Articles
Articles
Interview 4
THE STRUGGLE FOR HEALTH: A STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE
with Colleen Cameron
Colleen's history with the Antigonish Movement began before she was born.
Her parents were married by Dr. Coady so growing up she was surrounded by
stories of the Antigonish Movement, cooperatives and credit unions. It infused
her DNA and set her on the path of working towards social justice and community
well-being.
Colleen's father started teaching at the Coady in 1961, and she had the opportunity to meet many people from around the world who inspired her at a young age to become a nurse and work in Africa. After living and working in Yemen, Ethiopia and Sudan, interspersed with studying, Colleen returned in 1989 to teach at the Coady and in the School of Nursing at St F X.
Her last three years, prior to retirement in 2016, were full time as Director of Coady Education programs. She has a Bachelor of Nursing and a Master of Adult Education. Her areas of teaching, research and writing have been focused on the social determinants of health, community development, gender, building resilient communities and community driven health impact assessments. Colleen became involved in the People Assessing Their Health (PATH) Network in 1997 and included the PATH process in the curriculum at the Coady. She has also assisted communities, both locally and internationally in the PATH process to develop and use their own Community Health Impact Assessment Tool to assist in decision-making. She continue to be involved in a number of community-based, social justice organizations focusing on affordable housing, poverty reduction and food security.
Video – Released 25 November 2020
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What is the link between the struggle for health and the struggle for justice?
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What makes your approach to education for health radical?
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Is this approach still relevant in November 2020?
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What advice do you have for adult educators and health educators?
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PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS
Interview 3
COMMUNITY CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION AND PEACEBUILDING: FROM THE INSIDE OUT
with maureen st. clair
maureen st. clair is an artist, peace educator, community facilitator, conflict resolution trainer, activist, writer and learner for life. Born and raised in Canada, with Grenadian citizenship, maureen has lived and worked in Grenada, West Indies for over 25 years. She has worked on a multitude of development projects with various Grenadian NGOs and community-based organizations, such as Grenada’ Grenada Education and Development Program (GRENED), Grenada’s National Organization of Women (GNOW), Harford Village Peace Youth Leaders, and government community projects such as Grenada’s National Literacy Campaign. maureen has also worked extensively with youth, and in particular youth at risk both in and out of correctional services.
Presently maureen divides her time between Canada and Grenada and has been involved over the years facilitating community-based conflict transformation & peacebuilding training programs in Canada and Grenada. Her passion lies in creating safe inclusive spaces that enable people collectively to do the work of self and community healing and building. She uses the power of the creative arts such as story telling, sharing and embodying the ‘other’ as paths to personal and social transformation.
maureen is known throughout the Caribbean and internationally for her vibrant, multi-racial, women-positive paintings inspired by life and work experiences. maureen’s artwork has been used as official logos for various non-profit organizations such as the World Health Organization/Grenada Health Organization, and Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre. maureen is also an accomplished writer, winning the Atlantic Writers Award and the Beacon Award for Social Justice Literature. Her debut novel, Big Island, Small was published by Fernwood Publishing. Maureen holds a Master of Adult Education with focus on Women’s Empowerment and Participatory Education.
Part 1 of 2 – Released 21 October 2020
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What makes this approach to community conflict transformation and peacebuilding radical?
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Can you say some more about what you mean by “starting from the inside out”?
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How have you been applying this approach in Grenada?
Part 2 of 2 - to be released 28 October 2020
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How is this approach relevant to what is happening in the world today?
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What advice do you have for adult educators? How can this approach help adult educators build a culture of peace?
Interview 2
WEAVING THE FABRIC: CO-CURATING PARTICIPATORY COMMUNITY LEARNING SPACES
with natalie (natty) abdou
natalie abdou is a community facilitator, theatre practitioner, life-long learner and creative soul who loves to reflect, share and learn alongside others for the purpose of community creation and transformation. Natalie has spent the last 10+ years connecting and collaborating with diverse communities in North America and Egypt, by co-creating learning environments that are founded upon shared values of diversity, love, respect, creativity, self-expression and empowerment - embracing a vision of solidarity, social justice and change from the inside-out. Through a unique blending of creativity and value-based community building, natalie is able to nurture groups in creating space for each other - to reflect, share, learn and heal alongside one another for the purpose of personal, collective/organizational and systemic change. She is currently collaborating with Branch Out Theatre (Toronto), Bloom Consulting (Toronto), Interplay (Oakland, CA) and various youth activist and practitioners working for justice in Egypt. She has a MEd in Adult Education and Community Development at OISE.
Part 1 of 2 - Released 28 September 2020
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What makes your approach to participatory community learning spaces radical?
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What do you mean by "co-curating" spaces?
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How do you use your approach in a zoom context?
Part 2 of 2 - to be released 30 September 2020
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We've seen many changes in 2020. Is your approach still relevant today?
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How do you stay "present" and build trust with groups in virtual spaces?
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How does this approach contribute to social justice and transformation?
Interview 1
TOWARDS AN ABUNDANT LIFE FOR ALL THROUGH TRANSFORMATIVE ADULT EDUCATION
with Dr. Wilf Bean
Dr Wilf Bean, is a lifelong adult educator and social justice activist, who was the Director of Education Programs at the Coady International Institute from 1987 to 1999. For 10 years prior to that he worked with the Dene people in northern Canada as they struggled for their rights, and since his time at Coady was Director for several years of the Tatamagouche Centre, a space for transformative learning for social justice individually, socially and spiritually. Now retired, he continues to be actively engaged in social justice issues locally and internationally.
Part 1 of 4 – Released 29 July 2020
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What is transformative adult education?
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What makes it radical?
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Who should read your essay and this book?
Part 2 of 4 – Released 5 August 2020
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Do you still see the potential for transformative adult education to reorganize society in 2020?
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What can adult educators do to support movements like Black Lives Matter and the climate change movement?
Part 3 of 4 – Released 12 August 2020
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What are the challenges of being a transformative adult educator today?
Part 4 of 4 - Released 19 August 2020
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Who inspires you today?
