Wednesday, November 08, 2023
On Saturday November 4, Vice-President Cynthia Watt presented KAIROS Blanket Exercise (KBE) Program with the 2023 Mayworks Artist Award for Excellence in Contribution to the Labour Movement at the Mayworks Labour Arts Awards Gala.
A unique, interactive, and participatory history lesson developed in collaboration with Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers and educators, KBE covers more than 500 years of Canadian-Indigenous history in a 90-minute experiential workshop that aims to foster understanding about our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. It is a powerful teaching tool that uses Indigenous methodologies, as well as the adult education principles that unions embed in their education approach.
AMAPCEO had an overwhelmingly positive experience with this unique program during an Activist and Leaders Forum (ALF) in October of 2019, with almost 70 key workplace engagement activists taking part in the workshop. To learn more about the specifics of KBE and what it aims to do, visit https://www.kairosblanketexercise.org/
“Many of our workplace engagement activists remarked that they had no idea that there was such a large population of so many Indigenous cultures living on Turtle Island prior to its colonization, and some expressed dismay that the education system did not and does not accurately reflect what happened during the colonization of Canada.” said Cynthia. “Many were inspired to continue to learn more on their own and to advocate for improvements to the teaching of Canadian history in schools. Overall, the teaching and learning approach employed by the KBE Program exemplifies the values of the labour movement in their work.”
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Mayworks Labour Arts Awards Gala is a part of the Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts. It is a community-based festival which annually presents new works by a diverse and broad range of artists, who are both workers and activists.
Learn more about Mayworks Festival of Working People and the arts.