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July 14, 2006
A melding of cultures
Winnipeg school provides global learning.
REBECA KUROPATWA
Brock Corydon School in Winnipeg is home to one of only two Hebrew
Heritage Language programs in North America offered in a public
school setting.
Brock Corydon, with Hebrew and English tracks for children in kindergarten
to Grade 6, is the only elementary school in Manitoba to have been
designated as a national United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet)
school. Now, it's set to launch a new innovation. This coming school
year, Brock Corydon will also be piloting new programs for grades
5 and 6 students on aboriginal themes. An aboriginal artist will
be coming in to teach the students about aboriginal art. Many other
aboriginal-themed programs are in the implementation stage and will
be added to the fall curriculum.
Winnipeg's aboriginal community is one of the largest in Canada.
According to Brock Corydon principal Ira Udow, the school's aim
is to offer a setting in which students get to "experience
cultural diversity and are guided in developing the attitudes and
qualities necessary for global citizenship."
A visual and performing artist and a district aboriginal support
teacher will be collaborating with staff and students to integrate
the arts and the aboriginal perspective into curricular studies.
"Teachers are continuing to explore new ways of integrating
the aboriginal perspective in their content area of studies of social
studies and science," said Udow.
In workshop settings, students will discuss some of the pressing
issues that aboriginal people face. Udow said the plan for the coming
school year is "to hold more aboriginal-themed workshops and
to have more aboriginal community learning incorporated into the
curriculum.
"The children learn about world concerns, human rights, democracy,
tolerance and the environment through intercultural learning,"
said Udow.
UNESCO launched ASPnet in 1953 and, today, more than 7,793 schools
in 175 countries around the world have become participating members.
An important goal of the schools involved is to give students the
chance to hone their understanding of global issues that affect
everyday lives, such as the challenges facing people affected by
war and poverty.
Udow described Brock Corydon as having a setting in which "the
best teaching practices take place, where parents are actively involved
in their children's school life and where children's academic, social
and emotional needs are given top priority."
Last year, there were 190 students enrolled at the school. Many
of the students were born and bred in Winnipeg and other Canadian
communities, while others come from as far away as Argentina, Israel,
Eritrea and Russia. The school has 21 teachers and 17 support staff.
In April of this year, Brock Coydon brought in guest speaker Bill
Ginther, representative of the Canadian Food for the Hungry and
Rwanda Genocide survivor. Other positive initiatives organized for
students of Brock Corydon include the Garden Club, the Green (Environment)
Team, a performing arts troupe, and an annual anthology of student
poetry.
Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.
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