Natasha: I'm going to start with you. Why is including Black Canadian contributions to the history curriculum important?

Natasha: It's very important because it presents a more accurate history of Canada. It really locates people of African descent within this project that we call Canada and its evolution, its growth over time and again, really then helps people to understand that we've been here for a very long time, 400 years, alongside European colonization.

Greg: Many people will say black history is Canadian history. Why do you think it's important that we add these contributions to our history curriculum?

Greg: It's interesting you just said part of what I was going to say, and I think, I think the idea of teaching history without incorporating voices is, is a challenge. I encourage my students to understand that part of what we do in teaching history is unlearning. You can't learn until you unlearn. And I think part of the problem that we faced with over the last how many decades is putting ourselves in a situation where we can actually learn true history and understand that there have been voices that haven't been heard for so long, and those voices need to be a part of our Canadian narrative.

Natasha: As we know, the curriculum was slated to roll out last year but was delayed until September 2026. Now, some critics say that the pause was a reflection of political discomfort with progressive curriculum content. I want to get both of your takes on it, Natasha. What do you think?

Natasha: Well, we can read that in several ways. Yes, you can read it, as you know and wonder, is it because of some level of discomfort, given the wider political climate of the time? Or we can also take a step back and think that maybe and hopefully that the ministry wants to produce something of high quality, which requires more time for the review process to gather feedback to implement, you know, any material that they receive from experts. And so, you know, I'm hoping in the second stream that that there will be something produced of high quality and that they needed the time in order to do so.

Natasha: Now, Greg, before I come to you, I should mention that Minister Calandra did mention that the pause was necessary for both to allow for the introduction of more consistent, province wide approach to the curriculum, but also to, as you mentioned, to ensure teachers can have the time they need to properly implement that in their classroom. As someone who is in the classroom, you know that when curriculum is given to you, when there's changes, time is needed as well. But what are your thoughts about sort of that pause and sort of the reasoning?

Greg: I think I'd echo what Natasha said earlier as well. I think the pause potentially, or I'd like to think that the pause was done with the intention of equipping educators with the proper resources. I think the unfortunate reality is most black educators approach black history, Black History Month with excitement, but also with a little bit of trepidation. I think the reality is, is that when we collectively, as black educators, become the source of knowledge, it's almost like we have to be the ones telling the story. And telling the story can be traumatic. So I think I'd like to think that this pause maybe gives a necessary opportunity to ensure that all teachers can have access to resources so that it's not about saying, hey, what was your experience like? Because that happens all the time, and there are a lot of students who experience that trauma when there might be the only ones in the class, and the teacher looks at them and says, hey, by the way, what's your experience like being a black Canadian? It's hard. It's really hard.

Natasha: Yes. And I would just add to that to say, you know, with the pause, it's the pause for the actual release of what the learning topics will be, and that in that interim, there are also curating and developing some resources. And then once those are rolled out, then there should be some training. And you talked about, you know, black teachers who have, you know, for a long time, you know, been consistent in teaching black history. And there has been an unevenness. And I think there's also an important thing to think about that teachers require more training, especially when the teaching population is majority white, that there will be, as you had said before, a lot of unlearning and new learning that would need to take place for educators in order for them to bring this to the classroom.

Greg: Definitely.