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Blog created by TRENT LANGDON

TRENT LANGDON M.Ed, C.C.C.

TRENT LANGDON   M.Ed, C.C.C.
Educator / School Counsellor / Vice-President of the Newfoundland & Labrador Teachers Association (NLTA) / Speaker from Newfoundland & Labrador, CANADA

Baxter Langdon

Baxter Langdon
Dedicated to my grandfather; small in stature but stood tall with integrity...

Friday 18 May 2018

From Our Schools to Your Workplace...Is Your Business Prepared?

Academic achievement, personal development, and preparation for the workforce are the primary objectives of the public education system. This philosophy has not changed through time, though the current approaches and strategies do differ. It has become clearer that greater emphasis is required to solidify the foundations for students and support their successful transitions during key developmental times (e.g. junior high school into senior high school; post-secondary education into the workforce). 

Within the (Kindergarten - Grade 12) public education system, teachers find themselves mired in a battle between covering educational outcomes and meeting provincial curricula and addressing these individual needs of their students. Exceptionalities such as Specific Learning Disorders, Mental Health Disorders, Physical Disabilities, and NeuroDevelopmental Disorders (e.g. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), etc., are driving teachers’ interventions when it comes to classroom instruction and evaluation, directly impacting the delivery of services for all students.  

According to the Statistics Canada report on the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) [The survey measures the prevalence of learning disabilities among Canadian children and adults], more than half a million adults in this country live with a learning disability, making it more challenging for them to learn in universities and colleges, and on the job. (Learning Disabilities Association of Canada - http://LDAC-ACTA.ca, May 4th, 2018).

“It is estimated that 10-20% of Canadian youth are affected by a mental illness or disorder – the single most disabling group of disorders worldwide.” (Canadian Mental Health Association - http://cmha.ca May 4th, 2018).

There exists a continuation of services within accredited post-secondary institutions however has the workplace done its homework (so to speak) and established the supports essential to their employees’ success? 

In addition to your legal responsibilities of ensuring equality and non-discrimination under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, what are you doing for your employees that have an exceptionality?

Suggestions & Recommendations:

* If the person has a visible disability or has disclosed an exceptionality, establish a work plan in partnership with them to ensure they can have a voice in their experience.
* Allow for professional learning opportunities for all that address alternative learning styles and needs.
* Create an inclusion team to evaluate protocol and procedure within your work space.
* Ensure that Inclusive and open common spaces exist.
* Where possible, establish green and open-air spaces for the betterment of mental health for all.
* From a supervisory stance, institute informal check-ins to allow for continuous evaluation.
* Invest in a quality Employee Assistance Program for your staff.
* Be innovative and proactive by exploring new initiatives (e.g. 4 day work week).

Resource: 

Employers’ Toolkit: Making Ontario Workplaces Accessible to People with Disabilities, 2nd Edition: The Conference Board of Canada (https://www.conferenceboard.ca/docs/default-source/pdf_downloads/7159_accessibilitytoolkit-2015_rpt.pdf?sfvrsn=a98e7013_2&pdf=toolkit)

Excerpt (p. 150): 

Due to his past experience in the military, an insurance company employee had post- traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury. This made him very sensitive to environmental noise. The employee was experiencing increased anxiety due to the noise level in his workplace.

Intervention:

* The employer purchased headphones with white noise capability and noise reduction barriers for his cubicle.
* Cost to Employer $350.00
* The employee and his supervisor were pleased with the outcome. 

Monday 12 March 2018

I Do Not Exist...

According to a recent #CaseForChange Case Study (January 23, 2018), there are an estimated 1.1 billion people around the world who DO NOT OFFICIALLY EXIST as they have never registered their birth.” For example, “135 million people in Pakistan are effectively invisible because of this, living without access to education and healthcare”.

Feeling highly fortunate having been born in Canada and provided with essential human services since birth, I find this statistic to be staggering.

Follow the story of Hira Anwar who travels to Badin, Sindh a small village in Pakistan to meet with Jewan and his five-year-old son Jeet who is the first in his family to be registered through the digitized registration system.  





From a purely egocentric stance, I cannot wrap my head around being ‘undocumented’, having zero proof of my personal existence and the associated rights and privileges that should come with owning a birth certificate. I then shift outward to a local and national perspective, attempting to apply this lens to my immediate surroundings. Though our ‘vital statistics’ system is quite strong in terms of these processes, I do see those families and children that are insufficiently serviced or find themselves excessively strained by current policies and standards (e.g. seniors in poverty, homeless youth, certain First Nations communities, etc). Then expanding to an international and global vantage point, though knowing and attempting to appreciate the plight of many countries, I am not sure if I have ever truly thought of the birth registration dilemma. This has been a rude awakening for me.


Since first reading the case study some weeks back, I find myself frequently returning to it as I make a doctor’s appointment or simply drop my kids at school. But we need to continually challenge the injustices and 'gaps' that do exist, reminding ourselves that local strength results in societal advancements that can influential widespread change.  It is your choice whether you decide to do so up the street or across the pond (so to speak).

I challenge you to be unrelenting in your local fights for equality of educational opportunity within our public education system and access to efficient and effective healthcare (including mental health care). I also invite you to continually expand your personal frame of reference as well as for your students.

In that light, as referenced in a previous blog, I have committed to learning more about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are a set of 17 global goals established by the United Nations with a timeline for 2030. 

For example: GOAL 4: QUALITY EDUCATION - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.


The opportunities are unlimited to evoke change within your school, communities and on the global stage.

I welcome you to explore these essential resources for ALL Educators:

1. #TeachSDGs, teachsdgs.org, and the Global Goals Educator Task Force

2. The Global Goals for Sustainable Development - globalgoals.org

3. #CaseForChange - Dedicated to the Goals and connecting everyone and everything to a better future, mobile operators are transforming millions of people’s lives. 

4. LesPlan - lesplan.com - #TeachNews - Helping students understand and critically assess current events and issues.

5. The World’s Largest Lesson Plan - worldslargestlesson.globalgoals.org - Introduces the SDGs to children and young people and unites them in action.

I will be bringing continued focus to the SDGs moving forward, making daily efforts to educate and expand my own mind and skill set.

Yours in Integrity,

Trent

Tuesday 6 February 2018

'When Pondering Leads to Wandering'

Ever feel like it is just too heavy and challenging to CARE anymore? (This is your red flag).

As educators, we invest exorbitant amounts of energy and emotion into our preparation, daily interactions, 'real-time' communications, and 'pondering'. Upon entering this field, we knowingly signed up for the litany of lesson plans, the email barrage, and the tangled web of assessment. But did we truly know or expect the emotional journey that this career path would hold for us? 

We all have those experiences that become intrusive (in the most altruistic sense of the word):

* The student that may be going through a particularly rough time and seems to take up cranial residence in your mind; 

* A student that presents with daily behavioral challenges and despite your efforts, is seemingly making little progress; 

* Or that individual, that in spite of all the positive interventions you have initiated today, still finds a way to tear down your decision-making or actions. 

I would argue that it is the obsessive 'pondering' (not to be confused with the pedagogically-sound practice of 'reflection') and the sheer quantity of student need that gets most of us. 

'Pondering' can be that occasional thought that seeps in or the draining 'brain bug' that  is not willing to let go. It is the type of thinking that invades our personal space as we attempt to reintegrate into family and personal life after a long day or week, ultimately entering our safe havens and tree houses (so to speak).  

I regularly reference with my students the analogy of junior high as a jungle or deserted island filled with many challenges, 'unknowns', and often times of great loneliness. The teachers inhabit this island as well.  I recall watching each week (with great wonder) how the Swiss Family 'Robinson' were able to survive their shipwreck, build a home (here is where the treehouse reference comes in), and thrive in spite of the wild animals, natural dangers of the land, and the glaring uncertainty of what was to come.

So I challenge you to build that treehouse of yours (in both a literal and figurative sense) as a means of breaking the intrusive thought cycle.

* Hold strong to your best practices and professionalism.

* Make time for those real-time getaways to the gym, to the walking trail, or on a well-earned vacation.

* Schedule these get-away times daily.

* Get lost in your favourite book or movie.

* Take a mental health break from work to allow your energies and motivations to replenish.

* Seek out your informal advisors to assist with student strategies or simply to vent.

* Allow time to create emotional support plans that are intentionally designed for your students.

* Be very careful that the pondering does not fester into deeper-rooted anxieties.


* And...visit your local hardware store and pick up your treehouse supplies...your get-away may be in the backyard!

Yours in Integrity...

TRENT