Let’s toast Balneet Toor, the recipient of the Rise and Shine Toastmasters’ Annual Achievement Award, for her outstanding work in CMNS 235: Public Speaking. Balneet recently graduated from UFV with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, as well as the Professional Communication Essentials certificate.
“I was very surprised and thankful when I found out about the nomination,” says Balneet. “It felt nice to know that my peers and professor enjoyed listening to my speeches and they have faith in my skills. Winning the award was the best feeling ever. I felt very proud of myself, and this was a fantastic way to end my last semester at UFV.”
Why did you take the class and what was your experience like?
BT: I took this class to challenge myself and to improve my public speaking skills. Another motivating factor was that I would qualify for a communications certificate since I had already completed the other two communications courses. It was a hard decision for me because I get very nervous while speaking in front of a large group. However, I am so glad that I pushed myself to take the course because it was a life changing experience for me. I was able to overcome my fear of public speaking and regain lost confidence. Samantha made this course enjoyable and valuable. It was a great decision to take this class.
What was your favourite part of the class?
BT: My favorite part of the class was the impromptu speaking and having a theme for each class. This is something I looked forward to each week as the themes were very interesting and our class discussions were also very effective and valuable. I loved listening to my peers, hearing about their experiences and relating them to my life and also learning new things from them. This was a great way to get to know one another. It helped the class understand each other better and increase our comfort level.
What was it like taking a public speaking class on Zoom?
BT: It was a very unique experience taking a public speaking class on Zoom. Honestly it went so much better than I had expected. Samantha made the course very easy to follow along and she encouraged us to use this opportunity to learn different techniques on how to present online. Since I am a business student, I feel this was a very valuable experience because I will be presenting online at some point in my career. Especially with the world changing due to the pandemic and most people working from home. I’m glad I was able to make progress with each speech and change the technique that I was using to present. For example, in my first speech I was sitting down and presenting. By the end of the course, I presented while standing in front of the camera.
Do you have any tips for future public speaking students?
BT: Some tips that I have for future public speaking students is to take risks, chances and have faith in yourself. You are your biggest motivator. It’s important to brainstorm and practice your speech beforehand to ensure that your speech will be effective. Lastly, don’t forget to have fun! This course is full of enjoyable activities and amazing opportunities.
Balneet’s award-winning acceptance speech is below. “I prepared for my final speech by creating a speech plan and noting down everything that I would like to include,” said Balneet. “From there onwards I just spoke from the heart. I was so thankful and happy that I was given this opportunity.”
We caught up with Elise Goertz, the Practicum and Internship Coordinator for the College of Arts. The last year and a bit has been disruptive for everyone, but when your job involves matching students with employers for workplace experience, the pandemic presented a unique set of issues.
What was the greatest challenge for employers and the practicum students due to the public health emergency over the past year?
The biggest challenge for both students and employers has been adapting to the new virtual environment. Most businesses we work with have been unable to host students in a physical location. Switching over to a completely virtual work environment was a learning curve for both employers and students, but all were able to adapt quickly.
I think that students had to learn to work more independently, ask more questions, use better time management skills, and become comfortable engaging in online meetings and using email communication. These are all skills they will continue to use in the future.
Do you think working remotely will play a bigger role in practicum placements in the future?
I think that remote work environments are here to stay and virtual practicums will continue to be available to UFV students. Many employers see the benefits of virtual work agreements for employees, interns and practicum students alike. Some of these benefits include flexible scheduling, low cost office space, fewer sick days, increased employee/intern satisfaction, increased productivity and more. In terms of practicum and internship placements, virtual placement agreements allow students to work from the comfort of their own home when their schedule allows. Students find this flexibility appealing.
What encouragement would you offer a student hesitating about taking on a practicum for the fall semester?
While taking on a practicum is a commitment, most students do not realized that a 80 hour practicum consists of just 8-10 practicum hours per week over the semester. Because of this, it’s easy for students to take other courses at the same time as their practicum.
If a student is unsure if they have the professional skills needed for a practicum, they will be happy to learn that the new practicum course (Practicum 1 & 2) involves a professional competency component. Students will first learn the skills needed to be successful in a workplace environment. Another thing to note is that all of our practicum placements are done individually. I make sure we make the right match and find a placement that aligns with the skills and interests of the student. If students have questions about this they can talk to me!
From your experience what is the most common benefit students report from their practicum experiences?
Practicum placements provide students with a great network that they can tap into when starting a career. Networking is such a huge part of a practicum placement. Many students come away with recommendation letters and references that they can use when applying for future roles.
Another practicum benefit is the fact that the experience allows students to develop their professional skills so that they are ready to launch into a career. Students learn that many of the skills that they have learned in the classroom are transferable to the workplace. After working in these types of positions, students become more confident, and develop a growth mindset. This experience also gives students the opportunity to explore ways they can contribute to our complex and ever-changing society and economy even before they have finished their education.
A practicum placement is a great way to earn credits towards your degree and diploma and at the same time get valuable workplace experience that can facilitate your transition from UFV to your career of choice. You can find out more about the UFV practicum courses (Arts 280 / Arts 380) here.
Having just completed teaching our Professional Report Writing course, CMNS 251, I am reminded once again of ten common business writing practices that many of the learners in the course need to have reinforced several times throughout a semester before they seem to stick. These ten are not the entire list but let’s not get too heavy here, right?
Why are these things so difficult to remember? My guess is that it come from three understandable places – thus why we teach such a class:
In our very first experiences with writing we learn to give lots of space between letters and sentences so that our rough attempts can more easily be read and corrected;
The academic practice of double-spacing is also meant for “corrections” and publisher notes
Workplace (aka business/technical) writing is about speed. No time to waste trying to figure out the “bottom line” as they say. A new concept for our post-secondary level writers.
Given the need for speed in the business world, the message has to be succinct, accurate for the audience, with high readability (ease of understanding the main message), and ultimately bring a positive result. With these principles in mind, these ten memes just might help us remember.
#1: Single (not double) spacing is the default
OK, no problem, but of course this does not stand alone. Single-spacing will take up less pages but it also has to come with shorter paragraphs to create what is called white space. White space (the parts of the page that do not contain text, make the text easier to read). Thanks to the computer age, single spacing also comes hand-in-hand with the use of left-alignment and no paragraph indent (replaced by a single line space to designate a new paragraph (ah more white space).
This leads us to #2: Succinct Section Headings
Remember speed as a principle? The reader needs to be able to “glance” through a memo, letter, or document and pick out important information. No time for flowery prose here – make headings obvious with very few words that say exactly the focus of a particular section. Bold is best. Making the heading stand out is good but don’t overdo it. Just use bold, not italic or underline and for goodness sake don’t use a combination (horrors).
Of course headings only really make sense if they are configured in line with #3 Follow a Logical Path. Make sure that one section leads to the next. It is fairly common for inexperienced writers to just put their thoughts down as they are thinking without ever trying to organize them ahead of time.
Maybe a meme about making an outline first would be handy. OK – next time. Organizing my thoughts was something I certainly had to be reminded to do even in graduate school and I continue to remind myself regularly when I write. That being said, even the most logical route will not be enough if we don’t give clear directions to the reader on what to expect next on the pathway.
#4 Use Transitions as road signs. Almost every time I ask a class what they need for a good road trip, they say “snacks.” It takes us a while to get to “navigation tools” like maps and road signage. Those are just things we expect to be there but NO, somebody had to design them at some time and they did it for good reason.
It is pretty easy to find resources on line that offer hundreds of suggestions for writing a variety of types of transitions. These remind the reader where they have been, where they are headed next, how far they still need to go, and where they will end up.
# 5 Use Plain Language unless your audience is well-versed in a particular workplace jargon (specialized technical language). Using plain language is a not about dumbing down information, it is about making sure the message is clear for a broad audience. Along with the inherently multi-lingual nature of North America, Canada is fortunate in having a culturally diverse settler/immigrant and refugee population that offer a rich global experience and bring hundreds of languages into daily life. For many people English may be not only a second language but probably a fourth or fifth language at the least. Using plain language helps everyone have a better communication experience whether in speaking or writing.
#6 Use Past Tense in most cases when writing reports.
Why? because by the time your audience is reading the report is finished, therefore in the past. The most common bad (but natural) habit is to use a progressing/continuous future tense (i.e. you will read about an analysis of…). Present tense is also common (I am writing about…). Past tense is more accurate “For this report I analyzed..”
#7 Know your audience and your purpose.
This one really should be #1 but hey, we usually get there without as much trouble as 1-6 above. Those seem so simple but turn out not to be.
Identifying your audience takes time and thought. Audience demographics (location, age, gender, cultural background) are a great place to start but do not stop there. Ask yourself some more questions: Who cares? How do they want to get the information? What will they expect to from a particular time of document or mode of message transmission?
Know your purpose before designing your message.Why do you think this message is important to get out? What is it about this information that would get the attention of the audience you have identified? What do you want the audience to do in response to what you are writing?
Match your answers to these types of questions with the audience you have identified to double-check that you have a clear picture of what your message will be. Develop a short statement about your purpose to include in the introduction. This will help the reader but it will also have the bonus effect of keeping you on track.
#8 Know and honour the difference between a fact, an opinion, and your bias. Reports are no place for opinion. Even your conclusions should be based in the facts you present. Provide a source for everything you present as a “claim of fact;” and do your best to ensure that you acknowledge and account for bias (something we all have but often need to be more aware of).
I know that citing facts are the bane of all student existence but I promise that after a while it is the funnest part (my opinion lol). In the Communications department we most often use APA citation style because that is what academic journals in our discipline most often require. Plus the APA Style Blog is always a handy resource for all the cases that occur from rapid changes in digital information sources. In business writing it is more common to see something like Chicago (note and bibliography style) which demonstrates conventions similar to those used for Wikipedia style. It is more digital friendly for social media as well.
#9 Reports do not use salutary openings and complimentary closes. This one seems a bit picky but it will help you to identify the type of document that is best for your purpose. Is your audience just one individual? or written in a personal tone? You probably want to use a letter format (seems old-fashioned these days but still relevant in many circumstances). If so, please DO use salutary openings and complimentary closes.
Otherwise, remember that in professional/business/technical writing, speed it the thing. Greetings and closings slow both you and the reader down.
Tip #10 seems so, so obvious but one more time won’t hurt – PROOF READ before you send. If you have the time and resources, have someone else also proof your writing as a set of fresh eyes. Another trick is to have your device read out what you have written. This is a great way to listen for moments when you think “that doesn’t make sense” or “wow, where did that come from.”
Thank you for your time and now I need to go back and proofread one more time. Please let me know if I missed anything 🙂 Happy report writing to all.
A special Thank You to “Boo” the grizzly who lives and works at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in the Dogtooth Range of the Purcell Mountains, Columbia Valley, Golden, British Columbia.
Also to Terry Curts for the meme ideas and image search
Head to the Communications Speaker Spotlight on March 31 at noon to hear industry experts from Jelly Marketing and the Fraser Valley Regional District talk about the role of communication in the workplace. Former students Lise Nehring and Maaria Zafar join current students Addy Schnider and Perry Mills to discuss the skills they learned in the Communications minor program. Attendees have the chance to win one of two $50 gift cards.
Scan the QR code or click the link to sign up at Eventbrite.
SPEAKERS:
Angelique Crowther is Manager of Communications at the Fraser Valley Regional District, a local government serves residents in the Fraser Valley. Angelique is an experienced communications professional working primarily for the public sector, Angelique has served at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver School Board and abroad with the Cayman Islands Government. Angelique is particularly experienced and interested in public engagement and emergency management.
Sarah Clark is a Partner and Director of Operations and Personnel at Jelly Marketing, a full-service digital marketing agency located in Fort Langley. With a background in event management and marketing from UFV and Mount Royal University, Sarah uses her experiences from the last decade to ensure that Jelly performs at its best each and every day.
Lise Nehring is on her journey towards her Masters in Biology. She sees the crucial role of communication in translating scientific knowledge to everyday settings for maximum results.
Maaria Zafar is a criminal justice student but also one of our active communication minor students. Maaria has taken note of how communication has benefited her academically and professionally and is here to share with us her notes.
Addy Schneider is the President of UFV Enactus Club, a communication minor student who is currently taking some of our upper-level communication courses. She believes having effective communication skills allows better information sharing and network building.
Perry Mills is working toward his Bachelor of Arts degree with a minor in Spanish, business, and communications. He says that communication is integral to all aspects of life, from relationships to work, and everything in between. He hopes that others might also find a passion in learning how to express their thoughts and knowledge.
and follow the links to learn about the traditions, foods, activities, songs, and scenes from the five countries where the lunar new year is a national holiday.
This tour is just a little taste so you encouraged to trek out on your own across the world wide web to find out even more about the similarities and the differences of these New Year celebrations. You just might never refer to it as Chinese New Year ever again – but you can; no judgement here 🙂
Photo: La Fairy Sail: http://www.lafairy-sails.com/en/blog/all-about-traditions-of-tet-the-vietnamese-lunar-new-year.htm
Want to put your own lunar new year celebration together but have no idea what food to buy? Problem solved.
A Tour of Lower Mainland Asian grocery stores for your pleasure:
Let’s start with Surrey. The T&T Supermarket – For many general Asian grocery items. Their baked goods and cooked meals are excellent.
Photo: Google Map
For more specialized Korean ingredients it’s H-Mart at 19555 Fraser Hwy, Surrey.
Photo: H-mart website
Want to take a trip into the big city for some specialized Vietnamese ingredients? Let’s drive on over to the 88 Supermarket at 4801 Victoria Drive, Vancouver.
Photo: Google Map
Need some Vietnamese groceries in the Fraser Valley? Here we are in Langley and Abbotsford.
Photo: Google Map
The Saigon City Market is at 20178 56 Ave. Langley City and for more specialized Vietnamese ingredients, Vihn-Tan Oriental Groceries is at 2681 Cedar Park Place, Abbotsford. They have barbeque pork and roasted ducks on Wednesdays and Saturdays and they are yum (we can attest to that),
Congratulations to University of the Fraser Valley student Garrett Johnson, a 2020 Bachelor of Arts graduate for having his name drawn from a pool of over 1100 alumni and current students who responded to the recent Communications Department survey. The survey gathered information to contribute to developing a Communications Major within the Bachelor of Arts.
We extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who responded to the survey!!!
Garrett says he put his knowledge from his Communications 125 course to work immediately in applying to Simon Fraser University and has been accepted to a Masters program – something we are always happy to hear.
We also liked hearing his answers to our questions below because we know that our students at UFV have an amazing array of plans for the future and reasons why they decide that university is great path to meet their goals. Here are some of the things he had to say:
What are some favourite memories about any of the courses you took?
I took that specific course while studying remotely from Toronto. I found myself really enjoying the course material as I took three online courses. Being able to communicate to both professors and fellow students in a concise and professional manner is key when using technology to communicate. Being able to directly implement the ideas and concepts directly into my other courses was very gratifying!
In what ways have you been able to use any of the communications skills?
I have used the communication skills learned from the course in almost every aspect of my life. I have applied the skills in my various volunteer positions that I hold where I am required to regularly communicate in a professional manner. I have also made use of the skills in applying for Grad school, and to which I owe some credit in regards to my acceptance.
What are your future plans?
Besides preparing for Grad school, I am a freelance translator, translating between English and French. I am very interested in researching, analyzing, and promoting Franco-Columbian literature and authors. I would like to continue my work translating, as well as pursue my scholarly interests into what I hope will one day transition into a career opportunity.
What else would you like to say about yourself?
I am thankful for the variety of courses that UFV offers, despite possibly not having a complete program in [Communications]. I would love to go back and follow more CMNS courses now that I know the benefit from them.
Congratulations again Garrett and best wishes for all your future successes.
During the winter semester, as part of my Communications 125 class, we were asked to look into a topic that university students should know more about regarding the future of the workplace. Intrigued by the successes and failures of teamwork I had done in the past, it seemed like a great subject to look into. Even as our world has transitioned to a more digital environment, understanding how to do teamwork effectively has stayed as important as ever!
Recently, I have spent a lot of time debating whether I prefer working in a team or by myself. On one hand, I have been a part of teams where it ends up as if it were just me doing all the work but having to share all the glory. On the other hand, I have been a part of some pretty incredible teamwork that resulted in a finished product that I could have never achieved on my own.
So, now I am left wondering how my personal experiences with teamwork so far will translate to a future workplace. Now comes the time to play psychic. Where is teamwork finding its place in the future of the workplace? Have too many of us been swayed towards eliminating it entirely as a result of the all-too-familiar one-person “team” in which we play the leading role but with the praise of a supporting member? Or does the pride of a team project done right still linger, making us believe that teamwork does actually makes the dream work?
How Teamwork Can be Ineffective
Those of us with teamwork experience can likely agree that when working in teams, we can encounter some major hiccups. So first, we must define what these issues are and what’s causing them. The issues within teams are often social (Farh, Seo & Tuslek, 2012; Stutzer, 2019; West, 2012). Some of the causes of these social issues have been attributed to multigenerational issues (West, 2012), low-emotional intelligence (Stutzer, 2019) and not clearly defining each members’ tasks (West, 2012). Stutzer has stated that multigenerational teamscan result in stereotyping among members. According to Farh et al., members with low emotional intelligenceare unable to read social cues to avoid conflict. Finally, when a member’s task is hard to define, West has said that they end up doing nothing and relying on the other members’ work.
All these issues in workplace teams create conflict. This is when teams start to become ineffective and just plain frustrating.
So, How Can We Build an Effective Team?
One solution to consider is team building exercises. Whether they are done inside or outside of the workplace, team building fosters cohesionwithin the team (Stutzer, 2019). Team building is all about creating healthy working relationshipsto solve or avoid issues amongst members (Dirks, 2019). So, meet with your team regularly and just get to know each other!Creating relationships with each other not only helps avoid social conflict but also encourages personal investment in the success of the team amongst members.
To Teamwork or not to Teamwork?
Experts agree that in many job sectors, teamwork is in fact crucial. For example,in the nursing sector, if the nurses aren’t all working together, they will not be able to create and execute a treatment plan for a patient (Dirks, 2019).So, no matter how messy teamwork can get, a great product often stems from people working together.With this being said, teamwork will likely continue to hold a prominent and productive place in the workplace of the future.
Farh, C. I. C. C., Seo, M.-G., & Tesluk, P. E. (2012). Emotional intelligence, teamwork effectiveness, and job performance: The moderating role of job context. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(4), 890–900. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027377
Stutzer, K. (2019). Generational differences and multigenerational teamwork. Critical Care Nurse, 39(1), 78–81. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2019163
West, M. A. (2012). Effective teamwork practical lessons from organizational research. Wiley & Sons Incorporated.
Last week in CMNS 180 (Introduction to Intercultural Communication), for an assignment related to our unit on Culture, Communication and Social Categorization, I asked the class to:
Find a current news article or broadcast about Canada’s experience with Covid_19 that demonstrates some element of ingroup/outgroup; othering; or social categorization
Provide a link to the item
Provide your take on how the situation in the news relates to this topic
After reading all the responses, very pleased with how the took on the assignment, I sent them this email and I thought other people might like to see the list too.
Dear Class: “I thought you might like to see the broad range of topics and articles that were submitted to me for the Canada Now – Covid_19 assignment.
This is just the links with none of the related comments which I found really fascinating with some things that I hadn’t thought of and with so much direct relationship to communication. Some of this variety included things like ageism, finances, border crossing, conspiracy theories, racism and racist graffiti, Indigenous communities, partisan politics, and many more – have a look.
The down side? our society has a lot of work to do to be better.” Regards, M
Intercultural Communication considers the impact that culture has on the way that people create and decipher messages; how they come to understand meanings through interactions with culturally different humans.
Why is Intercultural Communication Important
Learning to become interculturally competent is important in order to eliminate stereotyping and the judgment against other groups based on the lack of knowledge that people have on other groups. At the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) we have the privilege to delve into the world of intercultural communication, where we as students can lean each other and support each other through our educational goals. There are many opportunities to get involved with intercultural communication at UFV; there are different social groups, intercultural events, support groups and counseling to help international students settle into their lives at UFV and in Abbotsford. Students from all over the world come here to complete their post secondary education or to study abroad to gain that experience of living in another country.
UFV has partnerships for the Abroad program from all over the world. Some of the countries include:
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Chile
China
Columbia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Hong Kong
India
Ireland
Africa
Japan
Korea
Mexico
Netherlands
Poland
Scotland
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
UAE
U.K.
U.S.
Each of these countries offer different post secondary education programs to give international students a chance to grow in their education and chase their passion. The programs that are available to students range from Business and Social work to open studies, to language studies. All of these programs are offered between multiple Universities in the countries mentioned. These different groups experience each other’s way of life and become acknowledged about their traditions, cultures and norms.
How Does it Impact UFV Students
Intercultural communication allows for UFV students to expand their cultural knowledge, and meet new people to share information. University is the time of your life to explore and have new experiences, why not learn about a new culture and experience something new. Learning about each other’s cultures can reduce culture shock amongst the international students that are here for an extended period of time. Also, these opportunities let the domestic students learn about the different cultures if they do not have the opportunity to travel. They give students and faculty a chance to communicate in a variety of ways. Communicating across cultural norms allows for open mindedness, especially when considering the difficulties that some international students may face, such as: language barriers, trying to open up and not being confident to introduce themselves. The social groups and peer mentoring help the international students to be more comfortable in a new country, new environment, and new learning atmosphere.
Intercultural Communication 101 at UFV (no not the course)
Some tips on how to achieve intercultural communication:
What are Universities Doing to enhance Intercultural Communication?
The University of Fraser Valley also has peer to peer mentoring to help the international students. On their website, you can look at the profiles of the mentors and see which of the mentors match your personality the best.
Here is an example of a Student:
Courtesy of: Connect With a Student International UFV.ca 2020
Resources page fromm UFV’s Teaching & Learning Centre
Additionally the UFV centre for Teaching and Learning offers a page full of great resources and notes about what you can glean from them. This resource is intended for everyone at UFV; students, staff, administration and faculty.
Navigate find their way in life in Canada. Where they can find tutors, how to budget, how to find a doctor, and much more
Courtesy of: Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation University of British Columbia 2020Courtesy of: International Student Guide University of British Columbia 2020
Additionally, the University of Toronto has a website page dedicated to tips that professors can use in the classroom that will help international students with learning the material during lectures, which in turn will also help the domestic university students.
Let’s get personal; A UFV International student experience from one of the authors:
Q. How do you find UFV as a school?
A. UFV is a good school, more than I expected. International group lounge was very helpful in my adjustment here, the group lounge is particularly for international students to meet each other.
Q. Was your transition to UFV Easy?
A. It’s not so easy transitioning here from India, missing family and friends, and being in a new culture. Living alone and having to grocery shop, manage rent are all new things for me. I have difficulty finding a job and making new friends. UFV has many opportunities in helping make friends, different groups to join and meet people.
Q. What are some gaps you find in North American culture compared to Indian Culture?
A. There are many differences such as clothing, food, language, different styles of learning, celebrations, and different ways of greeting each other
Q.If you knew about intercultural communication when you moved to Canada, would it have made a difference in your transition?
A. YES 🙂
Activities for Communication in a Classroom
Activity #1 – Create a Poem
“ Where I’m From”
“Creating a “reflection” that communicates an affirmative personal, cultural, and linguistic identity is likely to benefit all students in class, but this pedagogical approach has been seen as particularly impactful for English language learners, whose home cultures and languages may be perceived as inferior in the mainstream social and educational environment.”
Allowing the students to write about where they are from, and the different cultures/ identities was able to help engage the students learning english as a second language a chance to give them each something to talk and show where they are from. Allowing them each to write about themselves and the place they came from gave them a sense of empowerment
Activity #2 – What Would You Do?
Time Required: 45–60 minutes: 30 minutes for activity and 30 minutes to debrief
Objectives: 1. Describe a range of “appropriate” responses in a given scenario. 2. Explore the diversity of communication styles within the group.
Materials: Post-it notes Pen or pencil for each participant Communication Styles Handout (distribute after step 3) Four pieces of poster-size paper: Each with a situation
Process: 1. Ask participants to read and decide how they would respond to each situation. 2. Have them record individual responses on Post-it notes and place them on the appropriate situation chart. 3. Ask participants to choose one charted situation to stand next to. Balance the four groups. 4. Ask each group to examine the responses to their situation. 5. Distribute the Communication Styles Handout. Review the style preferences listed on page 33. 6. Cluster responses into “style” preference.
Example Scenario: “You see someone using racist terms”
Example Response: “Say that you are not OK with that”, “Get somewhere safe”, “Get help”
Activity #3 – Personal Reflection for Transition
Time required: 75-95 minutes ( 5 minutes for setup; 20-30 minutes for completing worksheet; 20-30 minutes for small group discussion; 30 minutes for debriefing
Objectives: 1) for participants to let go of their current locations and psychologically moving on to their new location, and to reflect. 2) for participants to recognize that transitions are a process, not distinct events, and they can move on with conscious intent. 3) for participants to relax and get additional perspective and inspiration during what is typically a challenging time.
Process: answer questions about their departure and their transition into the new space.
To follow up: talk about the answers, and help the participants feel better.
References and additional resources:
Baldwin, J. R., & Levy, S. (2014). Intercultural communication for everyday life. Wiley-Blackwell. Berardo, K,. Deardorff, D.K,. Building Cultural Competence: Innovative Activities and Models. (2008) Retrieved from: https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&id
Ivanova, R. (2019). Using “where I’m from” poems to welcome international ESL students into U.S. academic culture. TESOL Journal, 2. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.399
Poitras, D. (2019). Welcoming International and Foreign Students in Canada: Friendly Relations with Overseas Students (FROS) at the University of Toronto, 1951–68. 100(1), 22–45.
Stringer, D. M. & Cassiday, P. (2009) 52 Activities for Improving Cross-Cultural Communication. Boston: Intercultural Press.
Zhang, M. M., Jie Xia, D, & Zhu, J. C. (2016). Managing Student Diversity in Business Education: Incorporating Campus Diversity Into the Curriculum to Foster Inclusion and Academic Success of International Students. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 15(2), 366–380.
Do you think being “colourblind” is a solution or that historically oppressed groups should just “get over it?” In this piece we explore what racism is, some history of government sanctioned racism through laws and Acts, the Canadian denial of racism, and what the government is doing to combat racism. Through this blog and the links we provide we hope you learn a bit about racism in Canada and how it shapes the Canada of today and inspires you to use that knowledge to shape the Canada of tomorrow as a country that values all its citizens and welcomes their contributions.
What is Racism?
Racism in Canada seems to get swept under the rug so first, let us try to answer the what is racism? Charlotte Reading, in her article Social Determinants of Health: Understanding Racism, written for the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Rights, explains that term definitions such as race, racism, ethnicity and ethnocentrism, and topics of interests such as ideology of racism, forms of racism, epistemic racism, structural racism, social exclusion, symbolic racism, embodied racism and the concept of “colorblindness.” There is obviously a lot to learn when it is time to answer the question of “What is racism?”
One of the concepts that we found it useful to explore for our piece is the concept of “colorblindness.” Something that on the surface seems perfectly reasonable – not judging people by the colour of their skin; that if more Canadians became “colorblind” our society would become more accepting, allowing minority groups, immigrants and aboriginal peoples to feel more welcomed in a place that they call their home. In reality this is not anywhere near the answer. As Canadian scholar Robyn Maynard states “One of the reasons that racism persists in Canada is because our commitment to the perception of racial tolerance and harmony seems to be prized above the actual lived experiences of people.”
Charlotte points out that believing that ignoring skin colour will solve all our problems fails to consider the very real experience of racismthat occur in daily life. As a result, this attitude actually helps to maintain inequities. While people put into the category of “white” continue to access unearned priviledge based on their skin colour, racialized people continue to experience discrimination and oppression. Rather than promoting social justice, colour-blindness is simply a new form of racism that becomes even more subtle and indirect. Forms that slip through the net of Canada’s laws and Acts of Parliament that are meant to stop racism.
Canada and a Government Sanctioned History of Racism
Currently, Canada has many laws that prohibit singling out people of a certain race or ethnic origin for discrimination. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has a section that deals with equality and rights. It states that people are to be treated equally no matter their race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion but this hasn’t always been the practice. In the past the Canadian Government has enacted laws that single out a race or ethnicity for exclusion. Some examples of this are the Continuous Voyage Legislation, Indian Residential Schools, the Chinese Immigration act, and the WWII internment of Japanese Canadians.
Continuous Journey Regulation
In 1908 and until 1947, the Canadian government Immigration Act included was was called the Continuous Journey Regulation. It stated that in order to be eligible to immigrate to Canada a person must complete their journey from their country of origin without any stopovers, or in other words a continuous journey. Without stating it, this regulation was specifically aimed at immigrants from India and Japan who, due to the technology of the time, were unable to sail to Canada without stopping at another country.
This regulation was challenged numerous times and was up-dated several times. One of the challenges, the Komagata Maru Incident of 1914 that happened in Vancouver, led to the death of twenty passengers and the imprisonment and execution of most when the ship landed back in Budge Budge, India. In 2008 the Canadian Government apologized for this incident.
Indian Residential Schools
Residential schools were Canadian Government funded school administered by religious bodies. They first opened in 1830 and the last one closed in 1996. The stated goal of these schools was to educate and convert to Christianity Indigenous youths so they could integrate into “Canadian” society but to accomplish this the method was to separate them from their families and culture and destroy their identity. Or as one government official said to “kill the Indian in the child.”Many of the children suffered years of abuse, neglect and death. The outcomes of this school system left generations trapped between two worlds.
Chinese Immigration Act and Head Tax
Due to the demand for cheap and exploitable labour to build the Canadian Pacific Railway (as well as for mining, fishing, and forestry) the Canadian Government encouraged the immigration of Chinese labourers. The cross-Canada railway was finished in 1885and in that year the Canadian Government passed the Chinese Immigration Act which applied a “head tax” of $50 per person of Chinese ethnic origin as well as limiting the number of Chinese people a ship could carry. In 1900 the head tax was raised to $100. In 1903 it was raise to $500. Then, in 1923 the Canadian Government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act which banned the immigration of people of Chinese ethnic origin all together. These discriminatory Acts not only prevented Chinese immigration to Canada but also broke up families by preventing the wives and children to join the men who came to help build Canada.
Japanese Internment Camps
After the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 during WW2 the Canadian Government created a “protected zone” along the coast of British Columbia in which there was to be no one of Japanese descent due to the distrust of anyone who “might have” Japanese loyalties … even if they were Canadian by birth. People were forcibly removed from their homes. Any possessions they could not carry were taken into government custody and sold. This included their homes, businesses, fishing boats, and even personal property. Men, women, and children were interned in camps in the interior of British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba. In 1946 when the war was over many were forced to return to a war devastated Japan. Even after the war, the people who remained in Canada were not allowed to return to their former homes.
Racism and communities of African descent in Canada
As Matthew McRae (2020) tells us in his piece “The Story of Africville” the history of Black people in Canada goes back at least to where there were communities in Nova Scotia since before the founding of the city of Halifax in 1749. Then after the American Revolution, in the late 1700s and early 1800s, large groups of Black settlers came, many of them former enslaved people who had been promised freedom and land. Instead they faced attitudes of superiority and segregation. Despite this they build vibrant communities that were routinely excluded from being provided proper municipal services of all kinds. Eventually in 1964, the community known as Africville, a part of the City of Halifax was destroyed under the guise of relocation and homes destroyed with little to no notice. They continued to face racism in their new homes. Robyn Maynard in her recently published book Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present delves in to the legacy of such actions and government policies.
Denials of Racism in Canada
Sadly we still experience widespread and disgraceful denials of racism in Canada. Trevor Gulliver (2018), in his article Canada the Redeemer and Denials of Racism does an amazing job of explaining this in his chapter Denials of Racism. According to this article there are many different ways that Canada uses to be shielded from accusations of racism. Strategies includes minimizing incidents (it wasn’t that bad) or acknowledges to a limited extent (its just some individuals) but, even then, it is posited as in the past and better now.
What Strategies has Canada Implemented to Stop Racism?
One such strategyis the Anti-Racism Strategy created by the Government of Canada in 2018. The strategy focuses on three principles “demonstrating federal leadership, empowering communities, and building awareness and changing attitudes.” This also includes what is called the Anti-Racism Action Program which provides help to religious minorities, racialized communities and Indigenous peoples having issues with employment, justice and social participation. This website is very important to read and to become familiar with to become educated about the laws and regulations Canada has set in place to combat racism.
Another anti-racism initiative is through the Ontario Human Rights Commission. This website shows the different human rights laws and systems used to provide information on and address discrimination. This website provides the reader with the description of the human rights code which “provides for equal rights and opportunities and freedom from discrimination.” This website also provides the description of racism and racial discrimination because many people confuse these terms. Racism is “a belief that one group is superior to others” whereas racial discrimination is “the illegal expression of racism.” This website also defines systemic racial discrimination and lastly identifies and addresses racial discrimination. To understand racism this website really helps and makes it easier to identify and stop these types of discrimination from occurring.
By learning about these and other discriminatory acts and understand how they came to be through fear and the blame game, where you pick an easy target rather than looking for the root cause of your fears and troubles, we can be better prepared to meet the challenges of today, fairly, for all Canadians. Not only will our children and grandchilden be proud of us but we can build a strong united Canada that values all its citizens and welcomes their contributions.
We hope this blog and the links we provided will motivate you to look at racism in Canada with open eyes. There are so many stories of perseverance and courage, both in Canada’s past and present. Hopefully this will motivate you to go out and join the fighters and make a difference. Knowledge is power. Use it wisely.
Additional References and Resources (Books available from UFV Library)
Nakano, T. U. & Nakano, L. (1980). Within the Barbed Wire Fence: A Japanese Man’s Account of his Internment in Canada. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
Maybe a meme about 
#4 Use Transitions as road signs. Almost every time I ask a class what they need for a good road trip, they say “snacks.” It takes us a while to get to “navigation tools” like 
message is clear for a broad audience. Along with the inherently multi-lingual nature of North America, Canada is fortunate in having a culturally diverse settler/immigrant and refugee population that offer a rich global experience and bring hundreds of languages into daily life. For many people English may be not only a second language but probably a fourth or fifth language at the least. Using plain language helps everyone have a better communication experience whether in speaking or writing.
This one really should be #1 but hey, we usually get there without as much trouble as 1-6 above. Those seem so simple but turn out not to be.
#9 Reports do not use salutary openings and complimentary closes. This one seems a bit picky but it will help you to identify the type of document that is best for your purpose. Is your audience just one individual? or written in a personal tone? You probably want to use a letter format (seems old-fashioned these days but still relevant in many circumstances). If so, please DO use 
Tip #10 seems so, so obvious but one more time won’t hurt – PROOF READ before you send. If you have the time and resources, have someone else also proof your writing as a set of fresh eyes. Another trick is to have your device read out what you have written. This is a great way to listen for moments when you think “that doesn’t make sense” or “wow, where did that come from.”
In 1908 and until 1947, the Canadian government Immigration Act included was was called the 
After the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 during WW2 the Canadian Government created a “protected zone” along the coast of British Columbia in which there was to be no one of Japanese descent due to the distrust of anyone who “might have” Japanese loyalties … even if they were Canadian by birth. People were forcibly removed from their homes. Any possessions they could not carry were taken into government custody and sold. This included their homes, businesses, fishing boats, and even personal property.