School Presentations & Workshops

What does Diversity Education Program Coordinator do?

Growing numbers of immigrants arriving to our community has the demand for PRUDE’s Diversity Education Program double in the past two years.  This clearly demonstrates the need in understanding diversity.  Private/public schools (Anglophone South School District) invite PRUDE Inc. to their classrooms, PD training, cultural events, and public demonstrations.  

Diversity Education Program (DEP) is critical in meeting the demands of our current targeted groups of elementary, middle and high school students from mainstream and new immigrant families.   DEP allows PRUDE Inc. to initiate, plan, engage, implement and participate in many events such as:  National Indigenous History Month, Black History Month, Elimination of Racial Discrimination Day, Multicultural Festivals and others. The number of requests from our partners such as  the City of Saint John’s Population Growth Committee & Arts and Cultural Office, YMCA’s Newcomer Connections, Asian Heritage Society of NB, Crescent Valley Resource Center, ONE Change, Learning Exchange, Atlantic Human Services, SJ Newcomer Centre, Greater Saint John Chinese Cultural Association, UNBSJ, UNB Associate Alumni Network, Business Immigrant Mentorship Program, The Chamber’s Women in Business Forum, Saint John Local Immigration Partnership and the Atlantic Immigration Submit is strong and steady.

The DEP Coordinator is a pro-active supportive role for our mainstream public, newcomers, visible minorities as well as other Multicultural and Settlement serving agencies.  Knowing different cultural dynamics is a difficult task because most of us only know our own.   Since birth our life experiences, values, and our cultural background lead us to see and do things which become our “default”.  Assumptions and formulating stereotypes is human behaviour, however in the absence understanding differences, we tend to follow what we think or feel, rather than question the validity of these assumptions.  Data collection/evaluation methods, is required by all participants.  Results show that there is a strong need to continue the promotion of diversity in its many forms such as attitude, behaviour, traditions, beliefs etc.

Statements made by participant’s “Workshops have made them see the difference about the way they perceive things, and how they actually are, or should be”.   Some shared they felt uncomfortable with certain comments, and didn’t know how to react.