For our Children: Black Motherwork and Schooling by Stephanie Fearon A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Stephanie Fearon 2020 For Our Children: Black Motherwork and Schooling Stephanie Fearon Doctor of Philosophy Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education University of Toronto 2020 Abstract Ontario’s Parent Engagement Policy (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010) compels school officials to identify and remove discriminatory practices and structures to ensure the full participation of all parents in their children’s schooling. Yet Canadian literature and media highlight ongoing challenges faced by Black mothers in their relationships with their children’s schools. This arts-informed study uses storytelling to investigate the relationships between Black mothers and school officials. The study presents insights obtained from 10 in-depth interviews with African Caribbean mothers living in Toronto. Participants shared personal stories to articulate their understanding of Black motherwork and its impact on their relationships with school officials. Data collected from these oral recounts, along with the review of the literature, addressed the questions: What is Black women’s motherwork? How does Black women’s motherwork shape their relationships with school officials? How do Black mothers draw on communities of support to respond to challenges and successes encountered in their relationships with school officials? This research draws on African Indigenous, Black feminist and Black maternal theories to investigate Black women's motherwork and their relationships with one another and school officials. Using a comprehensive analytic process, participants' oral accounts are compiled ii into interconnected creative non-fiction stories. These stories are informed by African storytelling traditions like call-and-response, improvisation and audience participation. This structure prioritizes Black mothers’ voices and honours arts-informed methodologies, all while illustrating links to previous scholarship. The personal/self-stories, cultural stories, and metanarratives presented in this arts- informed study uphold Black mothers as educational leaders in their homes, communities and schools. The study revealed Black Canadian motherwork as a form of activism that is integral to the health and wellbeing of Black women and children. Black mothers understand their motherwork as collective action involving community parents. For Black mothers, school officials do not always fulfill their roles as community parents. Black mothers work with members in their women-centred networks to affirm their leadership and safeguard their children’s rights to safe, inclusive schooling spaces. This arts-informed study contributes to a deeper understanding of the ways that Black mothers practice educational leadership amongst themselves and with school officials. iii Acknowledgments This dissertation represents an emotional journey. On this journey, I experienced the loss of my grandmother and grandfather. My grandmother sparked my spiritual identity, while my grandfather nurtured my love for stories. While on this journey, I also grew. I married my soulmate and gave birth to a baby boy in our tiny house near the beach. I typed the majority of this thesis on my cell phone with one hand, while I used the other hand to nurse our baby. This thesis is dedicated to my family. On this journey my grandmother, mother, aunts, cousins and sister cooked, cleaned, loved, prayed and watched over my husband, baby and me. The women in my family not only made this journey possible, they inspired it. My father and uncles are brilliant storytellers. Their knowledge of and connection to familial land and histories continues to ground my journey. I am thankful to my doctoral committee members. I am eternally grateful to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Flessa, who supported the use of arts-informed methodologies for this study. Thank you to Dr. Lopez and Dr. McCready who challenged my thinking throughout the process. I am especially grateful to the external examiner Dr. Terah Venzant Chambers and the internal external examiner Dr. Tara Goldstein. Both Dr. Venzant Chambers and Dr. Goldstein nurture my passion to ground educational leadership and policy research in the arts. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ v List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. x List of Appendices ...................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background and context .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Problem statement .......................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Statement of purpose and research questions ................................................................. 4 1.4 Research approach ......................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Assumptions .................................................................................................................... 7 1.6 The researcher ................................................................................................................ 9 1.7 The historical context ..................................................................................................... 10 1.8 The researcher’s professional and academic journey .................................................... 12 1.9 Rationale and significance ............................................................................................. 13 1.10 Definitions of key terminology used in this study ............................................................ 14 1.11 The organization of the dissertation ............................................................................... 16 Chapter 2 A Note on Frameworks ............................................................................................. 18 2.1 African Indigenous framework ....................................................................................... 18 2.2 Black Feminist Thought ................................................................................................. 20 2.3 Motherwork ................................................................................................................... 21 2.4 Conceptual framework ................................................................................................... 23 v Chapter 3 Research Methodology ............................................................................................. 26 3.1 Rationale for arts-informed narrative methodology ........................................................ 26 3.2 Description of the research sample ............................................................................... 27 3.3 Summary of information needed .................................................................................... 29 3.4 Overview of research design ......................................................................................... 29 3.4.1 Literature review ................................................................................................ 30 3.4.2 IRB approval ...................................................................................................... 31 3.4.3 Location and recruitment .................................................................................... 31 3.4.4 Consent process ................................................................................................ 33 3.4.5 Semi-structured and in-depth Interviews ............................................................ 33 3.4.6 Interview guide ................................................................................................... 35 3.4.7 Interview process ............................................................................................... 35 3.5 Methods for data analysis and synthesis ....................................................................... 36 3.5.1 Locating the interviews within the historical context and cultural norms ............. 38 3.5.2 Demarcation of boundaries for individual stories ................................................ 38 3.5.3 Thematic and functional analysis of stories ........................................................ 39 3.5.4 Grouping stories according to themes and functions .......................................... 41 3.5.5 Comparison of story themes and functions across participant interviews ........... 41 3.5.6 Restructuring participants’ memories into storied accounts ................................ 42 3.5.7 Reviewing for conspicuous absences, silences and talkback ............................. 42 3.6 Ethical considerations ...................................................................................................