Parents' and families views and values vary. They often differ from school expectations. Is it realistic for families to believe their own lived experiences and cultural identities will be valued in partnerships with educators, with whom they must work, in the best interests of Ontario’s students?
I would like to submit that Ontario’s Education Act thwarts individual decision-making as it legislates and regulates professionals and in so doing protects the public. But, who exactly is being protected, and whose efforts are disregarded and devalued in the spirit of professionalism?
These are just a few of the questions that emerged in discussions for my research with mothers about students who are enrolled in special education environments (Getfield, 2022). Special education students in Ontario usually possess an Individual Education Plan (IEP). The IEP outlines how each student’s education needs will be addressed by schools, with consultation from home. On the surface, IEPs appear to be quite straightforward and targeted. However, the implementation of the plan reveals that for some students, the IEP misses its target. When good-intentioned special education teachers and school administrators focus on the deficits and weaknesses of students and do not foreground the students’ strengths, they will not be able to respond equitably to the needs of students who are both Black and disabled (Getfield, 2022). This finding has been supported in conversations with mothers engaged with [grassroots] organizations like Mothers United in Mediating Mutual Alliances (MUMMA) and a charitable organization, Parents of Black Children.
In discussions about Black disabled students, concepts of race and disability are intrinsically intertwined. Colonial, capitalist discourse combined with eugenics have impacted the history of education in Ontario in that, over centuries, myths and stereotypes regenerate notions that African-descended Black people are intellectually inferior, incapable of learning, naturally incompetent, and lazy. Though now debunked, such eugenic notions claimed that the white race was superior compared to all other races. Generations, across races, believed the eugenic claims of the more dominant, learned community of white academics and scientists. Laws and policies were predicated upon philosophies of white supremacy and eugenics. To be clear, the evolution and design of Ontario’s system of education could not have escaped the dual cultural and economic influence of eugenics, capitalism and colonialism.
Blackness is better understood when juxtaposed with whiteness. “Whiteness,” gestures to the laws, regulations, and the negotiated cultural understandings and economic interests shared by the dominant, powerful and more affluent groups in North America. Whiteness can be understood as the ways of being of Europeans, who held sway as colonizers. Whiteness is about economics, culture and power. Whiteness is property owned and distributed by European-descended peoples who are at the centre of our society. Blackness gestures to the relative power of those who exist on the periphery of our society. Blackness gestures to the lived realities of African descendants: primarily those whose lands and indigenous cultures were appropriated during the colonized encounter with settler Europeans. So, Blackness is the property owned by people who are indigenous to the African continent and therefore it is the property owned by diasporic Africans.
How do these two concepts—Blackness and whiteness—apply to [special] education? When there is a singular medical/clinical lens through which schools view—and predict— students’ current and future/potential abilities, whiteness encourages us to look at students from a deficit perspective. As a result, some professionals advocate for disabled students and adults to be excluded from spaces (and therefore they are denied opportunities) that are readily accessible by those whose abilities do not deviate from the norm/standard. Relatedly, whiteness encourages some good-intentioned educators to advise some students to settle for, and aspire to, mediocrity: they claim that lowered expectations will eliminate stressors and reduce students’ stress levels. Whiteness evaluates the cost and concludes that it would be way too much effort for some students to work hard according to their capacity, to stretch themselves and therefore reach towards the best of who they can be, in keeping with their abilities. Good-intentioned educators who claim to be “blind to race” cannot work as allies to dismantle structures that undergird anti-Black racism. The situation is compounded when race-ignorant educators are expected to understand how disability and disablement emerge in their classrooms and schools. Disablement (re)produces disabling conditions. These problematic conditions emerge when educators and health professionals do not consider and remove barriers for Black and disabled students. Black students and their impairments are not the problem in schools. Since students cannot scale or navigate systemic barriers, we must look to the more powerful educator for creative solutions.
Schooling transports education. Reimagined concepts of schooling and education urge consideration of students’ and educators’ social class. School context and school climate are both imperatives so administrators, among educators, must create opportunities in schools and identify resources in the wider communities. Educators are challenged to ensure that all students have equitable access to education and related opportunities. Intentional and responsive educators must pay attention to students’ intersecting identity categories in order to plan for all students’ success and optimal school environments.
Black mothers, among all mothers, want to partner with schools in the education of their children (Getfield, 2022). Since student success is the goal for both home and school, educators must not only focus on optimal conditions in classrooms and schools, but they must also ensure there is intentional and collaborative engagement between home and school. Therefore, school climate, school contexts and home-school-community partnerships are critically important as the school team (of educators and the family) works towards Black student success.
REFERENCES
Getfield, J. (2022). Family Engagement in a Pandemic: Seeing Through a Dark Glass. In K. Fox & L. Szech (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Family Literacy Practices and Home-School Connections (pp. 176-195). IGI Global.
Henry, N. (2021). Racial Segregation of Black Students in Canadian Schools. In The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Jacqui Getfield, PhD is founder of a grassroots organization, Mothers United in Mediating Mutual Alliances (MUMMA). Her research focuses on race and disability within family engagement, home-school partnerships. Her PhD dissertation is titled, “Prescriptive Partnerships: Black Mothers of Disabled Children and Educators in Ontario’s Public School System.” Dr. Jacqui Getfield theorizes and analyzes through the lens of critical race theory. She has delivered online public lectures at universities in Canada and the USA. A diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging (DEIAB) consultant, Dr. Getfield has facilitated DEIAB workshops at non-profit organizations, churches, etc. She has over 25 years of professional experience in education, health, research, and corporate communications. Currently, she is project manager of the Caribbean African Regenerative Medicine (CARM) project.