Reading about Brittany3eryn’s Weblog on Racially Separate Schools got me thinking. As of 2009, there will be an African Focused School in Canada. It will serve as an alternative school for African students who are unable to learn at other schools in Canada due to their European and Anglo Saxon teaching methods and styles. Here are some of my uncertainties and questions about opening this school:
Will it be a dangerous step back towards segregation?
By creating Canada’s first African Focused School I feel that our society, Canada, will never feel as one belonging and accepting community. It could also create larger gaps between religion, ethnic, and racial issues. Furthermore, is this a way of discriminating a minority group? Lastly, are teachers held responsible to any extent for not incorporating more or any African ways of learning into the classroom?
It will not be a segregated school because anyone person will be able to attend. Who do you think will attend this school? I am uncertain, however I do think the majority will be African people.
Is this school just an ordinary alternative school to better suit the students learning abilities? They do this by following the same curriculum guide but use different teaching methods.
I think that this school will be similar in many ways to the way Cochrane’s High School and the First Nations University in Regina function in Regina. Moreover, both the high school and university teach much of the same subjects as you would learn in other schools and universities throughout Regina. The only difference is that they use and take different approaches to teach their students in order for them to have success. I think that creating new school systems for people who do not learn well under our current learning ways (European and Anglo Saxon methods) is an appropriate choice.
Will African people feel and be able to communicate better with the rest of Canada if they go to a separate school system?
Students that will attend this school will feel more comfortable and accepted because they will learn about African culture. This is unlike mainstream schooling, which teaches mainly European culture. I think that these people will grow up feeling and knowing they accomplished a lot more than what they would have in mainstream schooling. In addition, I think that they are more likely to give back and prosper in the country of Canada. The meaning of “giving back” means that they will be able to teach other Canadians new ways of learning and teaching in order to make our country a better place socially and economically. Lastly, I think they will appreciate Canada more if they are able to learn and be recognized for their cultural differences. In this sense the separation of their school system will bring them closer and better able to bond with the rest of Canada.
Here are a couple other thoughts and questions that I began to think about after reading Brittany’s blog:
Currently the majority of university students in education to become teachers are middle class, white, females. This eliminates knowledge of cultural diversity. Do you think there is a reason that middle class, white females are choosing to become teachers rather than males, or people of other ethnic background? Does this mean that current school and university systems are modeled to best suit white, middle class females? In relation, do you think our current schooling system should be remodeled to suit all cultural backgrounds?
To find out more about this topic go to: http://www.thestar.com/article/297001
Let me know what you think!
February 20, 2008 at 2:20 am
Wow, good blog topic! This is such a controversial issue right now. I heard about how they want to make an African American focused school in Canada. While I think this is okay, I think that people of any race should be able to attend all schools. Of course on the other hand I think by segregating races Canada may be creating unnecessary discrimination. I would like to read more about their plans for this African American school and see what they think the benefits and advantages will be. I do agree that a lot of the history studied in Canadian classrooms is European, and I think this is problematic. Perhaps it is not the races that need to be separated in order to create better learning environments. I think the curriculum needs to be altered and changed so that students learn about more cultures and countries, etc. I think if we start segregating every school by race then we will forget what it is like to live together in a multicultural ethnically diverse population. I hope the points I have made are not too controversial, these are just my current thoughts about this issue.