In episode 2 of a blog series for instructors or facilitators supporting newcomers, I aim to address reservations you or your program participants may have about the benefits of yoga. Recognizing that newcomers are accessing programs for language-learning and acquiring particular benchmarks and knowledge that will move their lives forward in Canada, I hope to […]
What Can Gentle Yoga Offer Newcomers? Read More »
As we enter another year of uncertainty, fragmented programming and isolation, I am offering this space to those of you who are providing services to newcomers ways to support their wellbeing, and as well as your own. In the following months, I will share knowledge, practices and principles and develop resources that can be implemented
Introducing Yoga and other Wellness Practices with Newcomers Read More »
By Sandrine Espie, Founder at RESCAPE, a restoring space for social service workers, community organizers and environmental activists Slogans promoting the integration of well-being and wellness practices into the workforce are flooding our media. However, in this seemingly well-intentioned political and media context, we know that the successful integration of these concepts is challenging for
Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City, February, 2020 After an awe-inspiring and adventurous 4 weeks in January and February travelling around central Mexico, the year took a sharp downturn, starting with my birthday on March 12. Sitting in a coffee shop talking to our contractor about the renovations underway on our downtown condo, my purse was
By Andrea Solnes (Learning Journeys Lead), Sandrine Espie (Pacific Immigrant Resources Society: Immigrant Services Learning Journeys Lead & Women’s Leadership Coordinator), Annelies Tjebbes (Learning Journeys Workshop Facilitator) Introduction Learning Journeys: Pathways for and with Immigrant Women is a 2-year social research and development project funded by IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada). Learning Journeys brings
Sharing learnings: How to center, amplify and support immigrant women’s voices Read More »
I can’t remember a time when work initiatives and personal values crossed paths as meaningfully as they are for me now. In creating spaces and opportunities for newcomers to bring their strengths to their new roles in Canada, and with a belief that now is the time to listen more carefully to quieter voices speaking
Learning Journeys: Pathways for and with Immigrant Women Read More »
What is needed in the increasingly diverse and complex learning environment of language instruction for immigrants? I am grateful and excited to do the work I do, opening doors to look beyond current systems, structures and practices, asking questions such as these, and listening. Throughout the past year, through conversations with refugee men and the
Addressing refugee men’s health in the EAL classroom Read More »
Who is the person that I want to be? I was drawn to this question last January after listening to Ted Kuntz, author of ‘Peace Begins With Me .’ Ted framed the question within a webinar entitled ‘Who is as important as how,’ which is also the title of the sixth pattern identified by Al
Who is as Important as How Read More »
Sometime in the past year, between transitioning out of full-time management in the settlement language sector, coming up against many learning edges in returning to school, and Trump’s executive orders banning Muslims originating from specific countries, I found myself in new and challenging terrain. My always compassionate heart and earnest but “safe” efforts to make
Reflections on Hopeful Ways Forward Read More »
Awakening to Diversity I think about the first ELT (English Language Training) class I taught at ISSofBC 25 years ago and recall the diversity of personalities and ethnicities in detail that delights me: 4 resourceful, tough, and playful Vietnamese young adults who had spent too much of their lives in a refugee camp a Somalian
Strength in Diversity Read More »
