Are teachers succeeding in the struggle against racial intolerance in Canadian
classrooms?
“Racism is not always visible to educators, except in cases of overt
hostilities between individuals at which time it’s simply the tip of the
iceberg,” says Kogila Adam-Moodley, holder of UBC’s David Lam Chair of
Multicultural Education.
“Teachers try to cope in a variety of ways, from ignoring it and assuming it
will go away, to treating all children equally. Often, they are constrained in
what they can do by increasing demands for varied and differentiated education
in a climate of dwindling resources and inadequate preparation.”
Adam-Moodley will present these and other views on the implications of new
immigration for educators, and education’s role in fighting racism Nov. 19 as
part of the Faculty of Education’s lecture series on important educational
issues.
Adam-Moodley, a widely published scholar on race and ethnic relations, says
that studies exist which suggest that teachers may contribute to the problem of
racism in the classroom and, although it has long been considered a tool to
combat the problem, education may subtly reinforce cultural and racial
hierarchies.
“Some research reports how teachers make assumptions about students’
capabilities based on their ethnicity and class background,” she explains.
“Others assume that minority children enter school as an empty slate with
little to offer or maintain that is distinctive and, therefore, proceed with a
curriculum that seeks to assimilate them into dominant society traditions.”
She believes that education today is heavily influenced by corporate ideology,
where concepts of community, co-operation and equity are being replaced by an
emphasis on choice, competition and excellence.
“In this climate, schools are wedged between contending forces in the delivery
of an appropriate education,” Adam-Moodley says. “Hence, the previous emphasis
on compassionate solidarity and the benefits of diversity now sound
old-fashioned, yet schools continue to struggle with everyday racism.”
She defines everyday racism as the numerous ways in which people who `look
different’ are constantly regarded as `strangers’ and never belonging.
“Collectively, they are considered violators of limited local resources,
disrespectful of the ecology and are said to hold illiberal values.”
Entitled The School’s Struggle With Everyday Racism, the free public lecture
starts at 7 p.m. in conference room two of the Robson Square Conference Centre.
For more information, call 822-6239.
