The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is providing students with teaching material on reproductive health that fails to mention the terms, “men,” "women,” “boys,” and “girls.”The health worksheets for Fifth graders (10-year-olds) instead refers to “people with a uterus,” “people with a penis,” “people who have more testosterone” and “people who have more estrogen”.A worksheet on menstrual periods states, “People with a uterus usually get their first periods…” A second worksheet, on the “reproductive system for people with a penis,” describes male reproductive organs. A third worksheet describes body changes during puberty for boys and girls. “People who have more testosterone….” the worksheet states, contrasting the puberty experience with that of “people who have more estrogen.” TDSB did not respond to the Western Standard’s request for comment. . The material comes from School Qube, a company self-described as “the world’s largest marketplace of PreK-12 resources,” the Toronto Sun reported. The material, readily available on the website Teachers Pay Teachers is marketed as Ontario’s Health and Physical Education curriculum, a premise the Sun rejects. The publication rather attributes the use of this material in the TDSB to a chronic shortage of materials. Isha Chaudhuri, senior communications advisor to Education Minister Todd Smith said “this is not our policy.”“We expect that school boards are focused on getting back-to-basics on the fundamental skills that children need, like reading, writing and math,” said Chaudhuri. TDSB in February declared education as a tool to perpetuate colonialism and white supremacy.“Education is a colonial structure that centres whiteness and Eurocentricity and therefore it must be actively decolonized,” the report read, before TDSB rescinded it. “White Supremacy is a structural reality that impacts all students and must be discussed and dismantled in classrooms, schools, and communities.”In September, a group of Ontario teacher candidates claimed the math test requirement is racist — and were backed by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is providing students with teaching material on reproductive health that fails to mention the terms, “men,” "women,” “boys,” and “girls.”The health worksheets for Fifth graders (10-year-olds) instead refers to “people with a uterus,” “people with a penis,” “people who have more testosterone” and “people who have more estrogen”.A worksheet on menstrual periods states, “People with a uterus usually get their first periods…” A second worksheet, on the “reproductive system for people with a penis,” describes male reproductive organs. A third worksheet describes body changes during puberty for boys and girls. “People who have more testosterone….” the worksheet states, contrasting the puberty experience with that of “people who have more estrogen.” TDSB did not respond to the Western Standard’s request for comment. . The material comes from School Qube, a company self-described as “the world’s largest marketplace of PreK-12 resources,” the Toronto Sun reported. The material, readily available on the website Teachers Pay Teachers is marketed as Ontario’s Health and Physical Education curriculum, a premise the Sun rejects. The publication rather attributes the use of this material in the TDSB to a chronic shortage of materials. Isha Chaudhuri, senior communications advisor to Education Minister Todd Smith said “this is not our policy.”“We expect that school boards are focused on getting back-to-basics on the fundamental skills that children need, like reading, writing and math,” said Chaudhuri. TDSB in February declared education as a tool to perpetuate colonialism and white supremacy.“Education is a colonial structure that centres whiteness and Eurocentricity and therefore it must be actively decolonized,” the report read, before TDSB rescinded it. “White Supremacy is a structural reality that impacts all students and must be discussed and dismantled in classrooms, schools, and communities.”In September, a group of Ontario teacher candidates claimed the math test requirement is racist — and were backed by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
