Decolonising dominant knowledge constructions in the education of immigrant youth in Canada

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the dominant knowledge construction in Canadian public schools. Using the grounded theory approach, thirty-six Chinese Canadian youths and young adults were interviewed in Alberta. Drawing on critical, anticolonial and Bourdieusian perspectives, I argue that some teachers’ racialised habitus and biased knowledge constructions devalued the indigenous knowledges that immigrant youth bring to the classroom. Moreover, they reproduced anti-immigrant discourses and reinforced racial hierarchies in Canadian society. As a consequence, they negatively affect the identity construction of immigrant descendants and undermine their attempts to negotiate a sense of belonging in Canada. I argue that decolonising dominant knowledge constructions requires challenging teachers’ racialised habitus in teaching and their interactions with immigrant students.

KEYWORDS:

• School knowledge
• immigrant youth/young adults
• Chinese Canadian
• racialised habitus
• decolonisation
• anti-racism

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and Dr. Ali. A Abdi for their feedback and previous drafts of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dan Cui

Dan Cui is an assistant professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University. Her research interests include sociology of education, migration, integration and transnationalism, social justice and equity studies in education, and international and comparative education.