to quantify emotions of different stakeholders at an individual school levels provide a unique insights into sentiments of teachers, parents and students. Emotions drive our decisions, behaviors, relationships and learning experience however when taking a lens through EDI it is often a factor that is left out. By taking a data driven approach to quantifying emotions and collecting baseline data Ei Amplified is able to help schools become more equitable and inclusive. 

Professional development for teacher on equity and inclusion:

Professional development sessions are conducted based on data that is able to represent sentiments of different diverse groups and stakeholders. This informs teachers of particular practices that are being responded to positively by students and parents while informing them practices that are causing negative emotions. Conversations around pedagogy, learning environments, content and curriculum and discrimination take place during the professional development session. This allows teachers to have conversations around their own feelings and sentiments of parents and students in order to create action plans as a team. 

Parent and student engagement for equity and inclusion:

Parent voice is often left out and they do not feel engaged within education which was found from Ei Ampified’s past EDI work. Often with census surveys being sent, parent response is also low as well. In order to engage parents, students must act as agents of change and this can be done through experiential learning. Through teaching students about Ai, mathematics, and equity we engaged students to engage their parents on equity and inclusion topics in order to gather their emotional sentiments. This has resulted in double the amount of engagement and one parent stated that “this was the most data that was collected from parents in 4 years”. From this data students have the opportunity to present how they would like to change their school environment to make it more inclusive and equitable. This approach has doubled the participation of parents in participating in engagement activities. 

In order to help schools with their important equity and inclusion work Ei Amplified works with your school in order to have a holistic approach engaging the community to make change.