Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

Each and every student is unique, coming to school with their own backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and identities. It is imperative that educators and school administrators are supporting each and every child where they are at, providing students with the knowledge and tools for responding to oppression and marginalization and understanding its complexities.

The following resources can support school communities in creating safer and welcoming spaces for all students by enhancing the inclusivity and accessibility of everyday physical activity and health programming:

Students of All Abilities
The resource, including a guidebook, poster, and a video, addresses barriers to physical activity participation and help provide ideas to create accessible and enjoyable physical activity experiences for students of all abilities.

Students of Diverse Gender and Sexuality
The resource, including a game, pamphlet, guidebook, poster, and literature review, outlines barriers to 2SLGBTQ+ student participation in school physical activity and provides strategies for educators.

Girls and Young Women
The resource, with a poster and guidebook, shares wise practices for engaging girls and young women in meaningful physical activity and includes gender equity success stories from educators across Canada.

Understanding EDI and EDI Intersectionality

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are principles aiming at creating a just, affirming, and equitable learning environments. This enables all students, regardless of their backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and identities, have opportunities for connecting, learning, and developing key life skills.

Intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages. It considers people’s multiple identities and experiences for understanding the complexity and nuances of barriers they face, how they are interacting with one another, and how these can impact one’s lived experiences. This theory asserts that individuals are often simultaneously disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression, such as:

their race,
class,
gender identity,
sexual orientation,
religion, and
other identity markers. (ETFO)

Explore the definition of these key concepts

EDI Starts with You!

Understanding equity, diversity, and inclusion is a journey that begins at a personal level. It is important to understand your social identity and social location by reflecting on your own experiences and how they may differ from your students and colleagues. This self-reflection leads to cultural humility and then cultural safety.

To better understand equity, diversity, and inclusion on your journey, we encourage you to consider the following aspects:

your personal history,
your pedagogical beliefs and approaches,
knowledge of diversity, equity, and social justice issues,
knowledge of students,
assumptions about learning,
assumptions about knowledge, and
beliefs about society.

You can learn more about Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy (CRRP) with these extended reading materials.

Professional Learning