Episode Details

In this episode, I am joined by Shantel Sherwood from Hold My Hand Alberta, and Claire and Heidi from For Our Kids Alberta. The conversation delves into the challenges and potential solutions in the education system, particularly in Alberta. Key topics include the lack of standardization in special education, the need for smaller class sizes, and the importance of integrating environmental education into the curriculum. The guests emphasize the value of hands-on, action-oriented learning and the role of parents and communities in supporting educational initiatives. They advocate for a shift towards a more inclusive and engaging educational approach that addresses both social justice and environmental sustainability.

Welcome to For Our Kids Alberta and Hold My Hand Alberta

Jenny:

Welcome to The Gravity Well Podcast. Here we break down heavy ideas into small buckets that you can handle. Our mission is simple. Help us work through your dilemmas in conversation and process. Together we and your community will face your dilemmas and make the world a better place for all.

In the spirit of truth, I acknowledge I’m a settler on Stolen Blackfoot Treaty Seven Territory in Metis Districts Five and Six. I take Reconciliaction by seeking the wisdom of elders and individuals who aim to restore water, air, land, life, or community, a healthy living relationship with the earth and each other is our guide. Thank you very much for joining me today. I’m thrilled to have members of both Hold My Hand Alberta, Shantel Sherwood, and both Claire and Heidi from For Our Kids Alberta. I’ll let you guys go ahead and introduce yourselves, but I’ll just give a little bit of colour about this conversation before I do.

I’m excited, Shantel and I kicked off a conversation in Episode 13. We talked about the things that could change a lot in different education programs, call it private, call it charter, call it religious, or whatever it is. We have several programs that are strained in many ways, and I’m hoping from Shantel’s perspective she can offer some of those insights. You too, Claire and Heidi. From an environmental standpoint, the lack of curriculum that we’re seeing in terms of what our kids need to be learning about. The honesty behind what we’re experiencing, and what our kids need to be able to express in terms of their experiences in this. There’s a lot of overlap between these things, I find, and I’m curious where this conversation will go. Let’s start with some introductions, please. I see you first on my screen, Heidi. If you wouldn’t mind going first. Thank you.

Heidi:

Hi, I am Heidi. I’m in Treaty Six and I’m part of For Our Kids Alberta. We are an environmental focus group, our core mission is to try to leave a better world for our children. And so we work on a number of different things. Yeah, I started with Claire.

Jenny:

Awesome. Go ahead, Claire.

Claire:

First of all, thank you, Jenny, for hosting this conversation. I’m on Treaty Seven in Calgary. Heidi and I met some years ago now, and I think over our shared concern around climate breakdown, we found the For Our Kids Network, which is a national network, but there was no chapter in Alberta. Together we founded For Our Kids Alberta. We’re very fortunate to have some excellent caregivers and parents that have joined us. We do have local initiatives and provincial advocacy initiatives. We also advocate at the federal level. It’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere. We