SHARING PLURILINGUAL STORIES OF HOME WITH THE PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
In the winter and spring of 2024, Living Hyphen worked in partnership with the Peel District School Board (PDSB) on the Stories of Home, a multimodal and plurilingual project to support newcomer students and English Language Learners (ELLs) in their French as a Second Language (FSL) classrooms. It was a unique and culturally responsive learning opportunity for students to share their migration stories on their own terms and in the language(s) of their choice. Students were then guided and encouraged to share their stories through various media including but not limited to spoken word poetry, podcasting, sculpture, painting, drawing, video animation, and so much more.
LEARNING GOALS
KNOW
Understand the unique challenges and needs of English Language learners in French as an additional language spaces by delving into the benefits of plurilingualism and pluriculturalism in language education.
DO
Notice and name how multi-language text sets can aid language acquisition, foster cultural awareness, and support the needs of ELLs.
BE
Be someone who appreciates how fostering multiple language skills can lead to enhanced cognitive development, better language proficiency, and a greater appreciation of cultural diversity.
Interested in learning how your school can work with Living Hyphen?
“Working with Living Hyphen for the Stories of Home project was absolutely the highlight of my academic year. As educators, we learn about being responsive to our students’ identities through culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy, but often only in theory. Living Hyphen’s work with Peel students represented CRRP in true form and in ways that were responsive to students from diverse learning backgrounds, languages and experiences with written expression. It was a privilege to gain glimpses into Peel students’ homes through their written work and to have worked alongside Living Hyphen in this rich project!
”
MEET THE PDSB TEAM
JODY BAYES
Instructional Coordinator, ESL/ELD Programs
SYLVIA KIM COTA
ESL/ELD Resource Teacher
ERIN COULSON
Instructional Coordinator FSL and International Languages
COLLEEN ELEP
ESL/ELD Resource Teacher
LAURA SMILEY
FSL Resource Teacher
STEPHANIE STAGG
Modern Learner Resource Teacher
STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS
Living Hyphen facilitated a series of plurilingual storytelling workshops for three middle/high schools in the Peel District School Board including Balmoral Drive Senior Public School, Tomken Road Middle School, and the Valleys Senior Public School. Students developed and shared their personal narratives in the language(s) of their choice. Our goal was to instill a sense of courage, confidence, and curiosity in the students to speak out loud their stories, while also listening and bearing witness to their classmates’ lived experiences. At Living Hyphen, we believe that developing confidence and connection first will create the foundation for technical proficiency later.
While facilitating our workshops, we worked with educators to build system-wide capacity for supporting ELLs in FSL and French Immersion (FI) classrooms for the longer future.
“While these prompts seem simple, they were powerful ways to get kids writing. I was actually surprised how engaged kids could be with just a pen and a notebook – a radical shift from the world of technological tools, graphic organizers, and multi-step activities we often work so hard to plan for classes.
Perhaps most importantly, students were excited to write and engaged with the work. While it does always help to have someone new in your classroom, Justine brought her skills of relationship building and her unique perspective as a writer and activist to motivate students toward producing amazing ideas to build upon later.”
Our storytelling workshops led to the development of PDSB’s first plurilingual poetry collection amplifying the voices of over 70 English Language Learners and newcomer students. It is a powerful testament to the beautifully diverse lived experiences of youth who have migrated to what we now know as Canada from all across the globe.
STUDENT SHOWCASE AT THE PEEL ART GALLERY, MUSEUM, & ARCHIVES
The Stories of Home project was inspired by the exhibition of the same name at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum, and Archives (PAMA), which is dedicated to highlighting the complex and nuanced stories of Peel’s diverse community.
After months of developing and refining their stories with their teachers, students were guided and encouraged to share their stories through various media or what we called “artifacts”, including but not limited to spoken word poetry, podcasting, sculpture, painting, drawing, video animation, and so much more. The Stories of Home project culminated with a two-day celebration at PAMA, which included a plurilingual poetry festival at Peel Region’s historic courthouse, a showcase of the students’ created artifacts, and the launch of PDSB’s first plurlilingual poetry collection.
The poetry collection will be featured in PAMA’s Stories of Home: Finding Community & Belonging in Peel exhibition opening in the fall of 2024.
BRING LIVING HYPHEN TO YOUR CLASSROOM
We believe in the power of storytelling to create inclusive classrooms and build equitable futures for everyone. At Living Hyphen, we take a decolonial, intersectional, and anti-oppressive approach to teaching. We believe that cultivating confidence first and foremost is critically important for student success and fulfillment in academics, as well as for personal well-being and social connectedness.
We are proud to have worked with school boards across Ontario and post-secondary institutions across the country to share our approach to storytelling through professional development for educators and administrators, as well as through interactive writing workshops and engaging educational presentations with students. We hope to work with you soon too!