With Good Reason

Canada is a multicultural country. As such, it should be self-evident to everyone that no matter where parents send their children to learn, whether the schools are public, Catholic or private, they should experience: (1) exemplary teaching; (2) the most relevant and inclusive curriculum possible; (3) acceptance of who they are, (4) the realities of self-discipline and individual responsibility; and (5) the best academic results possible.

Assuming that is so, then why on earth are some Toronto parents and Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustees considering a form of apartheid in order to reform problem, gang and anti-social behaviour?  It simply does not make sense.

Why, for example, do they think that having black (or Native in the case of the Toronto First Nations alternative school) teachers is important when the rest of our society does not operate that way? Similarly, why do they think a curriculum devoted to ancient cultures or that of a different continent, will be relevant for today and tomorrow — beyond ethnodiverse curriculum units that are already taught?

Unfortunately, what that form of segregation is going to do is the exact opposite of what is hoped for.  It is going to stereotype, marginalize and ghettoize whole groups of people.  

Well, it doesn’t have to be that way, not if a school has a principal and teachers with vision and a love for each and every student. While there are hundreds of examples of schools that succeed where others fail, I have followed one for most of my educational career. It is now called the Marva Collins Preparatory School which readers might have heard about in a mid 1990′s CBS Sixty Minutes program.

Started in 1975 in Chicago as Westside Preparatory School, it’s first principal was an amazing black woman by the name of Marva Collins. She proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that disadvantaged children can be turned around completely and succeed beyond their wildest expectations. Currently being run by Marva’s daughter Cynthia, the philosphy and tradition continues.

As a retired teacher educator, I believe that, rather than set up a blacks-only school, it would be much better for the Toronto trustees and parents involved in this decision-making process, to take a step back and stop blaming “the system” for the problems.

Instead, they need to give their schools and their teachers the encouragement and resources they need so that they can be just like the Marva Collins School. Miracles still do happen and the priority should only be about preparing our children, ALL our children regardless of colour, ethncity or culture, to live in this multicultural society of ours.

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Note: C/P at Crux-of-the-Matter. For those who are interested, a made-for-TVmovie was also made starring Cicely Tyson and Morgan Freeman.

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