Every February, Black History Month honors the heritage of Black people and their communities in Canada. It’s an opportunity to give an additional platform to voices from these communities, discussing the social, economic, cultural and institutional issues facing Afro-descendant cultures.
This year, we’d like to highlight several scholarly publications addressing the theme of education in African and Afrodescendant communities in Canada and abroad.
In recent years, several journals published on Érudit have examined this subject and explored its most critical issues. Most notably, the Canadian Journal of Education, an open-access publication, devoted an entire thematic issue to this theme in 2021: African Canadian educational success.
Look Through our Selection of Articles
Please note that each article presented below is available in open access, as is 98% of Érudit’s collection.
“Ain’t I Got a Right to the Tree of Life?”: Examining Special Education through the Application of Afro-Humanity.
Banks, Joy, et al. Philosophical Inquiry in Education, vol 28, number 2, 2021, p. 138–149.
Abstract. In this manuscript we chart the intersection of dis/ability and Afro-humanity. We propose that Afro-humanity is a contextual paradigm within African-centred ideology that can be applied to explore the ways in which disability may be perceived differently when applying a specific, cultural philosophical lens. We also explore the process of decolonization, whereby African American parents, with a child identified with an intellectual disability, reorient themselves to a way of thinking that is more emancipatory.
La résilience dans le parcours scolaire des jeunes noirs d’origine africaine et caribéenne au Québec
Canisius Kamanzi, Pierre. Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation, vol 44, number 1, spring 2021, p. 32–63.
Abstract. This article analyzes the educational pathways of Black Québécois students with immigrant background from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, all of whom are members of racialized groups, targets of discrimination and marginalization, and are at risk of vulnerable educational pathways […] Although they are more at risk of major academic difficulties […] these students access postsecondary education (college and university) in a proportion fairly comparable to that of their peers whose parents are Eurocanadian-born.
Haitian students in Brazil and intercultural education: Analysis of teaching practices in primary classes
Jean Baptiste, Marc D. Comparative and International Education / Éducation comparée et internationale, vol 53, number 1, 2024, p. 51–64.
Abstract. This article uses data from a thesis published in 2022 on the impact of the family-school relationship on the identity of Haitian origin children in Brazil. The aim is to present the practices of primary school teachers in Brazil that take into account the cultural differences of these children. In the light of the dialectical square of cultural difference (Ogay & Edelmann, 2011), the documented practices testify first and foremost to a willingness on the part of the teachers, which does not however prevent problematic situations.
Establishment Dynamics, Educational Issues and Community Resources. Perspective of Parents of Haitian Descent and Community Practitioners
Kanouté, Fasal, et al. Diversité urbaine, vol 14, number 2, 2014, p. 31–50.
Abstract. This paper discusses educational issues and challenges in a multiethnic and disadvantaged urban environment. The authors address the question from the perspective of parents of pupils of Haitian descent and community practitioners working with the children’s school.
Déconstruire la recherche en éducation en contextes de racialisation: débusquer le racisme épistémologique.
Thésée, Gina. Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l’éducation, vol 44, number 1, spring 2021, p. 1–31.
Abstract. The author of this article has chosen to address “the educational success of African Canadians,” the theme of this special issue of the Canadian Journal of Education, by presenting Canada and Quebec as contexts of racialization, and not only as contexts of immigration. The contexts of racialization and, their corollary, eco-systemic, systematic and chronic racism constitute life paths made up of obstacles and ruptures related to the justice, development and recognition of people of African descent, the central themes of the ID-PAD.
Being yourself or adjusting to the environment: The burden of racial fatigue for Black teachers and school principals in Montreal
Lafortune, Gina et Fasal Kanouté. Éducation et francophonie, vol 51, number 2, fall 2023.
Abstract. This article analyzes the experiences of 13 Black teachers and principals working in Montreal public schools. It aims to understand how minority status influences teaching careers, a field in which racialized minorities are underrepresented despite educational policies that for several decades have aimed for better representation of diversity in all education employment categories.