Dan Scratch
LightNews LightNews
banner
danscratch.bsky.social
Dan Scratch
@danscratch.bsky.social
60 followers 130 following 6 posts
Teaching for Justice in the Borderlands

Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Dan Scratch
jessehagopian.bsky.social
🇵🇸✊🏾🎉❤️ it is with great joy in my heart that I share that I finally have the new book I co-edited in hand!!!

For too long Palestine has been absent in the curriculum—no more!

#FreePalestine

Order today!

rethinkingschools.org/books/teachi...
February 24, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
irinaceric.bsky.social
Just an incredible failure of vision & empathy. There will now be no way to travel between Windsor and Detroit unless you have a car or can pay (a lot) for a cab. Cutting the nearly century-old tunnel bus in the midst of climate & affordability crises is simply cruel. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Transit Windsor bus to Detroit will end as council fails to overrule mayor's veto | CBC News
The City of Windsor will no longer offer the Transit Windsor tunnel bus route connecting the city to Detroit.
www.cbc.ca
February 21, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
activatetransitwe.bsky.social
Read our full press release on the cancellation of the Windsor Detroit Tunnel Bus ⬇️ #windsorontario #yqg #ontariotransit
Budget 2025 Tunnel Bus Closure - Activate Transit Windsor Essex
ATWE REACTS TO COUNCIL ELIMINATING TUNNEL BUS WINDSOR, ON - Activate Transit Windsor Essex, a grassroots advocacy group working for a more accessible and sustainable transportation system in Windsor a...
activatetransitwindsoressex.ca
February 21, 2025 at 5:47 PM
danscratch.bsky.social
Teaching can reinforce the ideals of democracy, justice and equity or it can be designed for compliance and obedience.

How do educators create a pedagogy that challenges fascism during these times?

#edchat #OntEd #OntPoli

medium.com/@dan-r-scrat...
Teaching Against Fascism
If you’ve been paying attention to American politics over the last forty years, you may have noticed the withering away of democratic…
medium.com
February 15, 2025 at 9:09 PM
danscratch.bsky.social
NEW BLOG POST -> "Teaching Against Fascism" #OntEd #AbEd #Ontpoli medium.com/@dan-r-scrat...
February 13, 2025 at 10:46 PM
danscratch.bsky.social
Check out my latest blog post ->

Teaching Against Fascism dan-r-scratch.medium.com/teaching-aga...
Teaching Against Fascism
If you’ve been paying attention to American politics over the last forty years, you may have noticed the withering away of democratic…
dan-r-scratch.medium.com
February 13, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
mrjasonto.com
Now that @gparekh.bsky.social is here, I want to share her “Equity and Human Rights in Special Education: Critical Reflective Practice Guide,” which offers educators strategies to reduce the negative effects of bias & racism in decisions around special education.

www.criticalreflectivepractice.com
Disability as an Intersectional Experience Bias related to racism, classism, xenophobia, language learning, and other forms of discrimination can influence how ability is perceived and understood (Annamma et al., 2013; Erevelles et al., 2019; Reid & Knight, 2006). As disability is both relationally and socially produced, this work will draw on the framework of disability justice. Disability justice is oriented towards centring the lived realities, dreams, and desires of disabled peoples, particularly those who have faced marginalization by able-centric societal systems (Piepzna-Samarasinha, 2018). For instance, white, South Asian, or East Asian students are more often perceived to have “excellent” learning skills compared to Black students, despite having similar levels of achievement (Parekh et al., 2018). In the context of schools, students' identities intersect with how ability and disability are constructed and inform the perceptions, expectations, and attitudes of those around them. For instance, bias related to racial identity may lead to the perception that a racialized child's behaviour is disordered, or that low achievement from a child living in poverty is due to disability as opposed to a lack of access to resources (Artiles et al., 2010; Connor, 2017; Howard et al., 2009). Key practices in special education vulnerable to bias: Identification Processes Assessments Interpretations of behaviour Assumptions around ability and capacity Placement Processes Assessments around best 'fit' Ideas around how learning is best supported Aligning placement to notion of 'need' What is critical reflective practice and why is it important for special education? Critical reflective practice requires educators to position themselves as learners in the service of students Educational practice serves as the true catalyst to achievement and critical educators must resist bias in relation to student abilities, labels and social identities. Critical reflective practice can help educators identify and dismantle classroom and school-based barriers Critical reflective practice can arm educators with tools to help guide them through classroom assessment, referral, identification and placement decisions, as well as negate the over-representation of historically marginalized students in special education Inclusive Instruction across K-12 Classrooms: Effective instructional practices by classroom educators are key to ensuring success for all students. However, these practices are influenced by an educator's conception of student "ability" and how it is perceived alongside race, class, disability, gender, sexuality, and other identities. Guidance/strategies for Educators Setting conditions for inclusive classrooms • Value student diversity. • Support high expectations through relationship-building. • Ensure learning experiences are accessible to all students. • Support students within the general classroom. • Ensure classroom teacher is students' primary educator. Questions for reflection: • Based on my current practice, what barriers might exist for students to fully participate, engage, and demonstrate their learning? What steps could I take to remove these barriers? • Which student identities may experience disadvantage in my class? What is my perception of these identities?
December 1, 2024 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
deborahrosereeves.bsky.social
I stitched this old tweet by @ladyofsardines.bsky.social and remind myself of its truth literally every day.
Photograph of an embroidery hoop. A tangle of multi colored threads dangles from the bottom of the hoop, and stitched in grey thread is the following quote by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca: "It can be overwhelming to witness/experience/take in all the injustices of the moment. The good news is that they're all connected, so if your little corner or work involves pulling at one of the threads, you're helping to unravel the whole damn cloth."
January 9, 2025 at 10:52 PM
danscratch.bsky.social
"Building and strengthening these communities of hope is what will get us through. Students need our classrooms to be communities of hope too. Our work with young people — and with each other — needs to demonstrate that another world is possible."

rethinkingschools.org/articles/tea...
Teaching Hope in Hard Times
What makes public education so dangerous is that it is grounded in hope. As the editors of our forthcoming Teaching Palestine: Lessons, Stories, Voices write, “one of the wonderful things […]
rethinkingschools.org
January 14, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
gregariousposts.bsky.social
One reason people insist that you use the proper channels to change things is because they have control of the proper channels and they’re confident it won’t work Tweet by @joncstone
December 14, 2024 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
rebeccasolnit.bsky.social
She's providing wonderful updates on the insurrection in Georgia. Including this.
December 3, 2024 at 4:25 AM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
ricochetmedia.bsky.social
(1/8) To kick off 2024, Ricochet won the 2024 Canadian Hillman prize for our doc Killer Water. Through our innovative collab with @therealnews.com + @indiginews.bsky.social, Brandi Morin and Geordie Day expose the damning repercussions of the Alberta oil sands.

WATCH: tinyurl.com/kllrwater
(FULL FILM) Killer Water: The toxic legacy of Canada's oil sands industry for Indigenous communities
YouTube video by Ricochet Media
youtu.be
November 28, 2024 at 11:39 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
zinnedproject.bsky.social
There are new picture books on Palestine that we recommend for schools, libraries, homes -- including "A Map for Falasteen," "Kamal's Key," and "Birthday Kunafa."

See these and more on @teachingchange.bsky.social's Social Justice Books list ⬇️.
socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/pa...
Palestine | Social Justice Books
Recommended titles for pre-K–12 and adults on Palestine.
socialjusticebooks.org
November 30, 2024 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
christibelcourt.com
From X credit: @jvp.bsky.social “Today & every day, we contemplate parallels between the colonization of Turtle Island and Palestine. Supporting Palestinians’ right to return and right to self-determination in their homeland goes hand in hand with supporting Indigenous people’s demand for #LandBack”
Two set of land maps showing gradual land dispossession over time of Indigenous peoples via settler colonialism in Palestine and what has become the United States. The map key shows land “inhabited and stewarded by native peoples” and “land controlled by settlers”. Both countries show four maps each. The Jewish Voices for Peace logo in on the bottom right corner as identifying the source of the graphic.
November 28, 2024 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
truthout.org
The 150-page plan proposes to target groups with a wide array of attacks, ranging from stripping organizations of their nonprofit status, to filing RICO charges, to deporting immigrants who protest, to filing class-action lawsuits against groups like Students for Justice in Palestine.
The Right Has a 150-Page Battle Plan to Shut Down Progressive Civil Society
Attacks on Palestine solidarity are the opening salvo in the right’s stated plan to suppress social justice groups.
truthout.org
November 27, 2024 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
ruha9.bsky.social
Your homework. inthesetimes.com/article/toni...
November 20, 2024 at 2:57 AM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
roxanegay.bsky.social
This obsession is unhealthy. Our horizons are fine. Also social media, for most, is not a job. It is not school. It is socializing. And it’s fine to say “I don’t want to hang out with Nazis, homophobes, transphobes etc in my free time.”
theglobeandmail.com The Globe and Mail @theglobeandmail.com · Nov 22
Opinion - The problem with Bluesky: It won’t broaden our horizons: In the wake of Donald Trump’s election win, the social-media platform has enjoyed a surge of new users looking for an alternative to Elon Musk’s X. But will it be useful, if it just creates an echo chamber for the left?
The problem with Bluesky: It won’t broaden our horizons
In the wake of Donald Trump’s election win, the social-media platform has enjoyed a surge of new users looking for an alternative to Elon Musk’s X. But will it be useful, if it just creates an echo chamber for the left?
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 22, 2024 at 3:12 PM
danscratch.bsky.social
I haven't watched this yet but am curious as to how much analysis was directed towards how students respond to the structures of the education system.
therundowntvo.bsky.social The Rundown @therundowntvo.bsky.social · Nov 20
What is causing rampant student incivility in Ontario classrooms since the return of in-person learning? @spaikin.bsky.social asked Lyne Frank and Natalie Spadafora (Brock University) #onted www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIrZ...
Why are Students Behaving Badly? Photo of teacher in a classroom
November 22, 2024 at 4:10 AM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
mayaschenwar.bsky.social
"To resign ourselves to the current conditions is to deny our collective power, and we harness that power by showing up for each other, over and over again—even when it’s difficult."

--Kim Wilson said in our @truthout.org interview with George Yancy

truthout.org/articles/abo...
Abolition Work Shows Us There’s Joy to Be Found Even as the World Is on Fire
Care work and parenting work are not an accessory to abolition — they are core to the struggle itself.
truthout.org
November 21, 2024 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
rachelgilmore.bsky.social
A lil tip for the folks with shoe polish on their lips today :)
Excerpt from Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny:" "1. Do not obey in advance." "Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do."
November 20, 2024 at 5:34 PM
danscratch.bsky.social
First Post Intro!

I've been a teacher for 15 years working in Nova Scotia, Alberta, and now Ontario.

My teaching practice is centered on teaching for equity and social justice while fostering hope for a better world.

I love my home in the borderlands and the pizza here is pretty good too! #yqg
November 21, 2024 at 3:35 AM
Reposted by Dan Scratch
drevilacademic.bsky.social
As someone who studies evil: yup. Evil is a process and made possible by ordinary folks like us. Similarly, good persists through the constant dedication of (usually small scale) communities, and people who refuse to give up (but they do need to lean on each other when resting and recovering)
November 17, 2024 at 11:10 PM