Centering Black Excellence: Critical Race Currere

Authors

  • Aaron Sardinha Drake University of Ottawa

Keywords:

critical race theory, critical race currere, currere, feminist currere, Black excellence, curriculum studies

Abstract

 

Using Critical Race/Feminist Currere, I look at the ways in which the Sankofa English Course in partnership with a local Ontario School Board, addresses the ongoing calls for Black excellence in schools. I draw upon critical race theorists as well as Black feminist scholars to position my autobiographical experiences in designing and teaching this course. I suggest and call for the continued use of critical race/currere in order to continue the amplification of Black excellence within Ontario schooling and education.

References

References
Adams, S. R., & Buffington-Adams, J. (2020). On/Beyond Currere. Currere Exchange Journal, 4(2), 63-70.
Aiello, R. (2019, June 3). Emotions raw, actions promised as MMIWG inquiry comes to an end. CTV News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/emotions-raw-actions-promised-as-mmiwg-inquiry-comes-to-an-end-1.4449578
Allen, A. M.A. (2019). Negotiating University Teaching in Canada using Critical Race Theory: Having to Continually Prove Oneself in Academia. In H. T. Frierson & R. Heaggans (Eds.), Diversity and Triumphs of Navigating the Terrain of Academe: International Perspectives. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Aoki, T. T. (1993, Spring). Legitimating Lived Curriculum: Towards a Curricular Landscape of Multiplicity. Journal of Curriculum Supervision, 8(3), 255-268.
Atkinson, P. (2001). Handbook of Ethnography (P. Atkinson, Ed.). SAGE.
Baldwin, J. (1963). The Fire Next Time. Penguin Books.
Barrera, J. (2019, May 31). National inquiry calls murders and disappearances of Indigenous women a 'Canadian genocide'. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/genocide-murdered-missing-indigenous-women-inquiry-report-1.5157580
Baszile, D., & Schubert, W. (2015). Critical Race/Feminist Currere. In M. Schultz (Ed.), The SAGE Guide to Curriculum in Education (pp. 119-126). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://www-doi-org.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/10.4135/9781483346687.n19
Baszile, D. T. (2017). On the Virtues of Currere. Currere Exchange Journal, 1(1), vi-ix.
Beattie, S. (2021, June 7). Damning report finds 'persistent and unyielding' anti-Black racism in Ontario's public service. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/anti-black-racism-ops-report-1.6056422
Bell Jr., D. A. (1976). Serving Two Masters: Integration Ideals and Client Interests in School Desegregation Litigation. The Yale Law Journal, 85(4), 470-516.
Billings, G. L. (1992). Culturally relevant teaching: The key to making multicultural education work. In C. A. Grant (Ed.), Research In Multicultural Education: From The Margins To The Mainstream. Taylor & Francis.
Billings, G. L. (1995). oward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491.
Briggs, A. Q. (2017). Second generation Caribbean black male youths discuss obstacles to educational and employment opportunities: a critical race counter-narrative analysis. Journal of Youth Studies, 21(4), 533-549.
Carter G. Woodson Center. (n.d.). The Power of Sankofa: Know History - Carter G. Woodson Center. Berea College. Retrieved January 1, 2022, from https://www.berea.edu/cgwc/the-power-of-sankofa/
Coble, C. C. (2020). A call for queering adult classrooms. Currere Exchange Journal, 4(2), 83-87.
Collins, T., & Magnan, M.-O. (2018). Post-Secondary Pathways among Second-Generation Immigrant Youth of Haitian Origin in Quebec. Canadian Journal of Education, 41(2), 413-330.
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241-1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039
Currie, M., Ng-A-Fook, N., & Sardinha Drake, A. (2021). Is CRRP Enough? Addressing Antiracism(s) in Teacher Education. Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies, 14(2).
Daspit, T. (2021). "None of Us": Four Poems About Dad. Currere Exchange Journal, 5(1), 1-5.
Dauphinee, E. (2010). The ethics of autoethnography. Review of International Studies, 36, 799-818. 10.1017/S0260210510000690
Dei, G. J. S. (n.d.). Afrocentricity and inclusive curriculum: Is there a connection or a contradiction Authors. The language and politics of exclusion: Others in discourse, 203-225.
Dei, G. J. S. (1994). Afrocentricity: A cornerstone of pedagogy. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 25(1), 3-28.
Dei, G. J. S. (1996). Anti-racism Education: Theory and Practice. Fernwood Pub.
Dei, G. J. S. (2000). Mapping the Terrain: Power, Knowledge and Anti-Racism Education. In M. Aguiar, A. M. Calliste, & G. J. S. Dei (Eds.), Power, Knowledge and Anti-racism Education: A Critical Reader. Fernwood.
Dei, G. J. S. (2008). Schooling as Community: Race, Schooling, and the Education of African Youth. Journal of Black Studies, 38(3), 346-366.
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (1999). Critical Race Theory, Second Edition: An Introduction, Second Edition (1st ed.). NYU Press.
Downey, A. (2018). Speaking in Circle: Lived Experiences of White-Seeming Privilege. Antistatsis, 8(1), 1-11.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (1968). The Autobiography of W.E.B. DuBois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century (H. Aptheker, Ed.). International Publishers.
Dumas, M. J. (2016). Against the Dark: Education Policy and Discourse. Theory into Practice, 55, 11-19. DOI: 10.1080/00405841.2016.1116852
Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2011). Autoethnography: An Overview. Qualitative Social Research, 12(1). https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/autoethnography-overview/docview/870465772/se-2
Fanel, S. (2021, June 1). TDSB launches new centre to combat 'deeply entrenched' anti-Black racism. CTV News Toronto. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/tdsb-launches-new-centre-to-combat-deeply-entrenched-anti-black-racism-1.5451958
Fanon, F. (1952). Black Skin, White Masks (R. Philcox, Trans.).
Flinders, D. J., Noddings, N., & Thornton, S. (1986). The Null Curriculum: Its Theoretical Basis and Practical Implications. Curriculum Inquiry, 16, 33-42.
Gay, G. (2010). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice. Teachers College.
hampton, r. (2010). Black learners in Canada. race and class, 52(1), 103-110.
Hooks, B. (2014). Teaching To Transgress. Taylor & Francis.
Howard, P. S.S. (2004). White privilege: For or against? A discussion of ostensibly antiracist discourses in Critical Whiteness Studies. Race, Gender and Class, 11(4), 63-79.
Hughes, S. (2019, October 24). 2 CrossRef citations to date 2 Altmetric Articles My skin is unqualified: an autoethnography of black scholar-activism for predominantly white education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 33(2), 151-165. 10.1080/09518398.2019.1681552
Hurston, Z. N. (1995). Folklore, memoirs, and other writings (C. Wall, Ed.). Library of America.
Ibrahim, A. (2005). he Question of the Question Is the Foreigner: Towards an Economy of Hospitality. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 149-162.
Ibrahim, A. (2017). Don’t Call Me Black! Rhizomatic Analysis of Blackness, Immigration, and the Politics of Race Without Guarantees. Educational Studies, 53(5), 511-521. doi: 10.1080/00131946.2017.1303496
Jabakhanji, S. (2021, November 13). Parents, students gather for anti-Black racism rally outside Toronto school. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/parkdale-student-rally-anti-black-racism-1.6248231
James, C. E. (1997). Contradictory Tensions in the Experiences of African Canadians in a Faculty of Education with an Access Program. Canadian Journal of Education, 22(2), 158-174.
James, C. E. (2019). Adapting, Disrupting, and Resisting: How Middle School Black Males Position Themselves in Response to Racialization in School. Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, 44(4), 373-398.
James, C. E., & Brathwaite, K. S. (Eds.). (1996). Educating African Canadians. James Lorimer Limited, Publishers.
Jewett, L. M. (2006). A delicate dance: autoethnography, curriculum, and the semblance of intimacy. LSU Doctoral Dissertations, 98.
Jones, A. (2021, October 8). Ontario court declines to set out sentencing framework for mitigation of anti-Black racism | Globalnews.ca. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/8254423/ontario-court-anti-black-racism/
Krause, K. (2021, November 12). Rally held at Meridian Place in Barrie against racism in schools. CTV News Barrie. https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/rally-held-at-meridian-place-in-barrie-against-racism-in-schools-1.5664478
Kuhnke, J. L., Jack-Malik, S., & Dann, L. J. (2021). Be Silent, Flee, or Be Courageous: Currere and Duoethnography. Currere Exchange Journal, 5(1), 22-35.
Kxndi, K. (2021, May 30). Why I celebrate Black, Indigenous, Womxn of Colour today and every day. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-womxns-day-kendi-tarichia-1.6036449
Ladson-Billings, G. J. (1999). Preparing Teachers for Diverse Student Populations: A Critical Race Theory Perspective. Review of Research in Education, 24. https://doi.org/10.2307/1167271
La Grassa, J. (2021, August 5). Public school board to perform anti-Black racism audit following reports of 'systemic racism'. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/anti-black-racism-public-school-board-audit-1.6130107
Martel, Y., & Sinclair, M. (2021, October 4). MMIWG: Indigenous people wait for action. CTV News. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/indigenous-people-waiting-for-action-on-mmiwg-as-day-marks-their-pain-1.5611197
Maxwell, M., & Roofe, C. (2020). Lived Curriculum: The teacher at the heart of the protest. Currere Exchange Journal, 4(2), 28-34.
Morris, S. (2021, November 11). Simcoe County parents call for action amid allegations of racism in schools. CTV News Barrie. https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/simcoe-county-parents-call-for-action-amid-allegations-of-racism-in-schools-1.5662867
Native Women's Association of Canada. (2022, October). Fact Sheet: Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA PEOPLE IN CANADA. https://www.nwac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/MMIWG-and-Violence-Fact-Sheet-Formatted-2021.pdf
The News Desk. (2020, July 21). COVID Takes Drastic Toll on Women's Participation in Labour Force. RBC Direct Investing. https://www6.royalbank.com/en/di/hubs/now-and-noteworthy/article/women-in-the-labour-force/kbs73ec9
Ohito, E. O. (2019). hinking through the flesh: a critical autoethnography of racial body politics in urban teacher education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 22(2), 250-268. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1294568
Okello, W. K. (2019, October 17). Toward an ethical Black men’s feminism. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 33(3), 343-356. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2019.1676482
Ottawa Carleton District School Board. (2020). Sankofa Black Graduation Program [Microsoft Word Document].
Parker, L. (2015). Critical Race Theory in Education and Qualitative Inquiry: What Each Has to Offer Each Other Now? Qualitative Inquiry, 21(3), 199-205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414557828
Patel, R. (2021, March 17). OPINION | Women struggling due to pandemic need employment and economic support. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-covid-women-employment-support-1.5939419
Pinar, W. F. (1975). The Method of Currere. In Counterpoints (Vol. 2, pp. 19-27). Peter Lang.
Pinar, W. F. (2019). What Is Curriculum Theory? Taylor & Francis.
Pinar, W. F., & Grumet, M. R. (2014). Toward a Poor Curriculum (W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Eds.). Educator's International Press, Incorporated.
Reed-Danahay, D. (2007). Autobiography, Intimacy and Ethnography. In J. Lofland, P. Atkinson, S. Delamont, A. Coffey, & L. Lofland (Eds.), Handbook of Ethnography. SAGE Publications.
Schubert, W. H., He, M. F., & Schultz, B. D. (Eds.). (2015). The SAGE Guide to Curriculum in Education. SAGE Publications.
Schultz, D., & Sontag-Padilla, L. (2015). Building Better Boyhood Programs: Evaluation of Programs Funded by the African American Men and Boys Task Force Initiative. RAND Corporation.
Seng, J. S., Lopez, W. D., Sperlich, M., Hamama, L., & Reed Meldrum, C. D. (2012, December). Marginalized identities, discrimination burden, and mental health: Empirical exploration of an interpersonal-level approach to modeling intersectionality. Social Science & Medicine, 75(12), 2437-2445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.09.023
Stanley, T. J. (2000). Why I Killed Canadian History: Conditions for an Anti-Racist History in Canada. Social History and Postmodern and Postcolonial Theory, 33(65).
Taliaferro-Baszile, D. (2010). In Ellisonian Eyes, What is Curriculum Theory? In E. Malewski (Ed.), Curriculum Studies Handbook – The Next Moment. Taylor & Francis.
Taliaferro-Baszile, D. (2020). In Ellisonian Eyes, What is Curriculum Theory? In E. Malewski (Ed.), Curriculum Studies Handbook – The Next Moment. Taylor & Francis.
Valdes, F., Culp, J. M., & Harris, A. (Eds.). (2002). Crossroads, Directions and A New Critical Race Theory. Temple University Press.
Wang, H. (2015). Multicultural currere as subject matter. In The SAGE Guide to Curriculum in Education (pp. 110-118). Sage Publications Inc.
Washington, B. T. (1901). The Story of My Life and Work: An Autobiography. J. L. Nichols.
West, C. M. (2008, September 25). Battered, Black, and Blue. Women & Therapy, 3(4), 5-27. https://doi.org/10.1300/J015v25n03_02
Woodford, E. D. (2021). The Fragmented Journey of Becoming/Being a Teacher: A Poetic Currere on Teacher Wellness. Currere Exchange, 5(1), 66-69.

Downloads

Published

2022-12-16