Toronto kindergarten class assigned ‘Indian’ Halloween colouring exercise
Posted November 7, 2016 4:45 pm.
Last Updated November 7, 2016 8:29 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was the last thing Daphne Nostrome expected her four-year-old son to bring home from kindergarten class at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School on Friday.
Her son was given a Halloween alphabet colouring book by his teacher and under the letter “I” was a cartoon drawing depicting what the book called an “Indian Halloween costume.”
“It’s difficult on many levels to digest,” said Nostrome.
Nostrome is Haitian, her husband is Cree and she said her son has been taught to celebrate who he is.
“As a parent, when something like this comes home it shakes your confidence in the system,” said Nostrome
Today the school board told CityNews they apologize for the mistake and are working with the teacher, school and board to ensure incidents like this don’t happen again.
French Public School Board Chair, Jean-Francois L’Heureux, said his board is at least two years away from getting dated text out of the classrooms before getting the new literature in.
“We’re not only talking about history classes, we’re talking about JK to Grade 12 so there’s a lot of situations and content that needs to be looked at from the Ministry’s perspective.”
L’Heureaux adds, the onus is still on the teacher to ensure material isn’t offensive when rolling out curriculum.
The teacher in question is being spoken to by the principal who will also be meeting with Daphne Nostrome this week.
Nostrome said this is a “teachable moment” for all involved including the school board. “In terms of understanding, there’s a gap in policy and what’s happening on the ground.”
“This is an opportunity to bridge that gap in a concrete and long term fashion,” said Nostrome.
