The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is committed to addressing anti-Black racism in colonial systems, institutions, and society through policies, professional learning, and curriculum resources through their brochure. ETFO's Anti-Black Racism Strategy focuses on systemic changes, creating a more inclusive environment for Black members and promoting allyship at provincial and local levels.
Learn more about ETFO here: https://www.etfo.ca/socialjusticeunion/anti-black-racism/etfo-action-on-anti-black-racism
The Toronto Chapter of the Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNCTO) offers an excellent starting point for individuals interested in exploring various subjects, including but not limited to racism, oppression, intersectionality, colorism, and the histories of Chinese Canadian and Tamil Canadian communities. Their resource page is designed to cater to a diverse audience by providing content in Chinese, Tamil, and English, ensuring accessibility for everyone within the community.
Learn more about CCNCTO here: https://www.ccnctoronto.ca/asians-against-racism-and-hate
The Centre for Race and Culture published the recordings and infographics developed from their online roundtables with participants from the public, academia, and other organizations. These roundtables sought to create a discussion around inequities faced by marginalized peoples in Alberta. In session 9, the Centre conducted a roundtable on "anti-racism practices in education," which highlighted the inequities of the Albertan education curriculum. Some strategies shared to combat racism in education included understanding subconscious bias, increasing representation in school books, media, and teaching roles; building resilience in students; and ensuring racialized students and parents feel that their perspectives are valued.
Read more about the project here: https://cfrac.com/projects-initiatives/challenging-discrimination-through-community-conversations-season-two-2021-2022/
The 2019-2022 iteration of Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy starts by recognizing the prevalent racism and discrimination experienced by marginalized groups with a focus on Indigenous Peoples. Highlighted in this report, the Government of Canada demonstrates its commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion through federal leadership, empowering communities, and promoting awareness and attitude changes. This initiative builds upon existing governmental efforts and integrates lived experiences to create comprehensive and sustainable transformation.
Read the full report here: https://canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/anti-racism-engagement/anti-racism-strategy.html
People for Education provides an overview of the state of anti-racism legislation in Ontario and its implementation in school boards. The organization identifies the percentage of Ontario public school boards conducting various race-based data measurements and implementing specific anti-racism strategies. They conclude that the current state of anti-racism policy needs to be more consistently applied, and provide recommendations to standardize its application.
Read the full report at: https://peopleforeducation.ca/report/a-progress-report-on-anti-racism-policy-across-canada/
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) was founded in 1998 after the amalgamation of six GTA school boards previously known as the Metropolitan Toronto School Board. The TDSB is Canada’s largest school board and the fourth largest school board in North America, serving 583 schools and approximately 247,000 students. Toronto’s diverse population is reflected in the student body of the TDSB, with 71% of students identifying as non-White.
In 1970, the Toronto Board of Education (Toronto’s pre-amalgamation school board) recognized a need to diversifying its K-12 curriculum. Studies conducted by the Board had shown that Black student’s learning outcomes lagged behind that of White students. In response, Black teachers and community members called for a diversification of the provincial curriculum, stating that a growingly diverse student body required learning materials that reflected their lived experience. This call for educational diversity has been echoed by community members in the decades since, with numerous provincial studies highlighting Ontario’s need for curriculum reform. Though some steps have been made, the Ontario government has continually blocked community engagement and stalled needed diversification of the provincial curriculum. The Ontario curriculum to remains Eurocentric, failing to represent the lives of non-White students.
The term school-to-prison pipeline (SPP) describes the disproportional impact that harsh school disciplinary policies that criminalize students have on marginalized populations, causing the education system to become an avenue for racialized youth to enter the criminal justice system. These harsh disciplinary policies can also lead to the criminalization of racialized students outside of school, as students who are missing school do to expulsions or suspensions are twice as likely to be arrested during these periods of punishment. The school-to-prison pipeline is intrinsically linked to the explosion in incarcerations that occurred within Canada and the US starting in the late 1970s. An increase in the criminalization and incarceration of racialized students at this time mirrors the mass-incarceration of racialized people more broadly. In Ontario, the root of the SPP phenomenon are commonly linked to the Safe Schools Act (2000), which was largely seen as a companion policy to the Safe Streets Act (1999). However, the phenomenon stems farther back then these two documents.
In the past five years the Durham District School Board (DDSB) has been slowly moving to address systemic racism. Data identifying disparities in disciplinary action and education outcomes for its racialized students have been available since 2015, and this systemic inequity has been reinforced by repeated incidents of racist behaviour perpetrated by teachers and administrators. A human rights complaint in 20151 sparked a move towards community consultation and systems-wide measures to support racialized students, leading to the creation of the Equity and Diversity Strategic Plan, the Compendium of Action for Black Student Success, the Workforce Census and the Student Census. However, these measures consistently lack accountable timelines, communication of achievable goals, or clear measurements for progress in areas of concern. Though the DDSB’s equity measures seem robust, they either lack substantive measurements to display if actions taken are having an effect, or they fail to communicate what these measurements may be.
The Peel District School Board (PDSB) is one of Canada’s most diverse school boards, with 83% of students self-identifying as racialized, with large South Asian, East Asian, and Black student populations. The PDSB contains 257 schools, 155,000 students and is the largest employer in the Peel region. The diversity of its student body is not mirrored in the Board’s staff, however, with 67% self-identifying as white.