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REPORT TO THE 2015 ANNUAL MEETING ON 

ETFO’S EQUITY AND WOMEN’S PROGRAMS

Everyone Is Able

In the fall of 2014, ETFO launched a new resource called Everyone Is Able, a documentary style 
DVD that looks at ability and disability in education and in our communities. The film has 
seven chapters with interviews from teachers, students and family members sharing 
important messages about ability and disability. Everyone Is Able challenges thinking, 
assumptions and stereotypes and raises awareness of the issues surrounding ability 
and disability. It shares insights about people with disabilities and offers educators 
practical strategies to make their classrooms inclusive for all. The 30-minute 
DVD can be viewed in its entirety or by each individual chapter. It is available in 
English with French and English subtitles.

Equity and Women’s Services provides an Everyone Is Able workshop to locals, 
which is facilitated by ETFO members. There has also been interest from outside 
the organization about the use of this resource with other groups. 

LGBTQ Rights in Your Workplace Brochure

The ETFO LGBTQ Rights in Your Workplace brochure is a first in a series 
of initiatives to support ETFO’s Strategy for Challenging Homophobia and
Championing Safe Workplaces. The brochure is available in both English 
and French and was released in January 2015. While many ETFO members 
strive to make schools safe for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer 
or questioning (LGBTQ) students as part of ETFO’s initiatives, it is equally 
important to ensure that workplaces are safe for federation members.

The brochure is a call to action for all members to play a role in ensuring an 
inclusive, respectful and safe workplace at their schools. It sets out LGBTQ rights in 
the context of the Ontario Human Rights Code and Ontario College of Teachers Ethical
Standards. It also references Ontario’s Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy and the 
Accepting Schools Act which provide a framework for boards, administrators and 
teachers to create positive and inclusive school climates.

The brochure also contains information for members who are considering being 
out or not in school workplaces and the types of support that ETFO is ready to 
provide through its PRS department. 

Re-Think, Re-Connect, Re-Imagine Poster, Buttons

At the 2013 Annual Meeting, delegates called for ETFO to provide 

resource materials on white privilege, anti-racist theory, and culturally 

relevant pedagogy. The Re-Think, Re-Connect, Re-Imagine posters and 

buttons represent the first phase of a multi-year project. 

Voice Women’s Issue (Summer 2015)

With a theme of Women in Educational Leadership, the feature articles include 
stories about women ETFO members’ contributions to Project Overseas, 
monarch butterfly conservation, and the Walking With Our Sisters project at …
and still we rise conference. The issue also includes news items about some of 
EWS’s leadership programs for women and two reviews about books focusing 
on women’s issues.