BOOK REVIEW

Anti- Racism, Feminism and Critical Approaches to Education,
Roxana Ng, Staton & Joyce Scane, editors.
Bering & Garvey, Westport, Connecticut, 1985.

Review by E.L. Donaldson

Authors in this book argue that the liberal values which prompted respect for diversity are not sufficient.

Commonalities and differences between racism and feminism are explored in this thirteenth monograph of the Critical Studies in Education and Culture Series. Too frequently, race and gender are equated as similar types of marginations, forming part of a triad of grievances (age, disability, sexual orientation, or class being the third). A critical conceptual framework such as this book proposes, with its focus on power differentials, exposes important differences. Unfortunately, the critical framework is also a limitation: having identified the problem with all its tensions, few solutions are offered.

Roxana Ng, professor of sociology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and two research associates at OISE, Joyce Scane and Pat Staton, are ideally situated to initiate a dialogue with high standards; the contributors whose work they have edited are also strong. Only one is American, thug the use of the term “multiculturalism” and the specific contexts explored are relevant to Canadian audiences. Final drafts of the papers, whose purpose is “to open up dialogues among scholars and educators about how minority perspectives can challenge and inform existing educational practices,” (p.xv) were polished during an October 1991 writing symposium in Toronto.

Since multiculturalism officially became federal policy in 1971 (later protected by the 1988 Charter of Human Rights), many educators have struggled with problems presented by diverse value systems: what is a good education, what is fair and who decides? Authors in this book argue that the liberal values which prompted respect for diversity are not sufficient; racism and sexism are being reproduced by educational systems. The seven chapters of the book are divided into two sections: Multicultural and Anti-Racist Education: Comparative and Critical Perspectives; and Reflections on Critical Approaches to Education. Three chapters are highlighted here because of their emphasis on sexism and racism.

Goli Rezai-Rashti, consultant on equity education for the Etobicoke Board of Education, also teaches at the University of Toronto and York University. In one chapter, partially entitled "Reflections on Everyday Practice," she skillfully traces the historical development of multicultural policies in Canada, Ontario and Toronto. She notes that the term “multiculturalism” is difficult to define and policies and practices are often constrained by inertia, short term training sessions, and “colonial attitudes.” In a later chapter, for example, Rezai-Rashti notes that an adolescent girl may have problems with authority (parents and teachers) whether she is visibly white or not, but if she is a minority female student her problem may be perceived as cultural. Anti-racist programs, by contrast, address racism endemic in the system, the lived experiences of students, teachers and administrators within a school milieu. Critical pedagogy, in its turn, is limited by obscure terminology (“organic intellectuals”) and relatively few effective strategies.

With increased immigration, expanded racial and ethnic diversity, and the “growth of religious fundamentalism,” educators often want practitioner “prescriptions” - easy methods that apparently resolve problems and conflicts. In a democracy such issues should not remain outside the boundaries of what is considered important in schooling, the author argues, but teachers are often pressed to complete mandated curriculum units let alone deal with complex social problems. As long as government anti-racism policies are “devoid of gender and class connotations,” as long as two hour staff-development workshops are the maximum training that teachers receive, and as long as educators assess problems through an Eurocentric lens, conflict is inevitable.

One chilling example profiles a fundamentalist father who withdrew his 13-year-old daughter from public schooling because she came into contact with boys, music and school assemblies. In spite of the school's willingness to minimize contact during physical education classes, and other attempts to compromise, the author claims “the public education system should be better prepared to deal with fundamentalism across a variety of religions” (p.94). The reader asks, How?



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