Report finds gaps in social studies curricula about black Canadians

A new report scanning public education in Canada has found that ministries of education in the provinces and territories could do more to include the contributions of black Canadians in comprehensive and meaningful ways in elementary and secondary social studies curricula.

The report, titled Black Canadians and Public Education: A Scan of Elementary and Social Studies Curricula, explores how the presence and contributions of people of African descent are included in the provincial and territorial curricular documents that inform what students are taught in kindergarten to 12th grade (K-12) classrooms across Canada.

Conducted by Tana Turner, president and CEO of Turner Consulting Group, for the UNESCO Canadian Commission, the report notes that “thanks to the increased acknowledgement of the existence and impact of systemic anti-black racism, governments and school boards have recognised the need to close the gaps in the academic achievement and well-being of black students and address the role that educational institutions play in perpetuating anti-black attitudes in Canadian society”.

The review found that black Canadians are included only sporadically in curricula, with no mandatory expectations about including black representation.

Among its five recommendations, the report calls for education ministries and school boards/districts to explore ways to improve the representation of black Canadians and communities in learning materials to provide students and teachers with a coherent story of their experiences and contributions.

This means including black representation in textbooks, teacher education programmes, and other aspects of the education sector in addition to the curricular documents provided by ministries of education.

PAUCITY OF REFERENCES

Although acknowledging that the recommendations are like those made in various reports over past decades, Turner remains optimistic that this is another report that demonstrates the lack of black representation in the curriculum, and the need for it.

“It’s not just about black children seeing themselves, it’s about white and other racialised children seeing black representation, as well. It reinforces anti-black racism when black people are excluded from the history and people don’t see their contributions to Canada,” she said, noting that the report is not specific to one school board, province or territory, but shows the need across the country.

The Canadian Commission for UNESCO helps Canadians share knowledge locally and globally in order to create better societies and build peace in the minds of men and women. To achieve this, the commission facilitates cooperation in the fields of education, science, culture, communication and information to address some of the most complex challenges facing the world today.

The scan showed that African American civil rights activists, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, were referenced several times, but there was a paucity of references to African Canadian civil rights leaders like Hugh Burnett and Bromley Armstrong.

“Even Viola Desmond who is on our $10 bill isn’t referenced across the country,” she said.

“The curriculum teaches about social justice, racial inequity, racial segregation, but oftentimes the examples they use are American or they reference apartheid in South Africa. And there isn’t the recognition that racism, anti-black racism specifically, happens in Canada,” said Turner.

She said the curriculum needs to be updated not only in the elementary and secondary school system, but changes need to be made at the tertiary level too where a black historian noted that students pursuing PhDs in Canadian history can complete their studies and never learn about black people in Canada. The matter is systemic and needs to be addressed in terms of what the universities are teaching.

ANTI-RACISM COMPETENCIES

Turner noted that the expectations of the ministries of educations are very broad, but it is the school boards that help the teachers bring the curricula to life. She said some school boards are paying more attention than others and some are doing a relatively good job.

The report also recommended that education ministries and school boards embed anti-racism competencies into the qualifications for all teachers to ensure they can better support the success of an increasingly diverse student population.

“All teachers must be better equipped with the knowledge and confidence they need to integrate black history, black representation, and discussions of anti-black racism into lessons. This can be achieved through ongoing professional learning, teacher training and resources, and lesson plans,” notes the report.

She said Canada had the same history of slavery and the Ku Klux Klan as the United States and without learning the history of anti-black racism students do not understand what is happening today and why groups like Black Lives Matter need to exist.

Turner, a leading equity, diversity and inclusion consultant, said it is an inaccurate telling of Canadian history when black people are not included, and several studies have said black children need to see themselves in the curriculum. She emphasised that all children need to see black people in the curriculum.