The Paradigm Shift Project

The Paradigm Shift Project aims to advance education on important global issues through the production of documentary films and educational materials that are informed by local communities and those who work to help them. The PSP hopes to take its education efforts to the next level; in a youth-driven initiative with undergraduate interns from the University of Toronto and Development Officer Lauren Sweetman, who will assist in the writing, piloting, evaluating, publishing, and distributing The Paradigm Shift Kit, an independent, accessible, free resource for educators to use in classroom contexts. This project, designed largely in response to the needs expressed by teachers with whom we have worked with, will equip educators with a DVD of our first four documentary films, as well as a detailed, grade-specific curricula guide for one of four grade divisions (Gr. 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, and Postsecondary). Providing educators with a current resource such as The Paradigm Shift Kit enhances Ontario education, by enabling educators to create a safe, sustainable forum for youth to learn, consider, analyze, and discuss these issues. It is important that we empower our youth to contribute to positive global change in a safe, constructive, collaborative, and effective fashion. These students hold the key to engaging Canadian communities to take action and create the change that is imperative for the future of our world, its environment, and its peoples.