By Heather Watts, Shamim Ahmed, and Kaitlyn Corlett Here at Redefining Traditional, we’ve shared a lot of important resources, stories and beginnings of conversations to not only bring into our lives as student parents – but also throughout our wider…
Journey of an International Student (Series Finale): “If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.”
by Shamim Ahmed In our ‘Journey of an International Student’ series, Shamim shares his experiences and journey as an international student parent at the University of Toronto. This thoughtful monthly series aims to highlight experiences of international student parents, find connections in…
Join Us in our KidsConnect Session!
Join the Redefining Traditional Team & the Family Care Office at the University of Toronto for a virtual KidsConnect session! Registration is open to student parents & their children at all institutions! When: February 25th, 2021 (Register by February 21st,…
Black History Month: Beyond February
By Heather Watts
When I graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Arts degree, I held the belief that teachers with similar educational backgrounds as I, serving the same student population as I, would hold the same beliefs about the importance of teaching diverse world-views in this country, and teaching about the history that is often erased to maintain a Euro-Western perspective.
The Importance of Meaningful Land Acknowledgements (Part Two)
Our land acknowledgements series highlights important stories and teachings from each of the Redefining Traditional team members – Heather, Shamim and Kaitlyn. Through these posts, we aim for our community to think about how land acknowledgments are immensely important, and…
Journey of an International Student (Part Four): “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going”
by Shamim Ahmed
In our ‘Journey of an International Student’ series, Shamim shares his experiences and journey as an international student parent at the University of Toronto. This thoughtful monthly series aims to highlight experiences of international student parents, find connections in our community, and uplift voices of others. If you have story or idea for our Redefining Traditional community, you can submit it here!
International students have their own challenges of coming to a new place – but this has some excitements too. Meeting new people, visiting new places, exploring new cultures and knowing a different society have some unique charms of its own. Despite this, it’s important to keep thinking about how we are involved in our academics, and this requires a lot of attention and care for domestic and international students alike. This might look differently for many of us right now as we enter into 2021, but I believe that these elements are still very much important in our education and experiences as students at UofT. Here are a few of my experiences that I hope are helpful for you, along with some resources!
Welcome 2021: Stop, Start, Continue
By Heather Watts, Shamim Ahmed, and Kaitlyn Corlett
Midnight has struck, the ball has dropped, and we are well into a new year, and a new decade. While 2020 certainly challenged us (to put it lightly), we have learned a lot about ourselves and our world. The rhetoric around welcoming a new year usually surrounds what we need to improve upon; what we need to start doing more of in our lives to grow our success. It is important not only to think through habits and practices we want to shed as we step into the new year, habits and practices we want to take up or start, but also honour what has sustained us and what has served us well. We, at the Redefining Traditional Team invite you to re-think your approach to a New Year’s Resolution, and reflect on what you want to stop, what you want to start, and what you want to continue.
Reflecting with our Community
By Heather Watts, Shamim Ahmed, and Kaitlyn Corlett Somehow, it’s already December… but it’s a December that’s very different for many of us. Family dinners, trips home, visits to our favorite local spots, or holiday festivities – we’re all having to reimagine…
Supporting Student Parent Success: Tips from Research and Practice
Authored by Victoria Fritz, PhD Candidate (Family Relations and Human Development) & Learning Specialist, University of Guelph
The university landscape in Ontario is changing, and our student body is becoming more diverse. As we see more students coming from non-traditional backgrounds (traditional being direct entry from high-school), we need to become more aware of the unique needs of our students in order to better support them as practitioners. One group, in particular, that I have had the privilege of interacting with both in my research and in my professional work, is student parents.
Beyond Thanksgiving
How educators can authentically honor and engage with Indigenous heritage and perspectives — all year long.
By Heather Watts
At Redefining Traditional we aim to share resources, stories, and experiences from a scope of virtual communities and educational spaces for student parents and supporters. This week, we’re excited to share a post by Heather Watts from Harvard’s ‘Usable Knowledge: Relevant Research for Today’s Educators’ blog series with the Graduate School of Education. We welcome you to take a look at many of the other important pieces they post at: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/20/11/beyond-thanksgiving