This article examines the movement for Africentric public schools in Canada, particularly in Montreal, and the controversy it has generated. It is also argued that Black youth would gain significantly from community-based educational programmes that root their learning more closely in the life, experiences and needs of their community.
R.P. Solomon and C. Levine-Rasky, Teaching for Equity and Diversity: research to practice(Toronto, CanadianScholars’ Press, 2003).
2.
‘With reference to your Family Day, February 18th, 2008 cartoon, "Afrocentric Algebra"’ (22 February 2008), <http://rozenamaart.wordpress.com/news/media/>.
3.
2001 Census (Statistics Canada).
4.
Marie McAndrew and Jacques Ledent, in collaboration with the ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, La réussite scolaire des jeunes Noirs au secondaire (2004). This report focuses on students from Caribbean and Sub-Saharan African communities. Cited in Shared Values, Common Interests: the full participation of Black communities in Quebec society.
5.
Bryan Bishop , ‘No to Africentric schools’, Community Contact (No. 30, 11 February 2008).
6.
Richard Shaull, ‘Foreword’, in Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed: thirtieth anniversary edition (New York and London, Continuum, 2008), p. 34.
7.
For an extensive discussion of Canadian racism, see Henry and Tator, The Colour of Democracy: racism in Canadian society(Toronto , Nelson Thomson, 2005).
8.
David Trend, Cultural Pedagogy: art/education/politics (New York, Bergin and Garvey, 1992), p. 84.
9.
Peter C. Murrell, ‘Digging again the family wells: a Freirian literacy framework as emancipatory pedagogy for African-American children’, in P. Freire, J. W. Fraser, D. Macedo, T. McKinnon and W. T. Stokes, eds, Mentoring the Mentor: a critical dialogue with Paulo Freire (New York, Peter Lang Publishing, 1997).
10.
P. Freire and D. Macedo, ‘A dialogue: culture, language and race’, in Harvard Educational Review (Vol. 65, no. 3, 1995), p. 379.
11.
Maria Lugones , ‘On complex communication’, Hypatia (Vol. 21, no. 3, 2006), p. 75.
12.
Peter C. Murrell, ‘Concept paper for discussion: defining the community teacher’, <http://www.communityteachers.org/reports/MurrellConceptPaper.pdf>; Sanguinetti, Waterhouse and Maunders, ‘Pedagogies on the edge: researching complex practice in youth and adult community education’ , Studies in Education (Vol. 27, no. 3, 2005), pp. 271-87.
