Community

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Greenwood is committed to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive community that fosters a sense of belonging.
Our approach to bringing greater Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging to Greenwood is focused on creating real, lasting change, and on ensuring that our entire community is moving towards this goal. We are examining our systems and structures for bias and identifying concrete action steps to address that bias - and, critically, we are benchmarking our work over time to ensure that we are making real progress.

On this page, you'll find information on the action we're taking to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community. You'll also find resources that can help us all to live these values in every aspect of our lives. Look for frequent updates!

Professional Development: Planning for Change

Rachael Brownell-Swain, Greenwood's Director, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Outreach, has developed a five-phase professional development plan for all staff for the 2021-2022 school year. The plan starts with building a solid understanding of anti-racism and anti-oppression education; all staff can then build upon that foundation to create positive and inclusive communities at the school. 

View an overview of the plan below, including a few sample presentations and connected resources.

Phase 1
Self-Education (anti-racism, anti-oppression, social justice, current expectations, culturally responsive pedagogy, curriculum)
Presentation: Disruption Through Discourse 
Phase 2
Curriculum Gaps (developing units of study, making curriculum changes, examining course content) 
Presentation: Creating Equity in the Classroom
Phase 3
Avoiding Performativity (developing classroom and community cultures, developing allyship behaviours, avoiding performative allyship, authenticity in all spaces) 
Presentation: Allyship in Action
Phase 4
Disrupting and Dismantling (positive intervention, redirecting, creating programming and policies)  
Phase 5 
Critical Allyship and Planning for Change (What does critical allyship look like in your interactions? Your workspaces? Your classroom? How do we plan for change in the coming year?)

Measuring and Evaluating Our Work

In the fall of 2020, Greenwood staff members Rachael Brownell-Swain, Bethany Glick and Mary Gauthier met to answer this question:
“What can help us communicate, collaborate on and commit to diversity, equity and inclusion at Greenwood? Is there a benchmark or model that can support growth?” 
In their conversations and research, Rachael, Mary and Bethany learned that many schools struggle with measurement and benchmarks. Without benchmarking, efforts in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion can become merely a list of actions lacking a collective sense of purpose.

Greenwood adopted the Reimagining Integration: Diversity and Equity in Schools (RIDES) model from Harvard University, a research-backed framework that gives schools the tools to support and measure deep work in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We piloted this framework over the 2020-2021 school year, and we want to share our findings with you. Read the RIDES evaluation report now.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Resources

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Diversity Statement

Greenwood is committed to helping students develop all aspects of their character. We want to prepare our students to make a positive difference in the world – and that means fostering a respectful, diverse and inclusive community. We aim to embrace individuals whose differences include, but are not limited to: age, ancestry, citizenship, colour, creed, disability, ethnic origin, family status, gender expression, gender identity, marital status, place of origin, race, or sexual orientation. We strive to develop students’ cultural awareness and competency by weaving diverse perspectives into every part of school life.

Community News

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Archive

Greenwood College School

443 Mount Pleasant Road
Toronto, ON M4S 2L8
Tel: 416 482 9811
We acknowledge with gratitude the Ancestral lands upon which our main campus is situated. These lands are the Ancestral territories of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Anishinabek and the Wendake. The shared responsibility of this land is honoured in the Dish with One Spoon Treaty and as settlers, we strive to care for the land, the waters, and all creatures in the spirit of peace. We are responsible for respecting and supporting the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. When away from this campus we vow to be respectful to the land by protecting and honouring it. We will create relationships with the people and the land we may visit by understanding the territories we enter and the nations who inhabit them.
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