Improving the campus experience at the University of Toronto through student-led design
By Yusur Al-Salman, Redefining Traditional Project Lead
Between the rising costs of childcare and the COVID-19 pandemic, entering parenthood as students seems more challenging than ever. And yet, there is growing effort to accommodate the practical needs of student-parents and to address them meaningfully, and one example is in making university libraries family-friendly.
This is a re-post from Redefining Traditional, a community aiming to equip student parents with the tools to navigate their various roles, build a community of support and belonging, as well as providing a space for productive dialogue amongst policy-makers to help reimagine higher education. If you’re interested in contributing to our online community, we encourage you to share your story as a student parent by filling out this form.
Written by J. Sparks – Redefining Traditional Team Member
“How do you do it?” As a postsecondary student parent, other parents have asked me this question. When you are a parent, the idea of taking on more responsibility by going back to school can feel discouraging. “How can I do it? Can I be academically successful and take care of my family?” I had asked myself these questions and deliberated before enrolling in graduate studies as a student parent.
This week’s post is a community repost from our Redefining Traditional Team! If you are a student parent or are a student parent supporter we invite you to take a look at many other fantastic works we post on the Redefining Traditional Website, and join our Facebook Group to support and learn from one another!
By J. Sparks – Redefining Traditional Project Team Member
As the start of another academic year approaches, tuition, books and material fees begin to mount and money management becomes top of mind for many postsecondary students, especially for those with family responsibilities. When I enrolled in graduate school as parent, not only did becoming a student effect our household schedule and routines, it also impacted our family budget. If you are presently facing the task of doing it all and paying for it all too, below are a few financial tricks and tips that I have found helpful during my postsecondary journey with kids.
In times of uncertainty, navigating an unfamiliar space can feel like an impossible task to achieve. Last March, we were in this very spot where we didn’t know what our work at the Innovation Hub would look like. But what we did know is that whatever it may be, it would be immensely valuable in these times. By embracing change we’ve been exploring new ways to support the UofT community and ensuring we continue to drive our work by students for students through our design research projects. We’re so excited to share that by embracing change, new channels of our work have been inspired to connect individuals and build community in dynamic ways.
This is a re-post from Redefining Traditional in acknowledgement of Orange Shirt Day, a day to honour the lives of children impacted by the residential school system and its continued effect in Indigenous communities across the country. Our Design Researcher at the Innovation Hub, Heather Watts, has shared a thoughtful piece on the significance of this day – one that every individual should deeply reflect on. We also recognize that our learning about and with Indigenous folx and histories does not and should not be located only on specific days, and should be ongoing.
Last year around this time, I wrote the following post on my Facebook page:
A lot of feelings as I dropped Nico off this morning, sporting his orange shirt. Today is Orange Shirt Day, a day designed to educate people and promote awareness about the Indian residential school system and the impact this system had on Indigenous communities for more than a century in Canada, and still does today.
This system was assimilation and erasure packaged and tied as ‘education’. What do we mean when we use this word? What are we teaching? What are we intentionally leaving out? What narrative are we working to maintain?
By Celeste Pang, Sauliha Alli, Sanja Ivanov and Heather Watts
Design thinkers at the Innovation Hub share the backstory of the Redefining Traditional virtual community of student parents and their supporters.