Afrocentric Education: What does it mean to Toronto’s Black parents? by Patrick Radebe M.Ed., University of Toronto, 2005 B.A. (Hons.), University of Toronto, 2000 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Educational Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) October 2017 Patrick Radebe, 2017 Abstract The miseducation of Black students attending Toronto metropolitan secondary schools, as evinced by poor grades and high dropout rates among the highest in Canada, begs the question of whether responsibility for this phenomenon lies with a public school system informed by a Eurocentric ethos. Drawing on Afrocentric Theory, this critical qualitative study examines Black parents’ perceptions of the Toronto Africentric Alternative School and Afrocentric education. Snowball sampling and ethnographic interviews, i.e., semi-structured interviews, were used to generate data. A total of 12 Black parents, three men and nine women, were interviewed over a 5-month period and data analyzed. It was found that while a majority of the respondents supported the Toronto Africentric Alternative School and Afrocentric education, some were ambivalent and others viewed the school and the education it provides as divisive and unnecessary. The research findings show that the majority of the participants were enamored with Afrocentricity, believing it to be a positive influence on Black lives. While they supported TAAS and AE, the minority, on the other hand, opposed the school and its educational model. The findings also revealed a Black community, divided between a majority seeking to preserve whatever remained of (their) African identity and a determined minority that viewed assimilation to be in the best interests of Black students. It is recommended that the school adopt antiracist education; that it appoints a spokesperson to field public inquiries to counter adverse perceptions of the school and its programs; that it fosters an on-going dialogue between its supporters and critics; and, most importantly, that it takes steps aimed at rebuilding relations among the stakeholders, i.e., the school, Black parents, the Toronto District School Board and the community. ii Lay Summary The view that mainstream Canadian and multicultural education is superior vis-à-vis colonial education, and in particular far more in inclusive in its orientation, has been challenged by Toronto’s Black parents, community activists, and Afrocentric scholars, who blame the former, in part, for the underachievement of Black students. This study examined how these parents perceive the Toronto Africentric Alternative School and Afrocentric education. It investigated, among other things, whether the latter could remedy the underperformance of Black students, as revealed in high dropout rates. In addition, it explored what role, if any, an African-centred education might play in addressing a crisis: the growing achievement gap in the public education system between White and Black students. iii Preface This dissertation is original, unpublished, independent work by Patrick Radebe. This study was approved by the UBC Behavioural Research Ethics Board on April 12, 2013. The ethics certificate is H13-00251. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Lay Summary ..................................................................................................................... iii Preface ................................................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................v List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix List of Acronyms .................................................................................................................x Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ xi Dedication ........................................................................................................................ xiii Epigraph ........................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1. Introduction .................................................................................................1 1.1. The Researcher’s Positionality and Dilemmas .....................................1 1.2. Problem Statement ...............................................................................5 1.3. Statement of Purpose ............................................................................9 1.4. Research Objectives ...........................................................................10 1.5. Significance of the Study ...................................................................10 1.6. Organization of the Dissertation .........................................................11 Chapter 2. Literature Review ......................................................................................14 2.1. The Historical and Contemporary Education of Blacks .....................14 2.2. Colonial and Eurocentric Education in the Context of Black Education .................................................................................15 2.3. The School Curriculum as an Ideological Text ..................................25 2.4. Black Canadian Education: A Historical Overview ...........................31 2.5. Segregated Schools: Keeping Black Canadians “Uneducated” .........33 2.6. The Separate School Act (1850) and Segregated Education ..............35 2.7. Multicultural Education: What Is It? ..................................................38 2.8. Multicultural Education in Practice: White Teachers and Black Students’ Alienation ................................41 2.9. Black Students and Streaming ............................................................47 2.10. The School Curriculum and Eurocentric Knowledge ........................50 2.11. Multicultural Curriculum: Whose History Passes for Knowledge? ...52 2.12. Multicultural Education and Racist Representations .........................55 2.13. Black Students' Underperformance: Looking Beyond the Public School System .......................................58 2.14. Conclusion ..........................................................................................60 v Chapter 3. Afrocentric Theory: A Discursive Framework .......................................62 3.1. A Working Definition of Afrocentric Theory ....................................63 3.2. Du Bois, The “Concept of Race”: White Power and Separate Education ................................................64 3.3. Du Bois, Separate Schools and Education: The History ....................68 3.4. Black Education: The Challenges ......................................................70 3.5. Marcus Garvey: The Relationship Between Continental and Diasporic African Black as One People ...................71 3.6. Kwame Nkrumah and Pan-Africanism ..............................................78 3.7. Afrocentric Theory: The Civil Rights and Post-Civil Rights Period ..................................83 3.8. Afrocentric Theory: The Criticisms ...................................................87 3.9. Afrocentric Education: What Does It Mean and Why Is It Necessary? ..................................95 3.10. Afrocentricity and Afrocentric Education in the Context of Canadian Public Education ..............................................................103 3.11. Criticism of Dei and Afrocentric Education in Canada ...................106 3.12. The Toronto Africentric Alternative School: An Overview ............109 3.13. The Afrocentric Curriculum: An Overview .....................................111 3.14. The Toronto Africentric Alternative School: Staff and Governance .......................................................................112 3.15. Conclusion ........................................................................................113 Chapter 4. Research Methodology ............................................................................115 4.1. Research Paradigm: An Overview ...................................................115 4.2. The Researcher’s Paradigm ..............................................................116 4.3. Qualitative Methodologies: An Overview .......................................120 4.4. Critical Ethnography: An Overview .................................................122 4.5. Critical Ethnographic Research: Problematizing Power and Oppression ............................................122 4.6. Research Methods ............................................................................124 4.6.1. Data Collection ...................................................................124 4.6.2. Participant Recruitment and Selection ................................125 4.7. In-Depth/Semi-Structured Interview ................................................127 4.8. The Participants ................................................................................130 4.8.1. Abena (Project Manager) ....................................................130 4.8.2. Amma (Creative