“I HAVE MY OWN BIASES AND SEE THROUGH A LENS THAT MAKES RACIAL INEQUITIES STAND OUT, BUT THE EXPERIENCES OF RACIALIZED EDUCA- TORS ARE NOT ALWAYS VALUED IN EDUCATION. OUR DIVERSITY CAN BE A STRENGTH AND OUR PER- SPECTIVES CAN CREATE A RICHER ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF, BUT WE NEED TO BE PRESENT AS TEACHERS IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OUR EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES NEED TO BE HEARD.”
20 ETFO VOICE | SUMMER 2021
ers in Ontario has not kept up despite the increase of interest and supply. I still on oc- casion experience overt racism, but it’s the microaggressions that are indicative of the normalization of racism in education and society. I have had my hair touched without consent. I have been asked countless times where I am from as well as where am I really from when I answer Canada. While trying to establish rapport with an ELL student with almost no English language, they and I were told to use our English words by an educational assistant. I have my name mis- pronounced every day, even over the loud- speaker at school. As an educator of colour, I have my own biases and see through a lens that makes racial inequities stand out, but the experiences of racialized educators are not always valued in education. Our diver- sity can be a strength and our perspectives can create a richer environment for students and staff, but we need to be present as teach- ers in our public schools and our experienc- es and perspectives need to be heard.
HAPPENING IN OUR SCHOOLS A report by the Ontario Human Rights Com- mission (OHRC) titled “Under Suspicion: Research and Consultation Report on Racial
Profiling in Ontario” (2017) shows indisput- able evidence of racism in our schools. The study found that Indigenous, Black and other racialized students continuously face negative assumptions and stereotypes from educa- tors. Not only do these assumptions result in stricter behavioural expectations, they don’t leave much room to make mistakes. Racial- ized students are more harshly disciplined than their white counterparts. The data from the OHRC investigation shows that Black and racialized students are receiving higher rates of suspensions despite representing a small proportion of the students in their schools and boards. When white students are in conflict with Black and other racialized stu- dents, racialized students are often assumed to have started conflicts. (See the TDSB’s “Safe Schools System Report 2017-2018” for more detail.) We know from research that the belief or
bias a teacher holds about their students can impact them for a lifetime – academically and psychologically. We know that in Ontar- io the last segregated school closed in 1965 and the last residential school closed in 1995. Most teachers raised in Ontario have lived through at least one of these periods and all of us carry biases as a result.
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