This research project seeks to provide a critical and reformist perspective of the
rationale for a school district race relations policy. By conducting a comprehensive
critique of established assumptions behind traditional race relations models, and by
bringing to light the motivations and understandings of committee members who
established a school district race relations policy, the researcher hopes to make clear that
stated purpose for the policy can be interpreted from variety of perspectives.
The policy aims to foster a learning environment in which racial,
ethnic, cultural and religious differences are recognized and valued.
These differences must not be the basis of discrimination (Taylor
School District. 1992)
It is not clear what ethnic, cultural, and religious differences are to be recognized
and valued. A reformist perspective would promote social structural equality and prepare
young, developing citizens to work towards what Freire called "conscientization" (Freire,
1985: 103), to have the desire and skills to question society, see through versions of
'truth' that allow unfairness to be masked, and then to be empowered to "envision,
define, and work towards a more humane society" (Sleeter, 1994: 212). This project will
contribute to the body of knowledge on the underlying assumptions, factors, and
motivations that impact race relations work as well as make recommendations for the
implementation of effective race relations strategies.
Race relations work that is "Multicultural and Social Reconstructionalist"
(Sleeter, 1994: 209) is designed to reflect the concerns and aspirations of diverse groups
of people. In education, rather than being limited to additional curricula or increased minority hiring, it is a "different orientation and expectation of the whole educational
process" (Sleeter, 1994: 209). It also contends that major institutions such as schools are
incapable of being vehicles in the elimination of racism until their institutional reason for
being, their purpose, or guiding mission undergoes significant change. Proposing
idealistic rationale statements is a fabulous start if the statements mirror, or initiate more
subsequential changes within the foundations of educational institutions. Unless there are
fundamental changes in the motivations and goals of the ministry, school boards,
administrators, teachers, parents, students - all shareholders, we cannot expect to obtain
different results when traditional beliefs, motivations, and practices are retained.
In order to effectively understand and then employ critical and reformist
approaches to race and race relations education, I begin with theorists who are making
"strategic interventions" (Apple, 1993: viii) into the debates on race, racial differences,
and race relations education.
To define culture, I begin with the work of Bullivant (1981) to ascertain whether
traditional race relations approaches reflect the following components of his definition of
culture: culture is holistic, culture is transmitted, culture evolves, and culture is made up
of problem solving approaches to life. To understand the progress being made in the
theorization of race, I begin with the traditional biological definitions that still exist. I
then look to Omi and Winant (1993) to provide an excellent alternative perspective based
on a "racial formation process" (Omi and Winant, 1993: 3) in which race is understood as
a social construct. I then use their work to understand the foundations upon which a
critical, process orientated, socially comprehensive theory of race must stand,
specifically; race must be interpreted in the here and now, race must be seen in its global context, and race must be recognized as a legacy of the modern era. McCarthy (1993)
provides a critique of contemporary approaches to multicultural education and also
outlines an alternative approach that is critical, reformist and takes into consideration
factors that go beyond psychology as well as incorporating the evolving
conceptualization of race. Finally, West (1993,1993) provides a call for a "new cultural
politics of difference" (West, 1993: 11) in which cultural critics are to attempt creative
responses to the particular local and global circumstances we are in regarding matters of
race. By also employing the ideas of Sleeter (1993), Calliou (1995), and McCarthy
(1993) I can understand why a critical and reformist approach to race relations education
is necessary, what it entails, and how it might apply to specific work being done in race
relations such as a newly created school district policy.
To provide insight into how a critical, reformist approach might apply in the real
world, the study also offers a snapshot of how nation-wide cultural and demographic
changes are represented in one suburban West Coast school district in British Columbia,
Canada. The study provides an in depth look into how the committee members perceived
race relations; why they were involved in the formulation of the policy, what their
individual motivations were and what they viewed as the purpose of the policy. The
research was undertaken during the 1996 - 1997 school year, three years after the
committee was first formed. I use an ethnographic sensibility to questioning the
committee members to obtain rich, in-depth insights. This is seen as the most effective
way in which to ascertain the often hidden, subconscious cognitive and social
frameworks, which inform and determine the perspectives of individuals within our
contemporary society.\ By asking open-ended questions, I encourage the respondents to elaborate upon their own ideas by active listening and co-participating in the dialogue
(Spradley, 1979). By reviewing my notes after each interview I created a verbal
understanding of the 'reflective thinking" (Hampton, 1995) that took place in each of the
interviews. I have been all too to aware that it can be extremely difficult to articulate a
clear perspective within an area in which viewpoints are often subconsciously framed by
a myriad of socially and personally developed cognitive articulations. Theorists such as
Bullivant and Peter believe we must go through a process of critical inquiry into the basic
assumptions of established theories and models in order to address the perspectives that
we claim to maintain (Bullivant, 1986: 35). / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/7825 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Brothers, Duane Murray Delano |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 9739824 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds