Last summer, I moved here with my wife and daughter from India. My daughter is a bilingual and high-achieving student. However, she faced trouble adjusting to the school system here. Her behaviour (which was pretty much acceptable in any Indian school) was initially considered inappropriate by her home-room teacher at our neighbourhood school.
The moment we learnt about the issue, we raised it with the school principal, and that’s when Hina Shah, the CCSYR settlement counsellor, intervened. She mediated to explain my daughter’s behaviour from the Indian perspective to the home-room teacher and, simultaneously, shared with us the social expectations in a Canadian school setting. The best part was that she took a balanced approach to resolving the issue and ensured we didn’t lose faith in the inclusive spirit of Canadian society.