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Abstract
This paper deals with the discourses related to race and anti-racism in a social sciences textbook for grade 12 Ontario students that was published in 2002. It is argued that the complexities of race and anti-racism are not dealt with systematically and cohesively. The textbook does not adequately address the topics of race and racism within the present Canadian social structure, leaving the discussion of complex and controversial ideas concerning race and racism virtually unexplored. In addition, the opportunity to make use of current scholarly work has been ignored or distorted. This is particularly important in light of recent developments regarding the impact of September 11, and the ensuing ‘war on terror’ and the changing dynamic of race relations in North America.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through the Standard Research Grant 410-2001-1622.
Notes
1. Influenced by neoliberal policy discourses on education, the conservative government (1996–2003) introduced major changes in the structure of the education system in Ontario. Theses changes created a major shift in all aspects of education, such as standardization of curriculum, reduction and amalgamation of school boards, funding and staffing formulas, and more specifically the centralization of power and control in the Ministry of Education. It is important to mention that prior to 1996 the centre left New Democratic Party (NDP) was in power from 1991 to 1995. During the NDP government, the Ministry of Education and Training paid some attention to issues of racism and sexism in Ontario schools. In 1993, the ministry made it mandatory for every school board in Ontario to develop and implement a policy on Anti-racism and Ethnocultural Equity. To that effect, the ministry established a unit within the Ministry of Education and Training to support the work of school boards and to make school boards accountable for their work on equity issues. The policy memorandum No. 119 in 1993 recognized that there have been systemic inequities in educational experiences of minority groups and the Ministry of Education and Training acknowledged that the educational structures, policies, and programs have been mainly European in perspective (Ontario Ministry of Education, Citation1993, p. 45). According to this policy, all school boards in Ontario were to develop a policy on Anti-racism and Ethnocultural Equity and they were to submit their policies and the implementation plan to the ministry by 31 March 1995. The policy contained clear timelines, expectations, and implementation plan attached to it. In 1995, the NDP government lost in the provincial election and the Progressive Conservative Party was elected with a majority of seats and a platform of tax cuts, fiscal responsibility and the elimination of employment equity policy. Soon after the new government took office, the monitoring of the boards’ policy on Anti-racism and Ethnocultural Equity ended. From 1995 to 1997 about two-thirds of the budget of the unit was cut and the unit was shut down in 1997.
2. The writing team for the social sciences and humanities subject (family studies, sociology, philosophy and anthropology) consisted of university professors (their involvement was because of the fact that several of these courses were university/college preparation courses), high school teachers, and a person who would act as a multicultural expert who would ensure that the materials produced by the writing team were free from bias. It is also important to keep in mind that prior to the conservative government's restructuring of education, the Ministry of Education would provide the policy documents for each curriculum subject and based on that policy, the individual boards of education would have more autonomy in terms of producing curriculum materials related to their local needs. This shift reduced the autonomy of the boards of education and further resulted in the centralization of curriculum in all subject areas.
3. Trillium List replaces previous Circular 14 as the list of eligible textbooks and curriculum materials to be used in schools.
4. According to the Ministry of Education: ‘a textbook may be approved for use in Ontario schools if they successfully meet all of the following requirements and criteria:
Congruence with curriculum policy
a. The content must be consistent with that in one or more elementary subjects or secondary courses described in Ontario curriculum policy documents, and must support at least 85 per cent of the curriculum expectations for an elementary subject in a specific grade or a secondary course.
b. In the case of a series, at least one title in the series must support at least 85 per cent of the curriculum expectations for an elementary subject in a specific grade or secondary course. Individual titles in a series that do not support 85 per cent of the expectations for a subject or course are not eligible for evaluation.
c. If non-print material (for example, a CD-ROM or manipulative material) makes up part of a textbook, and if the whole textbook package of which it is a part supports at least 85 per cent of the curriculum expectations for an elementary subject in a specific grade or a secondary course, this material will be eligible for consideration and will be included in the evaluation.
d. A multimedia package that supports at least 85 per cent of the curriculum expectations for an elementary subject in a specific grade or a secondary course will also be considered to be a textbook and will be eligible for evaluation’. (Ministry of Education, 2002, p. 7)
5. The Ministry of Education and Training had specifically instructed the policy writers to avoid any references to sexual orientation and sexuality in the textbooks for all social sciences and humanities subject courses (Goli Rezai-Rashti, personal involvement in the writing process).
6. For a definitive discussion of war of maneuver and war of position see Antonio Gramsci's ‘State and Civil Society’ essay in Selections from the Prison Notebooks (1971, pp. 229–239). Also see the very useful clarification of these terms by Michael Omi and Howard Winant in Racial Formation in the United States (Citation1994, p. 81).
7. In a brilliant essay ‘Popular Culture and the “Turn” to Gramsci’, Tony Bennett (Citation1998) lays out the fundamental utility of Gramsci for a radical praxis linked to cultural studies. The ‘turn’ here involved a radical effort to think politics through education and culture and to think political practice and the mobilization for change through the development of webs of alliances and affiliations defying the sectoral and disciplinary tendencies that even radical scholars seek to perpetuate!