During the past four decades researchers note that educational institutions fail to “connect” with minority students (e.g. Clark, 1983; Coelho, 1998; Dei, 1994; Duffy, 2003; Ogbu, 1978, 1991). Carr and Klassen (1996) define this lack of “connection” primarily as teachers’ disregard for each student’s culture as it relates to race, and thus, his or her achievement potential. Hence, this disregard encourages minority students to question their ability to be successful. Dei (1994), furthermore, shows a tremendous disconnectedness from schools and education systems being felt by Black students. Few studies give voice to specific groups of Black female high school graduates who opt out of pursuing higher education. I interviewed four Black Guyanese immigrant women to: (a) investigate their reasons and expectations when immigrating to Canada, (b) identify what influenced their decision not to pursue postsecondary education, (c) explore their definitions of success, and (d) investigate how/if their notions of success relate to obtaining postsecondary education in Canada. Critical Race Theory (CRT) was employed in this study to: (a) provide a better understanding of the participants’ classroom dynamics governed by relationships with their teachers, guidance counsellors and school administrators, (b) examine educational outcomes governed by personal and educational relationships and experiences, and (c) provide conceptual tools in the investigation of colour-blindness (Parker & Roberts, 2005) that is disguised in Canadian education, immigration, and other government policies. To support my investigation, I used CRT to guide the research design, modes of documentation, and the process of analysis. It is hoped that my findings and analysis enriches the academy and society by communicating why there is a scarcity of Black Guyanese immigrant women in Canadian postsecondary institutions, making recommendations, to increase their participation in higher education. This study communicates the experiences of four Black Guyanese immigrant women in Canada. It does not intend to make generalizations about the experiences of all Black Guyanese immigrant women in Canada. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2009-04-27 11:29:04.43

Contributing to the work of philosophers of education who have been examining issues of economy and emancipation, this dissertation employs a set of critical lenses drawn from Foucault’s investigation of governmentality to trace correspondences between economic liberalism and public schooling in Upper Canada/Canada West, the historical antecedent of present day Ontario. The analysis adheres to Foucault’s advice that philosophical critique involves a question asked of the present but answered in history. Thus through a Foucauldian genealogy it is argued that a series of transformations in the deployment of governmental power occurred in Upper Canada/Canada West that entailed the entry of an economic rationality into deliberations over the creation of a school system. To support this argument evidence is presented that demonstrates how race, biopolitics, and the burgeoning science of political economy combined in the first half of the nineteenth century to form the conditions of possibility for governmental control of schooling. In particular, it is illustrated how these conditions favoured a pedagogy based in Locke’s epistemology, and were legitimized by the providential status accorded political economy. This pedagogy, which was promoted as mild and so conducive to student engagement, and the authority of political economy are revealed as integral to the methods of instruction and curriculum of the province’s common schools, and indicative of the legacy of economic liberalism that persists, albeit transformed, in Ontario education to this day. The result of this critical analysis is a redescription or, in Foucault’s terminology, a “countermemory” of Ontario educational history that challenges the presumed naturalism of the ideals characteristic of economic liberalism, such as autonomy, accountability, entrepreneurialism, and consumer choice. The dissertation contends that these ideals are active in local educational regimes long legitimized by economy, and dangerously aimed at fostering political consent by manipulating subjects into locations of restricted agency. Providing insight into the historical role played by liberal governmentality and economy in the local context contributes to the study of Foucault and the philosophy of education, and also suggests a change in approach to questions regarding the corporatization or marketization of education.

Contributing to the work of philosophers of education who have been examining issues of economy and emancipation, this dissertation employs a set of critical lenses drawn from Foucault’s investigation of governmentality to trace correspondences between economic liberalism and public schooling in Upper Canada/Canada West, the historical antecedent of present day Ontario. The analysis adheres to Foucault’s advice that philosophical critique involves a question asked of the present but answered in history. Thus through a Foucauldian genealogy it is argued that a series of transformations in the deployment of governmental power occurred in Upper Canada/Canada West that entailed the entry of an economic rationality into deliberations over the creation of a school system. To support this argument evidence is presented that demonstrates how race, biopolitics, and the burgeoning science of political economy combined in the first half of the nineteenth century to form the conditions of possibility for governmental control of schooling. In particular, it is illustrated how these conditions favoured a pedagogy based in Locke’s epistemology, and were legitimized by the providential status accorded political economy. This pedagogy, which was promoted as mild and so conducive to student engagement, and the authority of political economy are revealed as integral to the methods of instruction and curriculum of the province’s common schools, and indicative of the legacy of economic liberalism that persists, albeit transformed, in Ontario education to this day. The result of this critical analysis is a redescription or, in Foucault’s terminology, a “countermemory” of Ontario educational history that challenges the presumed naturalism of the ideals characteristic of economic liberalism, such as autonomy, accountability, entrepreneurialism, and consumer choice. The dissertation contends that these ideals are active in local educational regimes long legitimized by economy, and dangerously aimed at fostering political consent by manipulating subjects into locations of restricted agency. Providing insight into the historical role played by liberal governmentality and economy in the local context contributes to the study of Foucault and the philosophy of education, and also suggests a change in approach to questions regarding the corporatization or marketization of education.