Half a Loaf…
Still weighs on thoughts about the Holodomor and the TDSB
By
Alex Chumak
At its meeting on June 12, 2008, the Toronto
District School Board approved that the Holocaust, Armenian and Rwandan
genocides remain as the core curriculum with no new additions to a history course
in genocide studies. It also confirmed that no single genocide is more
important or tragic than other genocides and that there are no limitations for
independent studies on genocides. Also, as previously adopted, the matter of
genocide studies will be reviewed in 3 years.
Trustee Mari Rutka, on a
notice of motion to be considered at the August meeting, which seems to have
unanimous support, moved the following:
a) That staff prepare a secondary curriculum teaching guide and
curriculum resource materials on the Holodomor for use beginning in September
2009;
b) That this guide and these materials be prepared in consultation
with historical experts on the Holodomor;
c) That this guide and these materials be made available in every
TDSB Secondary School beginning in September 2009 and be incorporated with the
teaching of social studies courses that include the 1930s era of Western
History in which the Holodomor occurred and;
d) That the fourth Friday in November be a day of recognition in all
TDSB Schools in honour of those who died during the Holodomor and that this day
be officially marked in the system wide calendar.
Simply put, the Holodomor
will not be included in the core genocide studies, but will be a secondary
consideration.
How is the Ukrainian
community going to react to this?
First the good news. The
Board did respond favourably, albeit not to the direct requests of the
Ukrainian community, to include the Holodomor in the core curriculum. However,
the Board will prepare a teaching guide on the Holodomor and will make it
available to every secondary school. Also, the term Holodomor has been
incorporated into the Board’s lexicon.
Trustee Irene Atkinson, who
supported the motion, in an interview stated that “we listened to the community
and at least for now, came to a satisfactory conclusion.”
The fact that the Board
will prepare a teaching guide, in consultation with Holodomor experts, is also
a good first step coupled with the fact that every year, the 4th
Friday in November well be recognized in TDSB Schools as Holodomor Memorial
Day.
Now the bad news. The Board
did not see fit to include the Holodomor into its core studies program on
genocide, despite requests, pleas, and deputations from the Ukrainian
Community. In fact, Nadine Segal, Systems Superintendent School Services
Special Programs, stated that the “original 3 will remain as the core
genocides” with no apparent changes in the foreseeable future. She did indicate
that “the Review Committee will consider the matter in 3 years.”
So, did the Ukrainian
Community get “half a loaf”? Or no loaf?
Some will argue that gains
were made. Inclusion with the curriculum (although not in the core) and
recognition of the 4th Friday in November as the Holodomor Memorial
Day are important factors in recognizing the Holodomor as genocide.
Others will object that the
Holodomor, despite the fact that it is now recognized by many countries as one
of the largest genocides in world history, perpetrated in peace time, is not
included in the core curriculum.
Still others will state
that there was no political will to include the Holodomor in the core
curriculum. The Ukrainian Community, although well prepared, and well
documented, made excellent presentations to the Board, and got very little in
return.
Given the above – what did
the Ukrainian Community achieve?
The Holodomor Committee of
the UCC Toronto Branch will continue to meet and work on further strategies to
include the Holodomor in the genocide studies program’s core curriculum.
Support from the Ukrainian Community is desperately needed. Trustees Atkinson
and Rutka both indicated that the hundreds of emails, phone calls and letters
received by the TDSB, raised awareness and sensitized the Board Members and
Staff to the issue of the Holodomor.
Alex Chumak represented the
parents and students for 20 years at the