The Fourth Annual William Waters Symposium on Urban Education

From April 25 - 27, 2012, the Centre for Urban Schooling held its Fourth Annual William Waters Symposium on Urban Education. Entitled Activism in Education: Pushing Limits in Increasingly Conservative Times, the symposium featured a public lecture and two days of pre-registered seminars by distinguished guests: James Banks and Judy Rebick. The public lectured opened to a jam-packed audience at Isabel Bader Theatre.

James Banks delivered a lecture entitled Educating Citizens in Global Times for Knowing, Caring and Acting. He followed up his lecture with seminars across two days for four distinct groups: OISE Initial Teacher Education Instructors and Coordinators; TDSB Model Schools for Inner Cities Lead Teachers and Coaches; Toronto Area Region Office Equity Representatives; and, TDSB Equitable and Inclusive Schools administrative representatives. Banks currently holds the Kerry and Linda Killinger Endowed Chair in Diversity Studies and is Founding Director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, Seattle. Professor Banks is a specialist in social studies education and in multicultural education, and has written more than 100 articles and written or edited 20 books in these fields.

Judy Rebick delivered a lecture entitled Occupy Education on opening night. She then facilitated one seminar with teacher candidates and graduate students the next day. Judy worked from the questions that the students prepared in an organizing meeting about dilemmas in relation to activism in teaching. Judy Rebick is a well-known social justice activist, writer, educator and speaker. She is currently the Eakin Fellow in Canadian Studies at McGill University.  Previously she held the CAW Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University.  She is also part of the Media panel on CBC radio’s Q. 

Link to view the video recording of this special event: https://media.library.utoronto.ca/public/serve/cdLU4ClxFGvk.mp4