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Education 381: Anti-Racism Education
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Instructor: Kau'i Keliipio
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August 10-August 21
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Summer 1998
The racism that is embedded in our educational systems continues to
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poison the lives and the learning experience of all our students .... Too
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many of our students suffer as a result of the assumption that our
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traditional Canadian systems are good for everybody. In many ways,
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they are not good for anybody. How can an education be good for
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anyone if it teaches, implicitly and explicitly, that one culture, one
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religion, and one colour deserve the most and the best?
(Allingham, Nora Dewar. "Anti-racist Education and the Curriculum-A
Privileged Perspective."
Racism and Education: Different Perspectives and
Experiences.
Ottawa: Canadian Teachers' Federation 1992)
Course Focus and Expectations:
A course on Anti-Racism Education makes it necessary to critically examine the
concept of race and the history of Western views on race, the nature of racism, as
well as the basic principles of anti-racism education. Sound pedagogy suggests
that learners who participate in the development of a course of study will gain a
sense of 'knowledge ownership', 'empowerment', 'relevancy while acquiring
important decision making and group work skills. These are also the principals
which have gone into the development of this course.
What is curriculum bias and what is necessary to develop an inclusive curriculum
are significant curriculum issues considered in this course. The purpose of which is
to provide a foundation and framework for our work as educators and curriculum
developers as well as social reconstructionists.
Through some interesting learning experiences, some of which many of you have
experienced, we will demonstrate our individual and collective understandings of
the practical and theoretical applications of Anti-Racism Education.
Much of the traditional curriculum focuses on the values, experiences,
achievements and perspectives of white-European members of
Canadian society and excludes or distorts those of other groups in
Canada and throughout the world.
(Ministry
of
Education and Training.
Antiracist and Ethnocultural Equity
Education. Toronto:
Ontario Ministry of
Education and Training. 1993)
All students enrolled in this course should expect to read daily, engage in research,
contribute actively in discussions and in-class tasks, respectfully and intelligently,
participate in field experiences that challenge your assumptions, assess and
evaluate own progress throughout the course, demonstrate understanding of
concepts and application of new ideas through clever and creative presentations
and an examination on the last day of this course, Friday, August 21 for a few
hours. An additional experience which will occur in the second week is some
"intellectual chat time" with the author of
Anti-Racism Education: Theory and
Practice,
Professor George J. Sefa Dei.
Learning Goals:
Behviourally speaking the learning goals include the following:
• Promote critical thinking and an understanding of the root causes of racism by
studying and discussing exemplars of racism in the history of Canadian and British
Columbia society.
• Examine the characteristics of curriculum bias and the assumptions of traditional
curriculum practices and philosophies.
• Demonstrate understanding and a working knowledge of the basic principles of
anti-racism education.
• Develop annotations of anti-racism education readings and related readings.
• Develop an awareness of the community resources available to support anti-
racism education work
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Assignments:
These assignments are here to meet the goals and objectives of this course. They
may, in turn, also be used to evaluate your good efforts. The restraints of a system
of grading that this university requires looms as a dark shadow and will not go
away however it is these wonderful assignments you do for this course which will
illuminate your path as you make your way back into the schooling system in
September.
The Breakdown and Value of Assignments:
1.
Assigned readings
10%
2.
Annotated Bibliography
10%
3.
Current Events Task
5%
4. Reading Log
10%
5.
Research Task
15%
6.
Final Exam
20%
7.
Self Assessment and Evaluation
5%
8.
Field Experience
15%
9.
Electronic Discussions
10%
