Good to be back home

Educator begins column on children, learning in Cape Breton

I am really pleased to be writing this column for the Cape Breton Post.

I have been a Cape Bretoner my whole life, although I was born in Toronto and moved here only when I was 19.

My mom hails from Glace Bay and I remember the joy of entering Reserve after a long drive from Toronto in the car most every summer to visit my grandmother in her little house on McVicar St. in Glace Bay. The feeling of fresh air, of a day spent at the beach after which I would fall asleep with the smell of sand and salt in my hair and skin. This was heaven to me.

Then at 19, I moved here with my family to start a new chapter in my life. I enjoyed going to CBU (then UCCB) with my new dad and the daily trips back and forth to the college and the many cultural events and musical evenings filled my life with happiness. I moved on to bigger cities, but still came back to raise a family and teach for many years, before again heading out to explore more career opportunities.

Now I am back in Cape Breton, still teaching and my kids are grown. I have the time to enjoy the company of my husband and family and dog, the beautiful summers, picking berries and going to the beach daily once again. I have had a full life, including parenting, work and creativity, including research, reading and writing.

I hope that this column will provide the means for me to communicate with you about the joys and challenges of parenting and learning in the 21st century.

Of course, things have changed and technology is a big part of life these days. But some things don’t change, and the trick is figuring out which is which.

In this column I hope to share some of my experiences and current concerns and interests and also to respond to your comments and questions. I don’t claim to know everything about parenting and education; but I have an open mind and the benefit of years of experience and learning behind me.

I keep abreast of what is happening across the world in terms of these topics, and have a healthy sense of Canada’s place in the world.

We are a beautiful country, and Cape Breton and Nova Scotia are wonderful places within this culture of ours. People are kind and generous, families are usually close, children are valued and culture and language are front and centre. But we have our troubles as well. We have economic challenges, which lead to other issues. We do not benefit from the cultural variety that one finds in a larger centre. We are spread out geographically, and tend to keep to our own family and friends. Having said that though, we tend to rally together to support each other, and we do not like to exclude people, although we are often excluded from the provincial or national stage.

It is for this reason that I think a column addressing current family and educational topics would be helpful to allow people to share their thoughts, and to respond to research and action that is happening right here and beyond that is important to know and to support.

I will be sharing some ideas, and I invite you to share your ideas with me and offer suggestions for topics to address, as well as questions you would like to put forth. I will be honest and fair in trying to address issues with my own background and experience, as well as using the available knowledge and examples from our island and other places to support ideas we might like to try in our homes and communities.

A topic that has been front and centre this past year in Cape Breton and Nova Scotia has been the experiences of children and their parents accessing inclusive learning in schools.

This topic is relevant throughout the rest of the country and worldwide these days, as we try to reconcile individual needs and the common good in our educational and community lives.

As education is the means to a productive adulthood, we rely on a good education for each individual’s personal development into a productive and happy adult. This is a lot of pressure to put on schools, and parents know too well the responsibilities that we have to prepare our children for the world.

The responsibility starts from the time we are expecting a child, and they continue until that child leaves us. School personnel often see that responsibility as similar to that of a parent- they are looking out for the best for each child.

Sometimes school and family are on the same page and the child feels balance and love, and thrives. Sometimes, the balance is more strained, and it is more difficult to maintain a positive working relationship.

This relationship between school and home relies on many things, from personality to professionalism, to culture, and of course, relies on the child and his or her readiness and adjustment to the school setting.

There is so much potential in each child, and the potential for success in any one school is so vast. It can be overwhelming for parents, school staff and of course, for kids. But just as it takes a dayto-day approach for adults, so too does it take a column to column approach with this writer, and I think that this ongoing conversation that we will have will help all of us to tackle some tough issues, one at a time, and with grace and humor.

You know, not one of my kids wanted to be educators growing up. I guess they saw the challenges their parents faced in the profession, and figured they could find easier ways to make a living. But now, I realize they are all educators in one way or another.

One teaches far away in Korea, and has learned the language and the culture, and I’m sure every day she shares the best of what she is as a Canadian with her students there.

Another child works in a university and communicates daily with peers and former students, as she crafts a better postsecondary experience for current and future students, both in the university setting and the community at large.

A third child advocates and applies policy to cultural and community development, and his compassion for vulnerable people, fostered at a very young age, is being put to great use.

My point is not to brag here (although I am very proud), but to show that predicting the future is impossible, and what you see today in your children and students is only a glimpse of the lives they will lead as adults.

Although it is very important to stay in touch with children’s lives day to day and minute to minute, you cannot possibly know now how your influence will play out in future. You can only do your best. And I will help you do that.

Please write to me! My email address is cdigiorgio7@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing from you with suggestions and questions.

Carla DiGiorgio, PhD is a professor of education with almost 30 years’ experience as an educator and parent. She moved back to Cape Breton three years ago and lives happily with her husband and dog. In her spare time Carla knits a lot, bakes a lot, and travels to see her kids. She plays Scrabble daily and loves watching Netflix. She hopes to be a grandparent someday.