Tuesday, April 4, 2017 has been identified as Refugee Rights Day by the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) and Amnesty International Canada. To commemorate this day, the Association of BC Teachers of English as an Additional Language (BC TEAL), in cooperation with MOSAIC, has developed a campaign to explore diversity, community, and inclusion, with the aim of developing greater intercultural awareness and competency.
BC TEAL invites all English as Additional Language (EAL) classrooms across Canada to incorporate activities and webinars developed for Refugee Rights Day. Brenda Lohrenz, Executive Director, said “we have worked to make these intercultural competency-informed materials accessible for a broad array of English language learning contexts. We urge EAL instructors to participate on April 4th in our national campaign by using these activities, either as a whole lesson, or in component parts.”
The tools were developed for classrooms large and small, formal and informal, public education, continuing education, post-secondary institutions, Language Instruction for Newcomers (LINC), and international language schools. They include:
- A classroom activity package
- A noon Tutela webinar (April 4, 12-1 pm, Pacific Daylight Time) with EAL colleagues nationally joined by Amnesty International Canada and the Canadian Council for Refugees
- An evening Tutela webinar (April 4, 7-8 pm PDT) with Taslim Damji, Intercultural Specialist from MOSAIC Works and Refugee Rights Day materials developer
- Opportunities to connect and reflect on the day through social media channels.
Refugee Rights Day in Canada pays tribute to April 4th as the day that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was interpreted to guarantee refugees the same basic rights as anyone in Canada – to life, liberty, and the security of the person. For campaign and activity details, visit RefugeeRightsDay.bcteal.com.
Click to download (PDF)
Click to download (PDF)
Media Contact:
Brenda Lohrenz: BC TEAL Executive Director – 604 399-8061| executivedirector@bcteal.org
Sherman Chan: MOSAIC Director of Family and Settlement Services – 604 254-9626 | schan@mosaicbc.org
BC TEAL is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017, and is one of the oldest EAL professional associations in the world and the oldest in Canada. The Association works to advance the profession of teaching English as an additional language in B.C. through professional development and research, organisational development, promotion of standards, advocacy and representation. To learn more, please visit bcteal.org.
MOSAIC is a non-profit charitable organization and the primary settlement and employment services agency in Vancouver assisting newcomers to Canada at 27 client sites across Metro Vancouver. Our client-centred multilingual programs and services cover six major program areas – Employment Programs, English Language Programs, Settlement Programs, Children and Family Programs, Specialized Programs, and Interpretation and Translation Services. To learn more, please visit mosaicbc.org/services.
