Black learners in Canada

Abstract

This article examines the movement for Africentric public schools in Canada, particularly in Montreal, and the controversy it has generated. It is also argued that Black youth would gain significantly from communitybased educational programmes that root their learning more closely in the life, experiences and needs of their community.

Taking the bull by the horns: the critical perspectives and pedagogy of two Black teachers in Anglophone Montreal schools

“…I read the work of Mrs Matthews and Mr Bernard as excellent examples of a theorizing and working through their anger and personal connection to the issues -not only for themselves, but also insisting on this for their students so that their students can come to informed critical perspectives on their lives, as well as expressions of their indignation that are not self-defeating. Further, in light of the thrusts for Africentric education across Canada, and the, so far, frustrated initiative for an Africentric school in Montreal (Hampton 2010), I also suggest that the work of the educators discussed in this article is, in fact, a nascent form of Africentric education. 5 To the extent that African-centered perspectives are community-based such that 'the concept of individual makes sense only within the concept of community' (Dei 1994, 12, emphasis in original), and that 'the individual cannot be understood separate from other people' (Schiele 1994, 154), the work of Mr Bernard and Mrs Matthews is African-centered.…”

“…al. 2009) or critiqued (Hampton 2010;Knowles 1996Knowles , 2003Rousseau et al 2009) by these articles are partially what motivate this article. In what follows, I add to the empirical literature around the experiences of Blacks in Quebec education by presenting the stories of two Black educators concerning the racial inequity they have witnessed and experienced during their careers, as well as strategies they use and propose to resist this racism.…”

“…Finally, Hampton (2010) highlights the work of the Steering Committee for an Afrocentric School in Montreal. This bid was ultimately rejected by the English Montreal School Board -ostensibly on the basis that there were not sufficient numbers of Blacks in its jurisdiction to warrant such a school (107).…”

Towards a More Critical Consciousness: Race-Making, Affect, and Counter-Knowledges

“…This is perhaps why Canadian educational institutions often fail to properly prepare Black students for their life worlds (Dei, Mazzuca, McIsaac, and Zine 1997;Codjoe 2001;Smith, Schneider, and Ruck 2005;Hampton 2010). In the 1990s, Nova Scotia established an Africentric elementary school; similar schools were also established in Montreal (Hampton 2010) and, more recently, in Toronto (Webb and Gulson 2016). This perceived necessity for Black centric schools indicates the inefficacy of Western schooling.…”

“…However, they struggled to realize how their inequalities were not just a result of individual human action, but also structurally determined. This is often the case for Black youth as they are unable to understand the narrative of their lives within larger structural contexts (Taylor 2016); this is often linked to a Eurocentric education system that has historically failed to properly educate Black students (Dei, Mazzuca, McIsaac, and Zine 1997;Codjoe 2001;Smith, Schneider, and Ruck 2005;Hampton 2010). Though Camp A did not formally assist my participants as they struggled to understand their dualities in consciousness, it created the conditions required for them to do so.…”