Embedded Files
"Understanding stigma and biases: stories from Portuguese-speaking students in Toronto."
"Understanding stigma and biases: stories from Portuguese-speaking students in Toronto."
https://tcdsb.zoom.us/j/94478045341
Keynote -David Pereira
Keynote -David Pereira
David Pereira is an instructor and researcher at York University and the University of Toronto. His heritage and family's origins are from Rio Frio, Arcos de Valdevez, Portugal. David is the first in his family to attend university in Canada and the only member of his extended family to earn a doctorate degree. He's volunteered for over 15 years as a tutor and community advocate for Portuguese-speaking youth, students, and families. He speaks Portuguese and French, which helps him remain connected to his family in Portugal, France, and Brazil.
P a n e l D i s c u s s i o n
Cristina Fernandes
Cristina Fernandes
TCDSB Superintendent of Education for Area 4
Born in Torres Novas, Ribatejo, Cristina arrived with her parents in Canada in June 1972, like many others looking for a new life. Not speaking English and not understanding immigration rules, her parents only enrolled her into the public school system halfway into the Senior Kindergarten year.
She attended King Edward Public School until Grade 1 before moving into the St. Luke Catholic School community. Like many immigrant children, she was the ‘English voice’ whenever her parents needed an interpreter. Nonetheless, her parents enrolled her in Portuguese night school until Grade 8 to maintain her language and her roots. In secondary school at Loretto College School she learned that many students of Portuguese descent were not encouraged to pursue higher level learning.
With a love for learning, she was the first of her extended family to attend university. Finding herself in a very competitive and austere environment at the University of Toronto, she reconnected with her roots and majored in both Portuguese and Psychology. After multiple attempts, she finally was welcomed at the Faculty of Education where she became a teacher. She taught Portuguese night school with First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Club and saw from a systemic perspective the difficulties students of Portuguese descent faced in the schooling system.
Teaching and becoming a principal in the west downtown area, including Little Portugal, she came into contact with many students and families of Portuguese descent. As an administrator, she welcomed many families into her schools, many immigrants and second generation immigrants. The importance of helping those who struggled was not lost as she worked with them to support their Portuguese roots while helping them acclimatize to Canadian society.
As a Superintendent and a person of Portuguese descent, she has had the honour of supporting the students in the Early Years, Special Education and Area 4 School Communities.
David Pereira
David Pereira
Researcher
David Pereira is an instructor and researcher at York University and the University of Toronto. His heritage and family's origins are from Rio Frio, Arcos de Valdevez, Portugal. David is the first in his family to attend university in Canada and the only member of his extended family to earn a doctorate degree. He's volunteered for over 15 years as a tutor and community advocate for Portuguese-speaking youth, students, and families. He speaks Portuguese and French, which helps him remain connected to his family in Portugal, France, and Brazil.
Jose Pedro Ferreira
Jose Pedro Ferreira
Camões I.P. Coordinator
José Pedro Abreu Ferreira was born in Leiria, grew up in Ourém, grew up some more in Lisbon, and then moved to Toronto, Canada. He is the first in his immediate family to have been called an immigrant.
He attended the University of Lisbon, from which he holds a BA in Portuguese Studies and a MA in Romance Studies. He was a researcher at Centro de Estudos Comparatistas, and part of the executive Editorial Team of Textos & Pretextos, a graduate student research journal based at the Faculty of Arts.
He came to Canada in 2005, as Camões I.P. Visiting Lecturer in Portuguese Language and Culture at the University of Toronto. He became a PhD candidate, at the Centre for Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto, with a research project in Diaspora studies. In 2016, he moved to Ottawa, as Visiting Professor for Portuguese and Lusophone Studies at the University of Ottawa. He chaired, in 2017-2018, the Ottawa section of the European Union National Institutes for Culture, a cluster of 27 European Union representatives in charge of the European Union cultural programming in Canada’s capital region.
In September of 2018, he was appointed Camões I.P. Coordinator for Portuguese Language Programs in Canada, to work with Canadian education partners, school boards, community schools and other organizations, to support and promote the Portuguese language and culture across Canada, from kindergarten to university, and continuing education.
Anthony De Sa
Anthony De Sa
Author/Teacher
Anthony De Sa’s is a Canadian teacher and writer whose fiction has been published internationally. His first book, Barnacle Love, was a finalist for the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the 2009 Toronto Book Award, and won Portugal's Prémios de Talento Award for Literature. Published by Doubleday Canada, Algonquin (USA), and Publicações Dom Quixote (Portugal), the collection of linked short stories gained critical acclaim and praise from jurors Margaret Atwood and Colm Tóibín.
His second release, Kicking the Sky, published in Canada and the USA, became a national bestseller, a finalist for the 2013 Libris Award, the Toronto Book Award, and the Canadian Authors Assoc. Award.
His most recent novel, Children of the Moon, set against the backdrop of a turbulent colonial Mozambique and Tanzania, was published by Doubleday Canada in 2019.
Highly respected and a gifted public speaker, Anthony De Sa’s distinctive voice delves into issues of immigration, faith, and Portuguese identity.
Dr. Rosalina de Sa
Dr. Rosalina de Sa
TCDSB Clinical Psychologist
Rosalina is a School and Clinical Psychologist with the TCDSB. She earned her Ph.D. in School and Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Toronto. Her dissertation research examined the impact of teacher training in a proactive approach to classroom behaviour management. She completed her clinical internship at York Central Hospital. Rosalina served on the Behaviour Team within the TCDSB for over 10 years, and is currently on the TCDSB Mental Health Steering Committee and the Behaviour Accountability and Review Committee. She has been a Sessional Lecturer at the University of Toronto since 2017, teaching "Foundations of Proactive Behavioural and Cognitive-Behavioural Intervention with Children and Adolescents" to graduate students. In 2015 Rosalina was awarded the Community Member of the Year Award from the Child Development Institute for her work with families with complex needs.
Maria Peixoto
Maria Peixoto
TCDSB Social worker
Maria Peixoto has a Bachelor of Psychology and French and a Master of Social Work Degree and is a School Social Worker with the TCDSB.
Maria has worked in a variety of sectors including Child Welfare, Private Sector, and most recently in the educational system.
Having worked in both elementary and secondary panels Maria has witnessed and been part of key mental health developments.
As an advocate for student mental health, one of her proudest achievements has been working with the TCDSB mental health team to develop and implement new student mental health policies.
It is Maria’s sincere hope that with ongoing education, information and support for students, we will continue to address the stigma associated with discussions about mental health, and engage in meaningful conversations about our well-being.
On a personal note, Maria’s proudest moment has been climbing the tallest mountain in Portugal, Pico Mountain, on the island of Pico, in the Azores.
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