Thursday, June 20, 2013

There's Education and Then There's Indoctrination

This, clearly, is the latter:
The TDSB Arts Department, in collaboration with the Aboriginal Education Centre, presented the Arts Co-op performance Eighth Fire Journeys, a collection of original performance pieces and films by secondary students from across the TDSB. The program aims to build cross-cultural understanding  through active, intensive engagement in drama, dance, and media. A company of 23 students of diverse backgrounds worked with professional artists and artist-educators. The goal is to empower these youth, and provide them with artistic tools, practices, and techniques, as well as a platform that honours and gives voice to their stories 
These works, which toured to over 3,500 TDSB students, invited students to think and feel deeply about issues of identity and cross-cultural understanding. First Nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives were woven into the fabric of these works.

The Eighth Fire, is an Ojibway prophecy which foretells a time when society will reach a crossroads. In order for humankind to move forward in positive ways, diverse peoples from around the world must come together to create positive social and environmental change...
 Been there; done that; doesn't work.

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