In this episode you’ll hear from Tess, an ISP student, and Deb, the consultant guiding ISP in its Towards 2027 strategic planning process. Tess and Deb are both members of the Towards 2027 strategic planning steering committee along with the head of school, the president of the board of trustees, the high school principal, two members of our teaching staff, two parents and myself (your host, Steph), representing the ISP admin and business staff. Our main responsibility as a committee is planning an inclusive workshop on October 8th and 9th, during which a cross section of the ISP community will co-create strategic statements. These statements will ultimately shape the school’s actions and priority setting during the next five years.

At the top of the podcast you'll hear a few excerpts from our conversations, which I think give you a good idea of why being involved in strategic planning is so important to both Tess and Deb. Listen as they explain the importance of strategic planning, how it can give voice to many members of the community and how it can help us confront, and maybe even solve together, some of the challenges facing schools in today’s increasingly complex world.

Get involved! If you have questions about the Towards 2027 strategic planning process or if you want to contribute your questions or stories to the process, please email [email protected].

If you want to send an article, video, book title, podcast, photo, etc. to the Towards 2027 steering committee for inclusion in the curated playlist of media the community will reflect on both before and during the strategic planning event on October 8th and 9th, please email [email protected].

And if you want to express your interest in participating on October 8th and 9th, click here: https://forms.gle/8U9qRz1TxM7RWFDz8 

Music Credit: Shell Voices by Martijn de Boer (NiGid)(c)

The articulate Lauren takes over this episode to help us understand the importance of representing black culture (among many others!) in the media. 

Vincent, from @reset.revolution, stepped in to interview Lauren; the @resetrevolution X @onjustice collaboration was a success and we look forward to working together in the future!

Enjoy this episode and the many associated resources we've curated for you!

J Lisle Writes - https://youtu.be/ACu4LacC2m8   

AND 

https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/leveling-up-representation-depictions-of-people-of-color-in-video-games/ 

Music credit:

We watched a movie and thought we'd tell you about it - Moxie!

We loved this movie, but it sparked a lot of discussion and one big question - how do we make our voices heard in a positive and impactful manner? Listen to get our answers, then get out there and take action!

Spoiler alert - listen to our podcast after the movie if you don't want the spoilers!

Attention - this podcast, and the film, contain discussions of rape and sexual harassment. If you, or someone you know, is a victim of rape, incest or sexual harassment speak to a person you trust - an adult or a friend. Here are some resources on the subject, most in French as the podcast is recorded and produced in France.

Music credit:

The OnJustice group is helping to organise phase 2 of the Wells International Foundation COVID-19 Pages virtual art expo. The virtual expo features professional (phase 1) and amateur (phase 2) female artists, whose works of art feature women who are making a difference during the pandemic. 

Some have wondered - is it sexist to exclude men from participating in the expo?

So OnJustice debates in this episode whether or not men can be victims of sexism...Can the oppressors be oppressed? Are women's brains really different than men's? Which member of the OnJustice group is most fit to take care of children? And what does RBG have to do with all of this?

Enjoy!

References:

Music Credit:

In this episode the OnJustice group invites Leah and Anaïs to share their thoughts on racism - you met Leah in the last episode and Anaïs recently studied the Black Lives Matter movement. The conversations are more than observations of racism in our societies. They are reflections on polarisation and powerful messages about Leah's and Anaïs's hopes for the world. 

Enjoy!

References:

Music: District Four Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

February is Black History Month in the United States, so yes, we're a bit late publishing an episode on this subject! However, we have a good excuse - we spent the month of February collecting interviews and content so that we could present a series of episodes on Black History Month, racism, colorism and intersectionality in France, the United States and other cultures.

Check out our Instagram (@ispeaksonjustice) for curated resources on Black History.

Check out our expanded resources list for links to lots of different material on social justice (only available to members of the ISP community): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X8_ofoo2EFw-apaMt9xBuEv_Zm4KgZ7W4OGzsxmMQY0/edit?usp=sharing  

And here is a bibliography for this episode:

Music: District Four Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

This is our first real episode and we’re tackling a big issue - voter suppression, or disenfranchisement.

Most of us have never voted, due to our age, or won’t be able to vote in the country where we’re living due to our immigration status. This doesn’t make us less aware of the fact that the right to vote is one of the foundations of democracy. Worldwide, laws and actions that aim to suppress voting rights are contributing to the weakening of democratic processes.

Our conversation takes an inevitable turn towards the United States and the 2020 presidential election. Our aim, however, was to make sure to give an overview of different types of voter suppression around the world as well as some suggestions for ending disenfranchisement.

Anecdote: a French citizen listening to a rough cut of this episode couldn’t understand the expression “voter suppression”. After quite a few additional explanations and examples, his response was “Oh, so it just means anti-democratic”. Food for thought!

To learn more, here are some of the resources we consulted when researching this episode:

www.globalcitizen.org

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-47521208

aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/yt/yt20/lowering-the-voting-age

www.foreignpolicy.com 

www.wsj.com

www.independent.co.uk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_suppression

Go to our Instagram @ispeaksonjustice for more resources.

Music credit:

"District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Social Justice is a term we hear a lot nowadays. It’s used as an umbrella term for all of those topics that we can’t believe we’re still fighting for in 2020. From LGBTQ+ rights, to Black Lives Matter, gender equality to those disproportionately affected by COVID-19, we hear about social justice all the time. 

But what is it really? 

It’s such a broad topic, that many people don’t know where to start. But like most things, social justice starts with a discussion. And that’s where we come in. We would like to introduce the iSpeaks OnJustice Podcast. We created the podcast in response to the issues that have arisen over this storm of a year. We realized that so many people want to fight for social justice, but they just don’t know how, and don’t know where to start, so we decided that we wanted to start the dialogue at ISP. Five individuals, dedicated to social justice, and further understanding it. 

Through lively conversations, and the sharing of resources, we believe that we can include the ISP community in the fight for social justice. Through discussing what it means to be an ally, and how we describe ourselves, we learn the language necessary to be able to talk about social justice. And like you, we don’t know everything, but we are ready and eager to learn. 

This podcast will be organized in short 15 minute segments, each tackling a new social justice issue. We will cover voting, ally ship, racism, sexism, homophobia, identity, classism and so much more, featuring guest speakers to teach us and you about these ongoing battles. Social justice is not something that is relevant one day and forgotten the next. It is something that impacts us all, no matter who we are. 

So let’s talk about it!

Music: District Four Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Welcome to our bonus episode, where Grade 7 Humanities students take the mic and talk about some of the most important Renaissance inventions! 

Did you know that submarines were invented over 400 years ago? Did you know that we credit the wrong painter for the invention of oil paints? Or that eyeglass frames were once made of leather? Learn these fun facts and many more as you listen to the voices of ISP explain the learning that's been happening in 2020, despite confinement and social distancing. 

Please enjoy this bonus material, and don't hesitate to follow us over the summer!

This is the season finale of iSPeaks, but it may not be what you're expecting from a finale.

It's more of a beginning actually. It's the first virtual celebration of Alannah's life and story; she passed away in 2015 following a battle with leukaemia. Her parents, David McMillan and Eileen McAteer, have consented to sharing her story digitally, both via this podcast episode and a Facebook page created in her honour. 

The sound editing isn't clean, and not all the names and dates are accurate; however, it's a perfect representation of a community's myriad of memories and responses to tragedy. 

To visit the Facebook page and to donate to child cancer research, click here: https://tinyurl.com/y89ct93q 

Thank you, from the bottom of hearts, for listening.