Leading From The Heart

by Tracy Rosen, teaching & consulting since 1996, blogging about it here since 2007. All views are my own and you should take them with a grain of salt, I do.

Category: Stories from the heart

  • Someone has to say it.

    Someone has to say it.

    I became a teacher because I wanted to make sure as many children as possible could learn to read. And Elise Gravel’s books helped me in that mission. I relied on her books to support the learning in my French classroom. And whenever anyone asked me about what materials to use for French language learning in Quebec, I’d shout her name from the rooftops. But I can’t trust her stories anymore.

    I wasn’t alone in trusting my child’s and my students’ learning to Elise Gravel’s storytelling. Parents and teachers around Quebec, and likely around the world, did the same. Children love her characters and the way she tells her stories. And that is what makes this blog post all the more important for me to write. Because the stories she is telling have changed.

    I’ve been thinking about this post since sometime in October. I didn’t write it then because I was still reeling and in shock about some of the things people I admired were saying, and not saying, about the events of October 7 and everything that has been happening over the past 88 days since.

    This post has been written in spurts, mostly dictated, over the past few weeks in an attempt to get the words out yet keep them straight as I do so. My brain is recovering from a concussion after a fall on December 7 (since when is 7 a lucky number? That has been forever changed.) My mind is filled with words that need to get out.

    For the past 70 (now 88) days, I have heard people repeat information that has been designed specifically to turn others against Jews. You know we’ve seen this before. It’s nothing new but it’s new for us because it always existed in history. Kind of. I say kind of because in my lifetime I’ve been called a dirty Jew when someone didn’t like that I wasn’t playing with them when I was a child. I’ve been referred to as a Jew when it has to do with money. I’ve been in conversations where people use the term Jew as a, well, not as a compliment (I will always remember the look on my boss’ face when he realized what he said and that I was at the table.) But as I grew up, those kinds of things were somewhat rare. Not as bad as when my parents were growing up, and certainly not as bad as when their parents and all of our ancestors in a long line across millennia were.

    But now it’s become the norm. It’s like it’s okay. It’s just okay to say things against Jews against Israelis against Zionism (in quotes) because we’re now being painted as the bad guys and it’s hilarious almost, if it weren’t so horribly sad and scary. Hilarious because we’ve seen this happen before and those who are doing it now, don’t realize that they aren’t doing anything new.

    So. What’s going on with Elise Gravel? I used to love everything she did, everything she wrote. My son and I would read as many of her books as we could together. That’s how he learned how to read in French, through her books. But now I am seeing a new kind of storytelling that she is doing about an area of the world to which she has no connection (as far as I know,) to which she has no blood memory. She seems to be using this area of the world as a place around which to organize her thoughts, her very specific and hateful thoughts that are laced with antisemitic imagery. And before you start saying oh those Jews anytime you criticize them they start to cry antisemitism…

    “2300 Dead children (and counting.) Do you feel safer now, Israel?” (Elise Gravel on Instagram, October 2023)

    If she were only criticizing decisions of the Israeli government and not also invoking blood libel imagery then there would be no need to use the word antisemitism.

    If she were only criticising the Israeli government and not also invoking images of manipulation and power and money, then there would be no need to use the word antisemitism. (This is in reference to a comic she wrote that portrays Israel justifying itself as a big bully and when Palestine kicks it in the shins, it cries for help and the US and EU come running with weapons and money. You can see it here in English and here in French. And you can visit her Instagram and Facebook accounts for more examples of what I describe here.)

    If she were to take into account the publicized videos of Hamas saying that their goal is to recreate October 7, over and over again until the Jews are gone, then there would be no need to use the word antisemitism. (In fact, she refers to what happened on October 7 as a kick in the shins in the comic I linked to above… )

    But she isn’t commenting on any of that. She is solely focused on amplifying the idea that Israel is bad, that Israel is a bully, and that anyone who doesn’t believe so is responsible for the deaths of children. She is manipulating people’s emotions around the safety of children and because she is such an influential storyteller, she is manipulating people against Israel (in fact, she’s collecting stories about how and why people turned against Israel) and we have seen what that kind of manipulation does when it happens in the media. Even here in Montreal, Jewish schools and community organizations have been targets of hate crimes. People targeted Jewish institutions and their menorahs on Chanukah. People were told oh you can’t wish others a happy Hanukkah because that’s too political. People have been targeted, maimed, and killed around the world, outside of the war zone – Jews and Palestinians alike (you can find those references on your own, there are so many). The victims of those crimes don’t care if they were being done in the name of antisemitism or antizionism. The result is the same. Don’t insult us with trying to explain there is a difference.

    Posted on Instagram by @yiddishfeminist on December 13, 2023

    Elise Gravel isn’t fighting for Palestinian rights in the way she may think she is. Instead, she is repeating very classic tropes about evil, manipulative, powerful Jews (today’s keywords are evil Israel, evil Zionist, evil colonizer) that have been constructed throughout history as a way to blame us for the world’s problems. But…”When everything is a construct, nothing is a fact.” (Eve Barlow, December 17, 2023) so Elise Gravel isn’t shedding light on any new facts, she isn’t doing anything special besides falling into one of the world’s oldest hatreds. Bravo.

    BUT when it comes down to it, It is seriously messed up to tell these limiting, very small piece of the puzzle kinds of stories to children. And as a children’s author, you can guarantee they are listening to you tell these stories about a war in an area of the world to which you have no connection. You are manipulating them into believing along the lines of your own limiting beliefs, rife with antisemitism, and that is terrifying for me as a mother and as a teacher.

    And I will say once again and forever – yes, it is antisemitism when you call upon centuries old tropes like blaming Jews for the deaths of children and painting Israel, and Jews by association (close to half of the world’s 15 or so million Jews live there,) as having more power than they do. It’s classic antisemitism – The same tropes were used by the Romans, they were used in Spain during the inquisition, and they were used by that man with the miniscule mustache. And more recently they are being used again by so many, including Elise Gravel.

    Postscript.

    And we are now starting to see some consequences of spreading this kind of hatred. It really isn’t cool. I learned about this lawsuit last night:

    “The victory underscores that there will be legal repercussions for those who defame Jewish people, under the guise of ‘Palestinian advocacy,’” said Brooke Goldstein, founder and Executive Director of The Lawfare Project. “We are proud to have facilitated the legal representation of Shai DeLuca, who bravely stood up against bigotry and hatred, and who won a significant victory in court against Jew-hatred. The defendant in this case spread an intentional and vicious blood libel against the Jewish state, and against Mr. DeLuca because he is Jewish. With our legal victory we have set an important precedent in Canada that such falsities have no place in our democracy, and anyone who likewise disseminates Jew-hatred will be held accountable.”

    The Lawfare Project Announces Significant Victory In Defamation Lawsuit Before Ontario Superior Court Of Justice

    If you want some guidance in how to navigate this mess of a situation without falling into age old Jew hatred or Islamophobia, here are some resources you can look at.

    Israel-Palestine: Sharing Mindfully by @tzipporahmusic on Instagram, December 23, 2023. These are part of a longer post that I encourage you to read.
    Instagram post by @mizrashki.jewess from January 2, 2024
    This guide was created by the Tel Aviv Institute, available on Instagram.

    If you’d like to explore this mess without falling into a sports match kind of binary, Unapologetic: the Third Narrative is an excellent place to start.

    And finally –> The truth about stories is that’s all we are (Thomas King.) What kinds of stories do you share during difficult times?

  • A note on recent events.

    A note on recent events.

    I’ve been numb this week. I’ve been angry. I’ve felt rage and sadness and alone. 

    A few of you know this. You reached out, sent me words of love. That means more than I hope you will ever know.

    I’ve muted, snoozed, and blocked many contacts this week, too. When I posted about how more Jews were killed last Saturday than on Kristallnacht, than on any other day since the Holocaust, I was asked – but what about the Palestinians? I was told – but what do you expect? Israel deserves this. I was called a “horrible racist genocidal asshole.” I was told to “fuck off you white supremacist piece of shit colonizer.” These messages were all from onlookers, from non-Jews, non-Israelis, non-Palestinians, once friends.

    Because a Jew posting about Jewish trauma must mean that they don’t care about the trauma of others. And you who have told me off this week, somehow feel compelled to try to repair what you assume to be my errant ways.

    I’ve seen many of you post what you feel are very important statistics about this side and that side. Including many, so many, antisemitic tropes. Including many, so many, Islamophobic tropes. Including horrible images of death. Including images of celebration. 

    Because some of you celebrated when more Jews were killed in one day than since the Holocaust. Some of you rejoiced while your Jewish friends were in mourning. The world’s Jews were in collective aninut (the period directly following a death, before a funeral, a time of all consuming grief) and people we thought were friends were telling us we deserved it. One (non-Palestinian) person told me that they believed in Palestinian resistance by any means necessary, that they would not judge how people resist. 

    The cycle of anger and numbness started around then. I can’t think of another time when there was such public exuberance following/during the massacre of so many. This wasn’t indifference – indifference we see a lot of – this was rejoicing.

    And so I understand even more today how deeply entrenched antisemitism is. When once the world said never again, some are now saying but maybe now, it’s ok. Because, you know, Israel. 

    And I am anticipating you who are reading this and how you won’t be able to help yourself from trying to point out how Israel deserves it – look at the statistics, watch this reel, listen to this podcast! Who won’t be able to help yourself from talking about how it is so much worse for others.  Who will try to explain to me, no, Tracy, it’s not the Jews, it’s the Zionists! For you (but mostly for me) I am turning off the comments to this post. Because, you see, I have heard all of your justifications my whole life. So have my parents, so have my ancestors.

    On Thursday, my son began his Bar Mitzvah learning. The night before, those of us in the program received an email about security protocols at the building. Jewish communities around the world have increased police presence, increased vigilance. Increased trauma. 

    It breaks my heart, what is happening in Israel, in Gaza. I am purposefully refraining from assigning blame for the deaths and suffering in this post. I am working hard at that. Because one thing I learned this week is that during times of all encompassing grief, when we try to appoint blame, we lose our compassion.

  • Checking ourselves. When good teachers are racist.

    Checking ourselves. When good teachers are racist.

    Close to 15 years ago, I became friends with a teacher in South Burlington, Vermont. She was a master at differentiation and I met her first through a webinar and then in person. She graciously allowed me to bring a group of teachers from Montreal to spend the day in her classroom. It was a great day that I still use as a spring board when talking about classroom visits as professional development. We have kept in touch ever since and I considered her as a sister-teacher.

    But earlier this week, she broke ties with me on Facebook, which is how we have been keeping in touch for the past almost decade. She posted a meme equating rap music with hate and violence. I questioned it and was first made fun of for questioning it and then told she wouldn’t be answering any more questions about it. And then, rather than talking about it, she unfriended me.

    I hope I hit a nerve.

    But this situation hasn’t been sitting well with me. This is a teacher I admired because of her openness and care for the children she teaches and her colleagues.

    How many of us seem to be wonderful teachers yet hold racist beliefs?

    How many children are silently (and not so silently) determined to be a certain way because of wonderful teachers who hold these beliefs?

    (Imagine the numbers, over an average 25 – 30 year career teaching groups of 25-30 kids a year. Or 2 groups, or 4)

    We need to check ourselves every day. As teachers, we model belief and values through our behaviour whether we want to or not. And I think we need to check ourselves more than others because we have littles (and bigs) in front of us who just soak that up as truth.

    How do we check ourselves?

    Environment: We can start by checking what we have in our class libraries and on our walls. Who is represented in our rooms?

    Culture: We can start by making sure racist tropes don’t end up in our yearbooks.

    Self: We can start by asking ourselves these questions every single day after (or during) our work with our kids: Who am I paying more attention to in my groups? Am I seeing everyone in my classroom (or online) with potential and what am I doing to make sure I do?

    And that is just where we start.

  • When we talk, when we listen. We get better together. (epilogue)

    A story in 3 parts – epilogue

    I already posted an article earlier today called English Sector Exclusion: A story in 3 parts and I don’t usually post twice in one day but today, I need to.

    The survey that excluded anglophone school boards (and therefore the voices of teachers who work within these boards)? It now includes the English School Boards! The survey is still uniquely in French but at least now, our voices can be included in the conversation about teacher experience during the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Below is a link to the survey- please share it with all of the teachers you know and if you or anyone you know would like some help with translation, please contact me and I will be happy to help out!

    —> Survey on teacher experience during the Covid-19 pandemic (en français)

    Catherine Beaudry and I spent much of our morning writing back and forth to each other. I spoke of the same sentiments I expressed in my previous post and she spoke of roadblocks related to translation and validation (this is a huge roadblock in all aspects of Quebec Education and is the number one reason given for a scarcity of English versions of documents. Three or four years ago, I worked on a project with some teachers for the ministry. We are still awaiting approval to publish based on linguistic revision…there is a backlog.) and she also spoke of the lengthy process for Ethics Committee approvals (In a University setting, whenever you do research with people, your research methods must be approved by an Ethics Committee and that could take months. Here is the UQAR ethics approval process.)

    She also spoke very frankly of not being familiar with the English community and that she thought a survey had to be in English in order for us to be included. She wondered if people would be willing to answer it if it were in French.

    My response was that ideally, it should be in English. But that including teachers from the English School Boards in the conversation is an important step.

    I know that many people will feel put out that it is not available in English but I think that being included in this study is important enough to answer some questions in French.

    Professor Beaudry also mentioned that when she relaunches the survey, she will make sure to emphasize that the English community is invited to participate.

    Now, I think that ideally an English version of a survey (or of Ministerial evaluations or programs of study) would be available along with its French counterpart. We should be developing together, in true inclusion, and not after the fact, in annexation.

    In order for us to move towards that ideal, we need to keep talking and listening to each other. If I had said to my circle of friends and colleagues – “Typical! The English community is once again left out!” and not asked why, I would have held on to my resentments and we would still be excluded from the study. If Professor Beaudry had said, “Too bad! It is already published!” instead of taking the time to validate what I told her and then explain her reasoning, then I would never have learned that we were excluded because she thought we wouldn’t want to be included based on the language of the survey. And we would still be excluded.

    So once again, Yes. We should be included from the get-go, in our language. And also yes, we can still be included, even if it means (this time) we read a survey in French.

    My hope is that Province-wide surveys and resources in education are one day truly Province-wide and respond to the needs of both the English and French sectors AT THE SAME TIME.

    I think that conversations like the one Catherine Beaudry and I had this morning are a start.

    Bonne St Jean.

  • English Sector Exclusion: A story in 3 parts.

    Part 3

    Yesterday afternoon I was forwarded this questionnaire by a colleague in another province.

    picture of woman in doorway of classroom with headline: Le vĂ©cu des enseignantes et des enseignants pendant la pandĂ©mie de la COVID-19 au cƓur d’une recherche
    English translation of headline: Teachers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic at the heart of research

    I was attracted by the headline because I thought it was important to gather this kind of data. But when I went to fill out the questionnaire, I realized that, though I teach in the public system in Quebec, my experience didn’t matter.

    The questionnaire was developed by Catherine Beaudry, a researcher from UQAR who is doing a province-wide poll of teachers to find out the impacts of the coronavirus and subsequent government management of it on their practice. But the province-wide poll is limited to teachers in the French sector (Quebec’s public education system is divided along linguistic lines – French and English). So I wrote to her and asked why. I also asked if she was worried about painting an incomplete picture by excluding the anglo system. Her response? They wanted to do this quickly and did not have time to translate the questionnaire into English. But a part 2 will likely happen and we may be included then. (So, it was easier to just exclude the whole community rather than allow the majority of us who can fill out a French questionnaire participate. Or to ask someone in the English community to help out and provide an unofficial translation until an official one could be validated by the University…)

    Part 2

    In 2017, I went to a presentation by the UniversitĂ© TÉLUQ Canada Research Chair in Media Literacy and Human Rights, Normand Landry. He presented a meta-analysis he conducted on media education across every single program of study in the Quebec youth sector. His conclusion was that there was little to no mention of media education within the Quebec education system. My colleagues and I were a little confused because the English Language Arts program is based on media literacy. So we asked Normand Landry about it. He answered that he did not include the English programs in his meta-analysis because he assumed they were translations of the French language programs. (And no one on his team questioned the absence of the English system programs.) (So, essentially his results were flawed.)

    Part 1

    In the Spring of 2017, I was working as an education consultant with the RECIT for Adult Education and learned that a group in my office was going to launch a redesigned website for the Adult Education community at the beginning of the next school year. But only the French site. The English version would follow at a later date. I expressed my concerns and the initial response was a frustration about the English community – that even when we are included, we aren’t happy. That even when we are included, we often decide to create our own resources anyways. But my boss was a good one. He has strong beliefs about education and is open to listening to other beliefs. And is open to change when change is needed. We had a series of conversations that came down to this: when communities are excluded in order to push up an agenda, you are saying that those communities do not matter in the grand scheme of things. When we are added on after the fact, we still realize that we weren’t important enough to include from the beginning. When we don’t see ourselves represented in major research studies or on educational councils or in educational resources, we get the message that we are not part of the community. And that is why we forge on and create our own resources.

    As a result of our conversation, the site was launched in both languages at the same time. And both versions had their own official launch events within each community. There was a sense of equity across the two sectors.

    The English and French systems are two parts of a whole. When we speak with each other, we can create a community based in equity that responds to all of our needs.

    Essentially, we are not something to be added on once everything has been decided upon and developed. That is not inclusion, that is annexation. And that is how people in the English education community feel each time resources – from Ministerial course evaluations to teaching or professional development materials – are created months to years after the French ones are made available.

    And each time we are excluded from research studies about education experiences in Quebec.

    (And this is just along linguistic lines…)