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"AFRICAN-CENTRED MULTICULTURAL ART EDUCATION: AN ALTERNATIVE CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY by  SAMUEL ADU-POKU B A . (Art), The University o f Science &amp; Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 1987 D . A . E . , The University o f Science &amp; Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 1989 M . E d . , The University o f N e w Brunswick, 1995  A THESIS S U B M I T T E D IN P A R T I A L F U L F I L M E N T O F THE REQUIREMENTS FOR T H E D E G R E E OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY  in THE F A C U L T Y OF G R A D U A T E STUDIES (Department o f Curriculum Studies) (Art Education)  W e accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard  THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA January, 2002 \u00A9 Samuel Adu-Poku, 2002  \u000CIn  presenting  degree  at the  this  thesis  in  University of  partial  fulfilment  of  of  department  this thesis for or  by  his  or  requirements  British Columbia, I agree that the  freely available for reference and study. I further copying  the  representatives.  an advanced  Library shall make it  agree that permission for extensive  scholarly purposes may be her  for  It  is  granted  by the  understood  that  head of copying  my or  publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission.  Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada  Date  DE-6 (2/88)  \u000CABSTRACT  This dissertation is a contribution to the debate over the centrality or marginality o f race and ethnicity in the production and dissemination o f knowledge. It calls for more broad-based knowledge and values that represent ethno-cultural diversity in Canada, with special reference to Black/AfricanCanadians. The study describes the development and implementation o f an African-centred A r t and Cultural Education Program ( A A C E P ) as an alternative curriculum and pedagogy. The A A C E P was developed in response to historical experiences o f Black/African-Canadians and research data that revealed systemic exclusion o f their artistic and cultural perspectives from mainstream curricula and general school organization. Three major questions relevant to art education, critical multicultural education and the educational experience o f Black/African-Canadians in Vancouver, British C o l u m b i a are considered: in what ways do school curricula, textbooks and general school organization affect Black/African-Canadian children's participation in visual art and general education; how do Black/African-Canadian students react to a community-based African-centred art and cultural education program; and what impact do the African-centred art and cultural learning experiences have on students in a multi-ethnic public elementary school. Data was generated through the implementation o f the A A C E P at the Multicultural F a m i l y  v  Centre ( M F C ) and an east Vancouver public school. The M F C is a community-based social service provider whose range o f services includes a program that fosters positive cultural awareness and increased self-esteem among Black youths in Vancouver. Evidence is based on two years o f participatory observation at the M F C and on a two-week art and cultural education workshop. Data was also obtained through interviews with Black/African-Canadian students and parents, M F C ' s cross-cultural facilitators, students from the east Vancouver school, an art teacher, and the school principal. The study is grounded in Africentric theory, critical education theory and ethnographic research. In response to the first primary question, this study identified seven issues that emerged from participants' perceptions o f the education system and its effects on Black/African-Canadian learners. These factors include curricula deficiency, racism and institutional barriers, lack o f relevant art and  \u000CIll  cultural education models, inadequate background preparation o f teachers and exclusionary teacher recruitment practices, lack o f positive role models, inadequate family and community support and inadequate attention to gender issues. Second, findings from this investigation suggest that culturally relevant curriculum can provide effective means o f inducing positive attitudinal change and increased self-confidence among Black/African-Canadian students. This became evident through a review o f students' knowledge and views about the program, as well as their attitudes toward their own cultures and other cultural groups. In response to the third primary research question, this study concludes that positive inter-personal and inter-ethnic attitudes could be induced through multicultural art education that focuses on cross-cultural similarities. It was also revealed that the issue o f inclusive schooling transcends the calls for curricula and pedagogic reforms. It has socio-economic and political dimensions that raise wider public policy questions. Several conclusions and recommendations are made about multicultural education as it relates to art education, the education o f Black African-Canadians, and community-based education programs: 1) incorporation o f the experiences and perspectives o f Black/African-Canadians and people o f colour into mainstream curricula would be valuable for expanded knowledge and multicultural literacy o f all students; 2) multicultural art education provides a viable force for ethnic minority students to identify with their cultural heritages and develop their self-esteem; 3) community-centred education processes can provide important resources to facilitate multicultural art education programs in local public schools; and 4) multicultural education must move beyond cosmetic \"relevance\" to making curriculum and pedagogy genuinely transformative. A recommendation is made for further in-depth research o f ethnic groups o f students from real-life situations in community-based ethnic settings, and their interactions with school contexts, to build holistic theories o f multicultural education.  \u000Civ  TABLE OF CONTENTS  Abstract  ii  Table o f Contents  iv  List o f Figures  viii  List o f Tables  ix  Acknowledgements  x  CHAPTER I  INTRODUCTION  1  Statement o f the Problem.  1  Defining the Research Questions  II  10  Purpose o f the Study  11  Research Objectives  12  Research Questions  13  Significance o f the Study  13  Definition o f Terms  15  Personal Reflexivity  18  REVIEW OF L I T E R A T U R E The Socio-historical Context o f Black/African-Canadian Children's Education  ,  22 22  Historical Overview o f B l a c k Experience in Canada  22  The Black Pioneers o f British C o l u m b i a  25  The Struggle for Educational Equity  27  Identity Politics and Black Educational Experience  37  Explanations for Black Children's Educational Underachievement  40  The Promise o f Multicultural and Anti-racist Education  45  Conceptions o f Multicultural Education  49  Multicultural Policy in Canada  49  \u000CV  Defining Multicultural Education  52  Multiculturalism and A r t Education  57  Approaches to Multicultural A r t Education Discipline-Based A r t Education ( D B A E )  65  Multicultural Discipline-based A r t Education ( M D A E )  68  Post-modern Approaches to A r t Education  69  African A r t and Multicultural A r t Education  76  The African Cosmological Concept  80  Artistic Criticism and Aesthetics o f African A r t  82  Cross-cultural Functions o f A r t  84  AFRICENTRICITY A N D A R T EDUCATION  88 90  Critique o f Eurocentrism in A r t Education  90  Africentricity and Knowledge.  99  Ancient Egyptian and Nubian Civilizations: Symbolic Legacy o f Africa  99  The Africentric Paradigm  109  Africentricity, Centrism and Polycentrism  113  Philosophical Underpinnings o f Africentricity  115  Critique o f the Theoretical and Methodological Conception o f Africentricity  119  Summary o f Africentricity and A r t Education IV  73  African-centred Perspective on Gender and Multicultural Education.  Summary o f the Review o f Literature III  65  RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Method  122 124 124  Site and Context  128  Selection o f Participants  130  Data Collection  134  Data Interpretation from a Critical Multicultural Education Perspective  138  \u000Cvi Summary o f the Research Methodology V  142  DESCRIPTION OF T H E A R T A N D C U L T U R A L C U R R I C U L U M IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS  VI  VII  143  Introduction  143  Curriculum Process  144  Rationale  145  Content Selection and Implementation  154  Scope Suggestion and Materials  155  Setting for the A r t and Cultural Workshop.  156  Profile o f Instructors for the African A r t and Cultural Education Program ( A A C E P )  156  Summary o f Description o f A r t and Cultural Curriculum Process  157  PERCEPTION OF T H E EDUCATION S Y S T E M  158  Curriculum Deficiency  160  Instructional Barriers: Racism, Discrimination, Stereotyping and M e d i a Bias  170  Multicultural Education and Africentric Knowledge  185  Lack o f Role Models  196  Teacher Preparation, Recruitment and Pedagogical Strategies  200  Parental Involvements and Community Participation.  208  Gender Issues  216  REACTIONS TO THE A F R I C A N A R T A N D C U L T U R A L EDUCATION P R O G R A M Responses o f Black/African-Canadian Students to the A A C E P  VIII  222 222  Review o f Students' Knowledge from the A A C E P  223  V i e w s about Program Facilitators and their Teaching Strategies  229  Exploring Cross-cultural Characteristics o f A r t  232  Specific Effects o f Participating in the Various Aspects o f A A C E P .  235  Responses o f Students from an East Vancouver Public School to the A A C E P  242  CONCLUSIONS:  IMPLICATIONS A N D RECOMMENDATIONS  ART EDUCATION  FOR 253  \u000Cvii  Overview  253  Conclusions  254  7  The Challenges of Inclusive Education: Multicultural Curriculum and Pedagogy  254  A A C E P : A Journey Toward Cultural Awareness and Multiculturalism  258  Community-based Cultural Education Programs  261  Recommendations: Possible Approaches and Directions for Multicultural Education  262  Limitations and Future Study  267  REFERENCES  270  A P P E N D I X I: African Art and Cultural Education: An Integrated Unit  286  APPENDIX II: Interview Guide  308  A P P E N D I X III: Parent/Guardian Consent Form  315  \u000Cviii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 2.1  Bronze Plaque o f O b a (King) o f B e n i n , Nigeria (1600 C . E . ) ( A Member o f the 1897 British Punitive Expedition)  30  2.2  T w o Bronze Heads from the Y o r u b a K i n g d o m o f Ife, Nigeria (1100-1600 C . E . )  31  2.3 2.4  Ivory Saltcellar from Edo o f Benin, Nigeria (in the British Museum) Necklace o f 108 pieces o f G o l d from Ashanti People, Ghana (in the British Museum)  32 33  2.5  M a p o f North East A f r i c a Showing Egypt and Ancient N u b i a  61  2.6  M a p o f Ancient African Kingdoms Showing O l d Ghana, M a l i and Songhai  2.7  M a p o f Africa Showing the Various Countries  63  2.8  Head o f the Great Sphinx (Akhet Khufu) and a Pyramid (2590 B . C . E . )  74  2.9  The African Cosmological Concept.  81  3.1  Ancient Egyptian Linen Woven with Colourful Geometric Patterns and Strips Similar to the Ghanaian Kente Cloth (1550-1200 B . C . E . )  3.2  Pharaoh and Wife Before the Deity Anubis, G o d o f the Embalmers (1280 B . C . E . )  3.3  The Golden M a s k from the V a l l e y o f the Kings, Tomb o f Egyptian  . .62  100 101  Pharaoh Tutankhamum (1325 B . C . E . )  102  3.4  Pottery Vessels o f the Ancient Nubians (2000-1550 B . C . E . )  103  3.5  Shawbits from the Tomb o f Nubian K i n g Taharka (690-664 B . C . E . )  103  5.1  Kente Cloth, Ashanti People, Ghana  148  5.2  Mask, We People, Ivory Coast (Early 20th Century)  149  5.3  Mask, Mende People, Sende Society, Sierra Leone (Early 20th Century)  150  5.4  Mask, Lumbo People, Gabon (Late 19th Century)  151  5.5  Adinkra Graphic Symbols, Ashanti People, Ghana  152  5.6  Adinkra Cloth, Ashanti People, Ghana  153  6.1  Diagram o f Seven Themes, Representing Perceptions o f the Education System in British Columbia Sample o f Two-strip Kente W o v e n by a Student  159 226  7.1  \u000CLIST OF T A B L E S  TABLE 1.1  Immigrant Population to Canada by Regions of Birth Showing Periods of Immigration, 1996  .2  2.1  Visible Minority Population in Vancouver C M A , 1996  36  3.1  L. J. Myers'Distinctions Between Traditional African/Euro-Western Worldviews  4.1  Attendance Record of Black/African-Canadian Students for the African Art and  116  Cultural Education Program at the Multicultural Family Centre  135  4.2  Background Information of Black/African-Canadian Students  136  6.1  Background Information of Black/African-Canadian Parents/M.F.C. Cross-Cultural Facilitators Background Information of Students from an East Vancouver Elementary School.  161 243  7.1  \u000CACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  I wish to acknowledge the efforts o f my mentors, Dr. Graeme Chalmers, Dr. Rita Irwin, Dr. r  Carol P. Christensen and M s . Yvonne Brown, who provided me with invaluable guidance and unceasing encouragement throughout the course o f this research. I particularly wish to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Chalmers and D r . Irwin who guided me academically for years and have been my role models both personally and morally. Their warmth and kindness have made my years o f study in Canada fruitful and unforgettable. 1 am dedicating this dissertation to my parents, especially to the memory o f my mother, and to my beloved wife, Gifty A d u - P o k u , for her unconditional loyalty and encouragement. Without her support, I could not have completed this dissertation. To my children, Edmond, Ivan and Kwabena, I am thankful for their affection, patience and the positive social experience they added to my studies. I also would like to express my gratitude to the wonderful people at the Multicultural Family Centre for their support and contribution toward this study. Finally, I am indebted to the students, parents and teachers who allowed me into their classrooms, homes and lives. For their willingness to share their experiences with me, I am extremely grateful.  \u000C1 CHAPTER ONE  INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem Despite efforts toward inclusive education, recent studies reveal a disturbing trend o f cultural exclusion, racism and other discriminatory practices in multi-ethnic Canadian classrooms (Alladin, 1996; Black Learners Advisory Committee ( B L A C ) , 1994; D e i , 1996; Hamilton, 1997, Kinsella, 1994). While the need for effective multicultural education pedagogy intensifies, Eurocentrism in art education and concerted attacks on multiculturalism (e.g., Bissoondath, 1994; McCarthy &amp; Crichlow, 1993) are inhibiting potentially effective approaches to educational equity in Canada. The debate over content in art education in Canada and the United States is well documented in the literature o f the last three decades. This debate is centred primarily on the concerns for more broad-based knowledge and values that represent ethno-cultural diversity in Canadian/American society. Some art educators (Blandy &amp; Congdon, 1987; Chalmers, 1978; Feldman, 1982; Hamblen, 1987; M c F e e &amp; Degge, 1977) argue that students need tools to recognize, appreciate and cope with the plethora o f cultural forms and expressions that a multicultural society generates. A r t education involves both the education o f artists and education o f people about art and its relationship to society. The study o f art as a social phenomenon has become the driving force o f the notable works o f these scholars. Recent statistics in Canada (Statistics Canada, 1996) project that Blacks, third largest visible minority group in Canada in 1991, are expected to become the second largest group by 2016. O f this, a significant proportion is expected to originate from Continental Africa. V i s i b l e minorities w i l l account for one in five Canadians, doubling from 10% in 1991 to 20% in 2016. A s Table 1.1 shows, atotal o f 4,971,090 immigrants lived in Canada by the 1996 Census, out o f which some 1,611,795 (or 32.5%) were from Asian-Pacific countries. In total 1,027,220 (or 20.7%) immigrants came from Central and South America, Africa and the Caribbean. Given the changing face o f Canada, and the increasing ethno-cultural diversity in its classrooms, there is the need to re-examine school curricula, textbooks and teaching methodologies to meet the needs o f ethnic minorities that form the mosaic o f Canadian society.  \u000C2  Table 1.1  Immigrants Population* to Canada by Region of Birth Showing Periods of Immigration, 1996 Region  Total  Before '61  1961-'70  1971-'80  1981-'90  1991-'96**  Africa  229,305  4,945  25,685  58,150  64,265  76,200  USA  244,695  45,050  50,200  74,015  46,407  29,025  C'tral &amp; S. America Caribbean  273,815  6,370  17,410  67,470  106,320  76,335  279,405  8,390  45,270  96,025  72,405'  57,313  UK  655,535  265,580  168,140  132,950  63,445  25,420  Other N &amp; W. Europe Eastern Europe S. Europe  514,320  284,205  90,495  59,850  48,095  31,705  445,385  175,430  40,855  32,280  111,370  87,900  714,383  228,145  244,380  131,620  57,785  52,455  W. Asia &amp; M . East Eastern Asia  210,855  4,975  15,165  30,980  77,685  82,050  589,415  20,555  38,865  104,940  172,715  252,340  S.E. Asia  408,980  2,485  14,040  111,700  162,490  118,265  Southern Asia  353,520  4,565  28,875  80,755  99,270  140,055  Oceanea &amp; Others Total  49,025  4,250  9,240  15,420  10,240  9,875  4,971,090  1,054,945  788,590  996,155  1,092,400  1,039,000  * Non-permanent residents are not included. ** Includes first five months o f 1996. Source: Statistics Canada, 1996 Census National Table  \u000C3  Multicultural education, however, should neither be conceptualized as a demographic issue nor as a field focusing solely on people o f colour. Its importance is grounded on the fact that the field explores broader issues o f educational and social significance in relation to ethnicity, race, class, gender and exceptionality and the interaction o f these variables (Banks, 1993; Grant &amp; Sleeter, 1993). In this study, my interest was situated mainly in the area o f multicultural art education and the dynamics o f race and ethnicity. Notwithstanding, the study was inextricably interwoven with the embedded inequalities that flow from gender disparities. The goal o f this study was to present an African-centred approach to art and multicultural education as an alternative curriculum and pedagogy. Race plays a significant mediating force in schooling in North America. For Black/African-Canadian youths, research has repeatedly indicated their educational disadvantage in multicultural Canadian society. Children whose ethnic and cultural histories do not coincide with the Eurocentric, middle-class and mainstream standard are often mis-educated or are culturally excluded from full participation in education. Studies by the Black Learners Advisory Council ( B L A C , 1994), the Canadian Alliance o f Black Educators ( C A B E , 1992) and the Ontario Royal Commission on Learning ( R C O L , 1994) highlight an alarming \"dropout\" rate in their discussions about \"crises among Black youths\" with respect to \"education and achievement.\" Textbooks, art curricula, classroom practices and the structural processes o f schooling have become targets o f multicultural education reform efforts. Many educators (Banks, 1995; DePillars, 1990; Grant, 1992; Nieto, 1996; Parry, 1974; Pieterse, 1992) charge that the portrayal o f Blacks and other people o f colour in reading materials, historical textbooks and in Western popular culture has been biased, racist, inaccurate and destructive to the welfare o f students o f colour. A r t history and art education have also been neglectful o f the artistic traditions o f minority students, as well as the diverse cultural, ethnic, contextual and historical content that contribute to a more accurate and comprehensive art education for all students (Banks, 1993, 1992; Chalmers, 1987, 1996; DePillars, 1990; Fehr, 1993; M c F e e &amp; Degge, 1980). Since decisions about content inclusion and exclusion are crucial to what students would have the opportunity to learn, it is important that educators continually examine the content and form o f instructional materials.  \u000C4 The foundations o f art history, art education, art museum education and the entire art establishment are replete with Eurocentrism and patriarchal attitudes, values and ideals. For nearly two decades since Discipline-Based A r t Education ( D B A E ) was introduced in North A m e r i c a (Greer, 1984), art educators reiterate that its Eurocentric content and formalist methodologies continue to reinforce elitism, gender bias, ethno-cultural stereotypes and the notion o f the \"universality o f art\" (Chalmers, 1996; Collins &amp; Sandell, 1988, 1992; Fehr, 1993; Garber, 1995; Hagaman, 1990; Hicks, 1992; Zimmerman, 1990). A s an approach to art curriculum, D B A E embraces the four domains o f art study. It focuses on the development o f abilities o f students and teachers: 1) to make art (production); 2) to interpret and analyze art (criticism); 3) to know art's role in the past and contemporary culture (history); and 4) to discuss questions about the nature o f art and make informed judgements about it (aesthetics). A s an outgrowth o f the aesthetic education movement, D B A E initially embraced the elitist and Eurocentric male discourse o f art hierarchies (high-art/low-art, or men's art/women's art). Until the emergence o f postmodernism, feminism and the multicultural movement, curricula in art history and art education were hardly challenged for their inherent ethnocentrism and for silencing multiple voices and perspectives. DePillars (1990) addresses Eurocentrism in art education by asking whether educational institutions are ready for multiculturalism. H i s question is grounded on a review o f art historical texts (e.g., Gardner, 1959; Janson, 1971) and art curricula which, he maintains, have systematically mis-educated future art educators through the omission and distortion o f facts regarding the art and civilization o f nonEuropean populations and their descendants in the diaspora. Despite repeated theoretical pronouncements from leading art educators aimed at broadening the curriculum, art education remains primarily Eurocentric, revealing hypocrisy and prejudice o f educators. L i k e DePillars, Ransaw (1990) reviews the depiction o f Black people in the past 300 years o f paintings by European masters. She notes that, generally, Blacks were never depicted in a respectful manner; they were either ignored, depicted as kind and gentle servants or, as threatening to the Whites. DePillars (1990) asserts that \"the dis-Africanization o f history and culture . . . is the antithesis o f multiculturalism\" (p. 121). Multiculturalists assert that education, to have integrity, must begin with the proposition that all humans have contributed to world development and the flow o f knowledge and information and that most  \u000C5 human achievements are the result o f mutually interactive international efforts (Asante, 1991). For the sake o f equity in education, multiculturalists reiterate the need for inclusive and comprehensive curricula that would mutually benefit all shades o f students represented in our classrooms. In order to prevent the psychological and cultural dislocation o f ethnic minorities, the educational systems in Canada should address the oppressive aspects o f school curricula. The infusion o f multiculturalism in art curricula w i l l enable art teachers to connect with all students and provide students the opportunity to express themselves in their own unique ways. In the United States, Dobbs (1989) explains that the reluctance to address the philosophical bias in curriculum choices stems from the training, experiences, values and backgrounds o f professionals in the art disciplines, which have largely been shaped by Eurocentric and modernist perspectives. Most o f Canada's teaching force is also caught up in the same dilemmas leading to the victimization o f Black/African-Canadians and other visible minorities. This situation does not only undermine attempts to reconceptualize curricula and teacher education toward a multicultural agenda, but also makes it difficult for many art educators to cease viewing European culture and art as universal, and to consider the possibilities o f other artistic traditions, culturalrealities or, indeed, shared realities. Besides, those art educators who are genuinely interested in infusing multicultural objectives into the art curriculum may not have a clear understanding o f multicultural education: how it is defined; how it is being practised; its possible sources o f content and pedagogy; its tension points and places; its effects on students' attitudes and self-concepts; and what such an infusion means for a curriculum field. These questions and analyses present a great challenge to educators who are ideologically predisposed to particular cultural traditions and/or who are generally unprepared to work in such tension-ridden and contested terrain. A clear understanding o f multicultural education issues is particularly important to consider in art education because most art teachers have substantial, i f not total, autonomy in the areas o f curriculum planning and implementation. Multicultural education calls for a thorough examination o f existing curricula in order to ensure that information and perspectives not considered in the past w i l l indeed be considered. Included in this call is the demand for reforms in teacher education programs to ensure that future teachers are fully equipped with the necessary tools to function in multicultural educational settings. Daniel (1996) questions  \u000C6 the effectiveness o f school curricula and pedagogy that assume that cultural harmony can be achieved by avoiding discussions about diversity and difference. Daniel suggests that it is imperative for educators to strive for balanced curricula in a multicultural environment in order to achieve a more inclusive education. This study raises critical curricula issues that would challenge art educators, teachers, teacher educators, school boards and decision makers to move beyond their comfort zones in order to tackle the issue o f multiculturalism in education. Critics contend that the disciplines o f art education must not simply be modified to include minorities and feminist concerns, but must be re-constructed to provide epistemological equality within art (Collins &amp; Sandell, 1992; Hagaman, 1990; Hicks, 1992; hooks, 1990; Huber, 1987; Garber, 1990, 1995). This implies that art educators must scrutinize the grounds o f knowledge claims in the art o f diverse cultures, focusing particularly on historical accounts o f imbalances and how and why they were created. While such insightful criticisms have helped to bring the issues o f cultural diversity in art to the forefront, they fall short o f informing educational practitioners, particularly teachers and community-based educators, in very practical terms, about how to deal specifically with the increasing ethno-cultural diversity in Canadian classrooms and with the educational problems and issues encountered by children o f African descent living in multiethnic/multiracial Canada. Liberal multiculturalism or \"uncritical\" multiculturalism focuses on equal opportunity by masking existing unequal playing fields or structural inequities. They avoid sensitive issues or the forces that continue to create and perpetuate social inequities. Culture is presented in the abstract, divorced from the history and socio-economic realities that shape our identity and behaviour. Critical multiculturalism, on the other hand, focuses on collective experience o f marginalized groups. It empowers schools and students to address issues o f racism and the imbalance o f power in the production, distribution and dissemination o f knowledge. It provides a scaffold for the full expression o f all forms o f artistic talents. It requires teachers and educators who w i l l seek the appropriate centrality for Black/African immigrant students in the classroom and \"rupture the established concepts, paradigms and content o f the conventional school curriculum\" (Dei, 1996, p. 103) that sustain educational inequity and Black students' underachievement. This research w i l l assist teachers not only to create environments that w i l l foster positive inter-group  \u000C7 attitudes but also materials that could close the cultural and information gaps in order to assist children o f African parentage or ancestry to locate their identity and space within a multicultural Canadian society. It aims at helping art educators to integrate the artistic, historical and cultural knowledge o f Black/AfricanCanadians who have been left in the margins o f the visual arts curricula. For many Canadians, research in terms o f race is still largely an unsettling issue. Y e t much o f the available research data demonstrates significant differences that Black/African-Canadians and other minority youths experience in Canadian education systems (Alladin, 1995; B L A C , 1994; Brathwaite, 1989; Carby, 1986; Cheng, 1995; D e i , Mazzuca, M c l s a a c &amp; Zine, 1997). Raising alarm about the oppressive aspects o f school curricula and historical inequity in Canadian education systems does not nullify the positive changes that have taken place in ethnic and race relations in this country during the last four decades. Instead, it is intended to show that while much has been achieved, more remains to be done (given the existing \"vertical mosaic\" in Canada) in order to achieve educational equity. It must be 1  acknowledged that there are many people in the Euro-Canadian American educational systems that are doing their utmost, in various capacities, to promote inclusive education and educational equity. Despite progress in the educational systems and in race relations, institutional and structural discrimination has persisted. The slogan, \"celebrating diversity\" often glosses over the realities o f a \"vertical mosaic\" behind a rhetorical smokescreen and a facade o f good intensions. The areas in education that critically need reform to reflect Canada's multicultural policy include the issues o f curricula choices, pedagogy, teacher recruitment, teacher education and representation in school textbooks. However, many educators and administrators have shown persistent resistance to change. It must be made clear that any criticism in this study is directed, for the most part, at the educational systems and social practices and not at the purposeful intent o f specific individuals. M y objective is not to blame, but rather to achieve a holistic understanding o f Black/African-Canadian artistic and educational experience in order to recommend appropriate alternatives that would meet students' needs.  'This term is often traced to John Porter who applied it in the argument that ethnic/racial affiliation and immigration are important determinant of social class in Canada, and that visible minorities tend to be at the lower ranks regardless of their educational training and qualifications. See Porter, J. (1965). Vertical Mosaic. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.  \u000C8  Multicultural education, in this study is conceptualized to encompass  anti-racist education and  critical pedagogy. This concept is represented in Nieto's (1996) Affirming Diversity: It entails a direct challenge to the societal power structure that has historically subordinated certain groups and rationalized the educational failure o f these groups as being the result o f their inherent deficiencies. Multicultural education as conceptualized here challenges all educators to make the schools a force for social justice in our society, (p. x v i ) V i e w e d in these terms, the construct is rescued from the perception that it concerns itself only with the production o f the passive consciousness o f culture divorced from societal power relations. From the right, critics o f Canadian multiculturalism argue that the legitimization o f cultures and traditions other than those o f the dominant group constitutes a real threat to national unity (e.g., Bissoondath, 1994; Porter, 1972) and this is mitigated by a plea for \"Canadianism,\" a version o f the \"melting pot\" idea. This argument however, is grounded on an illusive assumption that Canada has been historically and sociologically united. The fact that the nation was already sharply divided along the lines o f class, gender and ethnicity (i.e., English, French, East Europeans, Asians, First Nations and Blacks) before the advent o f multiculturalism is conveniently ignored. A l s o ignored are: the contradiction between our national democratic ideology and the pervasive inequities in the distribution o f knowledge, power and social justice; the failure o f the educational systems to equitably educate children across race, ethnic, class and gender lines; and the fact that multiculturalism offers a more realistic and egalitarian vision o f social relations. In fact, Canadian multiculturalism seeks ways to unite the country based on mutual respect for the cultural agency o f all its peoples. Therefore, what is disuniting Canada is exclusion and hate, not multiculturalism. The incisive analyses o f both Chalmers' (1996)  Celebrating Pluralism and N i e t o ' s (1996) Affirming Diversity make  very clear that monocultural education ill prepares students to function in a democratic/pluralistic society and in an employment market that is increasingly oriented toward cultural diversity. Supporters o f multicultural education argue that \"multicultural literacy\" (the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to function in a diverse world) is essential for students to operate effectively in the \"global village\" during this new century. Baldwin (1986) therefore argues that multiculturalism cannot be reduced to an exclusive \"otherness\" that references \"minorities\" as either a problem to be resolved, through benevolent assimilation, or as a threat to be policed and eliminated.  \u000C9 This study addresses multicultural education from a critical perspective with emphasis on \"Africentricity.\" It engenders the understanding o f African art and culture from an African-centred 2  perspective. Africentricity means placing African ideals at the centre o f our approach to problem solving and any analysis that involves African culture and behaviours (Asante, 1987). The underlying assumption in this study is that students o f African descent are placed in a stronger position to learn i f they are situated at the centre rather than at the margins o f school curricula and pedagogy. In other words, children o f African descent cannot truly know their potentialities i f they continue to exist in a borrowed space; they must gain their own cultural spaces, in order to achieve the necessary transformation to participate fully in a multicultural society. Africentricity is grounded on the assumption that there are multiple centres o f culture, knowledge and history and that no single group can claim a centre stage except in the context o f incomplete description. The Africentric theory posits that all reality is in unity, and that each group or culture constitutes its own centre, but these \"polycentres\" coalesce to form a whole. A holistic education connects and builds on these multiple-centres o f knowledge. Africentrists locate students within the context o f their own cultural references so that they can relate socially and psychologically to school curricula and other cultural perspectives. A person educated in a truly centric fashion comes to view all groups' contributions as significant and useful for understanding our world. It must be stressed, however, that non-hegemonic discourses (such as African-centred, Asia-centred and critical pedagogies) do not necessarily represent a dichotomy between Eurocentric and alternative worldviews. African-centred ideas and tenets are not n o v e l o r distinct to African culture and the theoretical discourse. Africentric paradigm emphasizes interdependency and a holistic approach to studying phenomena. Africentricity represents a range o f beliefs rather than a fixed ideology. B y emphasizing its liberatory character and inclusive models, this study attempts to avoid the tendency o f the concept becoming dogmatic and limiting. A knowledge o f African art and cultural heritage is essential not only for raising the cultural awareness o f Black students, but also for the promotion o f cultural understanding and positive inter-group  Although the term \"Afrocentricity\" has been used by many Black scholars including Asante (1988), who is credited for developing the Afrocentric paradigm, I view the term \"Africentricity\" as a more explicit concept that does not repeat the \"Afro\" prefix which has generated quite a lot of discussion among Americans of African descent. 2  \u000C10 relations among students o f diverse backgrounds. It is undeniable that culture is dynamic and that people must be open to new possibilities o f dynamism, moving and flowing. Yet, it is also important that people move and flow from some base rather than float in the air (Asante, 1998). It is my conviction that the educational systems can respond effectively to the diversity within and among all social groups i f there is  a priori understanding of the impact o f structural processes o f education on various groups. A l s o , many art teachers may be in a better position to respond positively to multicultural education i f they are exposed to alternative models, or have personal experiences in multicultural curricula and pedagogy. Teachers and students, who already have the understanding and experience o f multicultural education, represent the vanguard o f a new paradigm. They can bring colleagues and students into action with multicultural education, so that changes in beliefs, ideology and motivations can follow.  Defining the Research Questions The journey to my dissertation research began through my volunteer experience as an African art instructor to some high schools and community groups in N e w Brunswick and British Columbia as well as through the expertise I have acquired in multicultural education research as a doctoral student. Despite efforts toward inclusive education, personal experience and current research reveal a disturbing trend o f cultural exclusion and other discriminatory practices in multi-ethnic Canadian classrooms (Dei, 1996; Hamilton, 1997). While several reports have been produced on ethnic minorities, there remains a dearth o f research on the education o f African-Canadians in British Columbia leaving no research underpinnings for meaningful policy formulation. M y dissertation aims at bridging these gaps, while promoting inter-group harmony among students o f diverse cultural backgrounds and collaboration between family, community and school. In Vancouver, I have had a long-term voluntary experience with African-Canadian children at the Multicultural Family Centre ( M F C ) located in the heart o f east Vancouver. The M F C is a communitybased social service provider with a wide range o f programs, support and services aimed at improving access to health care and social services for immigrant and refugee communities in Vancouver and its surrounding districts. The Centre's services to the African community include the African children's program which fosters positive cultural identity and increase self-confidence in academic and social  \u000C11  abilities among Black children and youths. After working with the children and youths for some time, I began to identify with their problems and concerns, particularly with regard to the conflicts o f values that some o f them experience between the home and school cultures. I also became concerned about the cultural discontinuity and marginalization o f the children's cultural heritage in school. Following this, 1 expressed to the M F C staff and the members o f my dissertation committee a desire to conduct a study about the African children's art and cultural activities at the M F C and their educational realities in the public school classroom. The parents, the M F C staff and members o f my committee responded favourably to my proposal by providing insightful suggestions, which helped in the formulation o f this research. I became committed to learning how to facilitate a collaborative research process with the school, the home and the Black/African-Canadian community. M y research questions and objectives thus evolved through my encounter with the African-Canadian community at the M F C .  Purpose o f the Study M y study develops and implements a community-based model o f an African-centred multicultural art education as an alternative curriculum and pedagogy. It has two main purposes. Firstly, as a backdrop to the development o f the curriculum, I identify and examine the cultural and educational barriers to Black/African-Canadian students' participation and attainment in education and their implications for multicultural education policy in Canada, with special reference to Vancouver. A major reason why multicultural education has been criticized as the production o f passive consciousness o f culture (Banks, 1992; Giroux, 1993; Solomon &amp; Levine-Rasky, 1996) and subject to different interpretations is that the construct has not been adequately grounded in a causal analysis o f school failure among subordinated group students (Nieto, 1996). Understanding the socio-political realities o f Black/African-Canadian children's educational experience in multiethnic/multiracial Canada is therefore crucial for any effective educational policies sympathetic to their needs. Secondly, I investigate the effects o f a collaborative \"African-centred\" multicultural art curriculum on: (1) Black students' attitudes and self-concepts as they unfold at the M F C and (2) inter-group relations among students o f diverse backgrounds in a multi-ethnic elementary school art classroom in east  \u000C12  Vancouver, British Columbia. This multidisciplinary curriculum unit integrates hands-on art activities with knowledge of Africa's geography, Oral Tradition and history. This is accomplished through deliberations with my network of participants - an art teacher, African-Canadian parents from the M F C and two M F C Cross-cultural Facilitators serving as an advisory team. As part of the study, I document the process of doing community-based participatory research as it unfolds with the curriculum advisory team. Community-based participatory research suggests a way in which communities without socio-political power can use research to support their struggle for self-determination by gaining control of information that can influence decisions regarding their lives (Bopp &amp; Bopp, 1985; Stull &amp; Schensul, 1987). An African-centred approach to multicultural art curriculum is among many possible ways to illustrate multicentric education (Dei, 1996). A collaborative approach to a multicultural art curriculum with an infusion of Africentricity demonstrates a practical example of an inclusive education that transforms, rather than provides an appendage to, the curriculum. Primary issues include the conceptualization of multicultural education and Africentricity as relevant educational philosophies and pedagogies. Africentric methodology or Africology, particularly as described by Asante (1990), best serves this research. This methodology promises to deliver voices that have been previously shut out of normative educational research. Africology eclectically embraces liberationist tenets of critical ethnography and feminist research. It enables me to situate African art and culture at the centre rather than the periphery of multicultural education research.  Research Objectives The objectives of the study are to: 1.  Identify and examine the artistic, cultural and educational experience of Black/African-Canadian children in Greater Vancouver, Canada.  2.  Evaluate the impact of an African-centred multicultural art program on Black/African-Canadian learners.  3.  Identify ways by which the Black community can work with schools to broaden the curricula to embrace multicultural art education, with particular reference to Africentric art and culture.  \u000C13  4.  Foster understanding o f African art and culture and, thereby, promote healthy inter-group relations among students o f diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.  5.  Document the process o f doing community-based participatory research, including its strengths and obstacles.  Research Questions The following questions were addressed in the study: 1.  In what ways do school curricula, textbooks and the general school organization influence Black/African-Canadian children's participation and attainment in art and education?  2.  What content and teaching methodology is appropriate for an African-centred multicultural art curriculum?  3.  H o w do Black/African-Canadian children react to the African A r t and Cultural Education Project at the Multicultural Family Centre?  4.  What is the impact o f an African-centred multicultural art program on children at a multi-ethnic elementary school in Vancouver, British Columbia?  5.  What is the process and nature o f doing community-based participatory research as it unfolds with teachers, parents, African community members and M F C facilitators?  Significance o f the Study Multicultural education in the past has often been superficial and has presented culture as divorced from societal power relations; this has continued to reinforce ethno-cultural stereotypes. Advocates o f multicultural and anti-racism education (Dei, 1996; Stuhr, Petrovich-Mwaniki &amp; Wasson, 1992) demand that art educators look beyond the celebration o f heroes and holidays and develop curriculum and readings to transform, rather than add on to, the curriculum. This research is significant in that it provides an example o f how educators can integrate the art, literature, history, culture, language, resistance and philosophy o f the peoples who have been left in the margins o f the curriculum. I emphasize  \u000C\"polycentrism\" as an inclusive ideology that connects African knowledge with other forms o f knowledge to achieve cultural pluralism and effective multiculturalism. This is based on the assumption that there are multiple centres o f culture and knowledge that are relevant to multicultural education. The curriculum model presented in this study allows Black/African-Canadians to respond to the cultural and artistic needs of their children that are being neglected in the formal school system. It looks beyond current curriculum practices with their top-down approach, to suggest an exciting and innovative grassroots model o f partnership among the community, family and school in the delivery o f multicultural education. Research on education systems that marginalize subordinate groups demonstrates that changes rarely come from within, without the support o f external forces ( B L A C , 1994). This explains the critical importance o f a bottom-up approach to dealing with issues affecting the needs o f the Black/African-Canadian community. The active and direct involvement o f those most concerned with the education o f Black learners (i.e., parents, the community, teachers and Black/African-Canadiah students) is a key to successful implementation o f any program directed to their needs. Top-down policy that dictates classroom action is perceived as a challenge to teachers' personal sensibilities and an affront to their professional autonomy (Solomon &amp; Levine-Rasky, 1994; Troyna, 1993). The research provides an opportunity for understanding: (1) how parents, the community and the school can collectively mediate against the conflicts o f values or cultural maladjustment experienced by some Black/African-Canadian children as they strive to situate their identities within home and school cultures; (2) how identity-based knowledge is constructed, disseminated and how it affects Black students, as well as the cross-cultural learning o f non-African students; and (3) the effectiveness o f collaboration as a pragmatic approach to multicultural education and research. Collaboration in multicultural education enables parents and other stakeholders to have some input regarding what their children/students learn. B y having a choice, parents become more committed to the school than they would be had the school and curriculum been assigned. This study fosters cultural understanding among students o f diverse ethnic backgrounds, thereby promoting healthy inter-group relations. These insights present serious implications not only for art education but also for multicultural education as a whole. This research is a wake-up call for schools and educators to re-examine current approaches to multicultural education and to be receptive to alternative non-hegemonic approaches, both  \u000C15 within and beyond academia, that may contribute to a more comprehensive and equitable education. A s this study extends the debate over the centrality or marginality o f ethnicity in the production and dissemination o f knowledge, my findings w i l l enable a re-examination o f assumptions in provincial and district multicultural education policies. Therefore, it is hoped that the study w i l l be useful to relevant branches o f the ministries responsible for Multiculturalism and Education and Training (e.g., multicultural and immigrant service organizations, curriculum and policy development, community and education outreach and anti-racism) and school boards in British Columbia.  Definition of Terms Black: In this study, \" B l a c k \" refers to dark-skinned and mulatto people o f African descent. Obviously some African immigrants (e.g., White South Africans, Indo-Ugandan, Indo-Tanzanians; and North African Arabs) do not fall into this category; also, African-Canadians are not always immigrants in the very modern use o f the term since some have long historical roots in Canada. Because o f the disparaging connotation often associated with the term \" B l a c k , \" some authors try to avoid its use and use terms such as Afro-Canadians or African-Canadians. Ethnic identity politics in places such as United States and Canada has resulted in many scholars with ancestry in Africa preferring to be called African-Americans and African-Canadians respectively instead o f \" B l a c k s . \" Historically in the United States, people o f African descent have been referred to, over the years, as Negroes, Afro-Americans, Blacks and African-Americans. W h i l e \" B l a c k \" may be, admittedly, distasteful in some o f its English and other language usage, we cannot shy away from it, for as far as Black/Africans are concerned; skin colour overrides most attributes o f their human individuality in Canadian society.  Culture: Culture can be understood as the ever-changing values, traditions, social and political relationships and worldview created and shared by a group o f people bound together by a combination o f factors that can include a common history, geographic location, language, social class and/or religion and how these are transformed by those who share them. Thus, it includes not only tangibles such as food, holidays, dress and artistic expression, but also less tangible manifestations such as communication style, attitudes, values and family relationships.  Diaspora: The concept o f \"diaspora\" (from the Greek  diaspeirein, to scatter) has traditionally been applied  to the dispersion o f the Jews after the conquests o f Palestine and is roughly linked with exile or bondage o f people originally belonging to one nation or having a common culture. Accordingly, it  \u000C16 is often remarked that the forces, which have mostly driven Black-Africans abroad (i.e., slavery, Western colonialism, cultural imperialism and capitalism) are not unlike those that scattered the Jews. The concept o f the African (Black) diaspora is a metaphor that can serve as a useful guiding thread for substantive analysis o f dispersed Africans outside the continent in Europe, the Americas and the rest o f the world. African diaspora in Euro-Western societies cannot be fully understood apart from political, historical and structural legacies o f slavery and imperialism. It must be noted however, that many Africans were dispersed globally by choice, through adventure, for economic reasons and to seek knowledge long before European contact with the N e w World and their inauguration o f the trade in human cargo.  Ethnicity/Ethnic Origin: For the purpose o f this study, \"Ethnicity\" refers to socially selected cultural (rather than biological or physical) attributes which people employ to describe themselves and which others, in turn, use to describe them.  Eurocentrism: It is an ideology or body o f myths, symbols, ideas and practices that exclusively or predominantly values the worldview, existence and cultural manifestations (e.g., history, politics, art, language, music, literature, technology, economics, etc.) o f people o f European origin and that devalues and subordinates the cultural manifestations o f people from all other lands o f origin.  Hegemony: A process o f domination whereby the ruling class is said to exercise political control through its intellectual and moral leadership over allied classes (Bocock, 1986).  Lower Mainland: This includes the cities/municipalities o f Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, N e w Westminster, North Vancouver City and District, West Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Langley City and District, Surrey, White Rock, Delta, Coquitlam, Port Coquilam and Port M o o d y . For variety, the term Greater Vancouver is used interchangeably with the Lower Mainland in this study.  Multiculturalism: The term first came into vogue in Canada during the 1960s to counter \"biculturalism,\" a term popularized by the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. It has, to a considerable extent, replaced the term cultural \"pluralism,\" although that term is still favoured in Quebec. Multiculturalism is used in at least three senses: to refer to a society that is characterized by ethnic or cultural heterogeneity; to refer to an ideal o f equality and mutual respect among a population's ethnic or cultural groups; and to refer to government policy proclaimed by the Canadian government in 1971 and subsequently by a number o f provinces.  \u000C17 Prejudice and Discrimination: Ethnic and racial prejudice usually refers to an unsubstantiated negative prejudgement o f individuals or groups because o f their ethnicity, race, or religion. Discrimination is the exclusion o f individuals or groups from full participation in society because o f their ethnicity, race or religion. Prejudice (an attitude) and discrimination (behaviour) are usually linked, but are distinct phenomena. In a vicious cycle, prejudice frequently leads to discriminatory behaviour while discrimination reinforces or creates social and economic inequalities that then reinforce prejudices.  Race: There are some disagreements among scholars over the meaning and existence o f race. In this study \"race\" refers to the distinction o f human population based on \"socially perceived\" physical traits (e.g., phenotype, skin colour, hair texture). These attributes are not intrinsically meaningful in view o f overwhelming evidence in support o f one human race from the standpoint o f biology. But over time, people have given these attributes qualities that have become entrenched. Race is here seen as a social construct, arguably a social myth.  Racism: The disagreement among scholars over the meaning o f \"race\" does not extend to its derivative, racism. It refers to the doctrine that some races are innately superior or inferior to others. Because racism indiscriminately includes groupings such as religious sects, linguistic groups and cultural groups under its concept o f \"race,\" it can be regarded as a virulent form o f ethnocentrism (the belief that one's own ethnic group is superior to others). Racism is based on the assumption that organic, genetically transmitted differences between human groups are intrinsically related to the presence or absence o f certain social, psychological or cultural traits o f that group. It is also predicted on the false assumption that human beings are naturally and permanently comprised o f separate, pure races (e.g., Mongoloid, Caucasoid) and that the physical, mental and cultural qualities o f each group are determined by its supposed genetic constitution. Individual racism is a belief by one individual about another person's \"racial\" inferiority. Institutional racism exists when the political, economic and social institutions o f a society operate to the detriment o f a specific individual or group in a society because o f their alleged genetic makeup. Cultural racism is the expression o f the superiority o f a socially defined race's culture over that o f another race.  Visible Minority: Following the  Canada Employment Equity Act, visible minorities are \"persons, other  than Aboriginal people, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-White in colour.\" Specifically, the A c t identifies the following groups as visible minorities: Blacks, Chinese, South Asians, Arabs and West Asians, Filipinos, Southeast Asians, Latin Americans, Japanese, Koreans and Pacific Islanders.  \u000C18  Personal Reflexivity Personal reflexivity involves providing details about the researcher's personal investment in the study and in making explicit the assumptions that guide the research. Patti Lather (1991) argues that personal reflexivity is crucial when doing openly value-based inquiry. This study is openly ideological because it deals with the debate over the centrality or marginality o f race, ethnicity and culture in the production and dissemination o f knowledge. 1 entered this research fully aware that my personal location and investment has a significant bearing on the research process, including how data is gathered and treated. According to Hunt (1992), researchers' intentions, perceptions and actions must be included in the research process because they are the \"most powerful and sensitive means for recording and interpreting our research\" (p. 116). For a multicultural education research, the issues o f race, ethnicity, class, gender, culture, sexuality and other social peculiarities present a specific window for understanding and interpreting data. This is so because knowledge can be understood in relation to one's subject location, politics, desires and interests. 1 am not a disinterested party in relation to calls for multicultural art education and inclusive school curriculum in Canada. M y African cultural ancestry, historical background and lived experiences have informed and influenced my position on multicultural education in Euro-Canadian American contexts. M y social and political positions are relevant to this study because I have a stake in the success of Black/African-Canadian students. I could not pretend to be a fly on the wall or subscribe to a naturalistic discourse o f distance, neutrality and detached involvement in order to deal with my subjectivity. A s a critical ethnographer, I believe the passive observer rule could be another means o f colluding with unequal power relations in society. A s a parent o f three children and guardian o f an African-Canadian youth, I share a common experience and concern o f many African-Canadian parents over the challenges o f bringing up Black youths in Vancouver, Canada. Having survived a gang attack on my family, coupled with my numerous encounters with school authorities, the police and the courts o f law, 1 cannot pretend to be oblivious to the issues. I acknowledge that m y structural relations with participants, both as an \"insider\" and \"outsider\" influenced the kinds o f questions I asked and the responses I received, the things I observed and created blind spots for other ways o f being seen. M y cross-cultural experience  \u000C19 resonates familiar issues o f cultural alienation in the colonial and post-colonial education I have received in Ghana, my birthplace, as well as in Euro-Western education in Canada. A s I walk through my experiences as a student, a professional teacher, a graduate student and now on the verge o f becoming a professional art educator, I have learned that the educational system is mediated by power structures in society. A s a result, schooling neither provides young Black/African-Canadians with confidence and pride in their cultural heritage nor encourages their full participation in the education process. M y frustrations are not so much about what the post-colonial or Eurocentric curriculum have taught me, but with what was not taught. For instance, I have wondered recently why studying English Shakespearean literature was valued over African oral traditional poetry; why learning about the history o f the British empire was more relevant than learning about the history o f the empires o f Western Sudan or the Ashanti empire in Ghana; why learning about the European art masters was more important than being taught about traditional African craftspeople and their artefacts; and why the Western canons about art and design were privileged over the African aesthetics o f relative proportion. I also have to struggle with the fact that, in discussing issues o f multicultural art education and representation o f the \"other,\" I have to employ the language o f those who hold positions o f power in society. The stripping away o f my native language and culture with the substitution o f English assimilation was done, obviously, for what were perceived to be good reasons improvement o f educational achievement and economic and social mobility. Nevertheless, I have come to know that loosing one's culture and language is an unnecessarily high price to pay for academic success and social acceptance. Evidence demonstrates that language differences per se are not necessarily barriers to learning. In fact, Nieto (1996) argues that the language and culture that children bring to school are assets that must be used in their education. Rather, the way in which teachers, schools and educational systems perceive native language may be even more crucial to a student's level o f achievement. Today, my immersion into academia may provide me some advantage as well as responsibilities. However, the contradiction that comes with this position is obvious. A s a Black African and a minority member o f Canadian society, my race and ethnicity intersects with my academic position to limit my access to the full benefits that come with my educational attainment. I share with many \"others\" the common historical experience o f the subjugation o f our existence through the devaluing and de-privileging  \u000C20 of our histories and ancestral knowledge within Euro-Canadian/American education systems. I further acknowledge that my social immersion into Eurocentrism, while culturally dis-empowering, paradoxically, becomes a source o f my educational and political empowerment. For instance, my heightened awareness o f power inequities within schools has come about because o f my participation in the academy. In the course o f my graduate studies, I was attracted to courses such as  Historical and Social Foundations ofArt  Education, Multiculturalism, Anti-racism and Education, Seminar on Women and Education, History of Race Relations and Multiculturalism in Canada and Curriculum Issues in Contemporary Art Education. These courses stimulated my intellectual interest in multicultural education and anti-racism education. They enabled me to begin to look at my world differently and be critical o f art education theory and practice, as well as the entire art establishment for its exclusionary practices. It was through my graduate courses that post-modern theories, critical theory, feminist theory, anti-racism theory, Africentric theory and many other theoretical paradigms became meaningful to me. I began to appreciate the need to appropriate my experience o f \"difference\" and \"otherness\" as a legitimate political ideology and to acknowledge the important connections between African ways o f knowing and other forms o f knowledge that are grounded in historical material experiences. Consequently, I became actively involved locally in multicultural art education and in raising people's consciousness about African art and culture as well as multicultural education issues. M y position o f \"otherness\" ironically, became my source o f empowerment. A s important as these factors were, they do not tell the whole story. W h i l e pursuing my graduate studies at University o f British Columbia, I had the good fortune o f having some progressive and open-minded professors in art education who were interested in minority issues and multicultural education. The issues I was concerned about they had been writing about years earlier; therefore, the congruence between their ideas and my interest was very close. M y encounter with some members o f the education faculty who were interested in minority education no doubt encouraged me to venture into this tension-ridden terrain. M y vision in this study was to unveil the ways in which students, particularly Black/African-Canadians, are victims o f the education system, rather than to act as a catalyst for the improved efficiency o f schools in their continuous victimization o f ethnic minorities. This study, therefore, is not a disinterested piece o f work; it grows out o f my passion for inclusive education and my desire to ensure that Black/African-  \u000C21 Canadians, like other cultural groups in Canada, are fairly treated and represented in knowledge production and dissemination. I am conscious o f limitations in Africentric and critical ethnographic interpretations. A t one point they are liberatory because they open doors to what has been previously hidden and undermine existing conventions o f representations; yet they can also be restrictive in the sense that they can appropriate the data to the researcher's interests, so that other significant elements may be silenced. Although what is documented is my interpretation o f what I heard and witnessed from participants, the strength o f the study lies in the careful accumulation and re-presentation o f evidence and in attention to reciprocity - the negotiation o f meaning with participants in the study. Throughout the study, I have made the effort to make reflexivity a fundamental theme. The pointed effort to reveal my own value perspectives and subjectivity situates my study within a critical ethnographic research tradition. However, I am conscious that this openness could make this study susceptible to criticisms.  \u000C22  CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF LITERATURE  The Socio-historical Context of Black/African-Canadian Children's Education This chapter presents an overview o f literature related to Black/African-Canadian artistic and educational experience. It includes an overview o f theoretical work that attempts to identify, analyze and explain the barriers to Black children's participation and achievement in art and in education. The chapter looks at some definitions and approaches to multicultural education and how it is conceptualized in art education. Part o f the literature focuses on the American experience because more people are writing about education and the issues o f race, ethnicity, class and gender, which have longer history o f attention in the United States. It is also because multicultural education indicates similar patterns, themes and approaches in both Canada and the United States. The chapter also situates the study in an Africentric paradigm, drawing attention to African art and aesthetics as valid sources for multicultural art education.  Historical Overview o f Black Experience in Canada This section discusses the educational experiences o f Black/African-Canadians, past and present and their struggle for educational equity. I analyze some o f the causes o f educational underachievement, among Black/African students, which call for curriculum reform as a means o f addressing racial and ethno-cultural inequities. M a n y Black educational activists in Canada maintain that Blacks cannot know where they are heading until they know where they have been (i.e., their historical roots in Africa and in Canada) (Alexander &amp; Glaze, 1996). A historical perspective is an essential component in the analysis o f any social situation and this is especially pertinent in the light o f Black/African-Canadian experience in Canada. Blacks, like the Chinese, Jews, Ukrainians, Japanese, Italians and Germans, have had a long history in Canada and North America. The earliest records show that Africans visited and inhabited North and South A m e r i c a long before European settlers \"discovered\" the \" N e w W o r l d \" ( V a n Sertima, 1976). Slavery became a familiar fact in early Canada just as it was in the United States. Although some Blacks  \u000C23 arrived as early as the 1600s as slaves, the majority came to Canada voluntarily as free Negroes, preferring the uncertainties o f pioneer life, to slavery in the United States or the West Indies. Most Black pioneer settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries settled in N o v a Scotia, N e w Brunswick, Ontario, the prairies and British Columbia. The Black presence became more visible following the abolition o f racial quotas in immigration in the 1960s that led to an influx o f non-White immigrants from developing countries (Whitaker, 1991). In addition, the 1976 Immigration Act, which initiated the establishment o f an inland refugee determination system, in line with the U N Convention for Refugees, also led to a substantial increase in the proportion o f immigrants and refugees from Africa, A s i a , Latin A m e r i c a and the Caribbean. Notwithstanding the long history and growing presence o f Blacks, Asians, First Nations Peoples and other visible minorities, Canada's education has continued to be dominated by Eurocentric curriculum, reflecting the cultural hegemony o f the British and French as \"founding nations.\" Representation in art and art history has also been Eurocentric and discriminatory against African art and other non-Western art forms. While Euro-Western art is placed into the category o f high art or fine art, African art forms are classified as crafts or under folk art traditions giving the impression that the latter is inferior to the former. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Blacks were lured into Canada through promises (from Britain) o f freedom, justice, formal education and equality with their White counterparts. But they soon came up against racial attitudes similar to those found in the United States and from which they were fleeing. In fact, these rights had to be dearly won. Prior to the 1960s, official policies, written and unwritten, served to ensure that Black children would not integrate with Whites. Thus, racial discrimination and stereotypes o f past generations were reinforced (Boyko, 1997; Whitaker, 1991). The legacy o f race science and its colour scale theories which held great sway between the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, continued to define social and educational policy as well as the relationship between White and non-Whites in Canada. Due to racial hostilities, many o f the pioneer Black settlers and their descendants returned to the United States following the American C i v i l War and the Reconstruction. Ironically, however, Canadian classrooms are devoid o f the story o f the inhuman treatment o f Africans and other visible minorities, o f how their dignity was stolen and their culture destroyed and o f how Africans resisted such treatment even i f it meant sacrificing their lives. A s a result, many Black children do not  \u000C24 know their people's story and neither do White children know the African Holocaust. Teaching about such a monstrous human brutality should forever remind the world o f the ways in which humans have often violated each other. Asante (1991) stresses that, without an understanding o f the historical experiences o f Black/Africans, schools cannot make any real headway in addressing their problems o f the present. Despite their consistent efforts to break into the vicious cycle o f discrimination through improved education, the Black leadership in Canada, unlike their counterpart in the United States, never attained a consensus over the issue o f school segregation and vocational training that often reinforced separation. Generally, they embraced the missionary curriculum with its hidden agenda and the notion that separate schooling could engender equal education. This situation persisted until the 1950s and long after Blacks in the United States, particularly in the North, had rejected the separate but equal formula in schooling. The Black newspapers in eastern and central Canada performed a useful role toward educating the Canadian Black community and toward the Black liberation struggle, particularly in the decades preceding and following the American C i v i l War o f 1861, but they made a minimal impact in addressing the problems o f educational inequities (Winks, 1997). This is particularly true o f the 1851 by Henry Bibb, and the  Voice of the Fugitive, established in  Provincial Freedman, established in 1853 by Samuel Ringgold Ward and  later edited by M a r y A n n Shadd, the first woman editor o f a Canadian newspaper (Walker &amp; Thovaldson, 1979). The Black newspapers encountered numerous problems. A m o n g them were intense competition from English newspapers and from Black newspapers in the United States, the lack o f business support and patronage and the issue o f parochialism and small readership. But, perhaps what made the Black editors less visible during that period was their non-militant mainstream position on issues. B y remaining politically conservative, they missed the opportunity to challenge Canadians to tackle, head-on, sensitive and unsettling issues that were crucial to the survival o f the Black community. Canada, has for a long time, pursued a policy o f cultural assimilation o f its ethnic minority populations, yet at the same time, it has been less w i l l i n g to structurally integrate these groups into the socio-economic and political sectors o f the society. Denied full participation, the contribution o f Blacks and other minorities to nation building has been severely stifled. For the country to benefit fully from its large population o f immigrants, it w i l l be necessary to chart a new course by endorsing relevant plans,  \u000C25 policies, programs and interventions that w i l l enhance immigrants' educational success and contribution to the Canadian social, economic, cultural and political life.  The Black Pioneers o f British Columbia The story o f the Black pioneers o f British Columbia stands apart from the larger Black Canadian history. Blacks had played a key role in the formative years o f cities and towns in this province, particularly Victoria, Barkerville, Kamloops, Saltspring Island, Peace River Country and the Queen Charlotte Islands. But, unfortunately, they have been unrecognized. Historians have either distorted their history or presented them as minor curiosities o f the province's early days. The omission o f B l a c k s ' contribution from Canadian history reinforces a common myth that Black presence in Canada is a recent phenomenon. Recognition o f the early Black presence and contribution in the province shatters this myth. B y 1857, California was a \"free\" state, yet Blacks were subjected to increasing persecution and abuse o f their civil rights, prompting the movement o f more than 700 Blacks to Victoria (in the company of White Americans) to seek freedom and economic prospects during the gold rush o f 1858 (Walker, 1985). M a n y o f the Black pioneers were well educated. They had acquired various skills and professions in the United States and had brought with them adequate money and property to invest in British Columbia. The Black pioneers were tough, resourceful, aggressive, ambitious and integrated into mainstream society comprising British, Americans, French, Italians, Germans, Jews, Chinese and Indians ( K i l i a n , 1978). Unlike their counterparts in central Canada and the Maritimes (the fugitives and the Loyalists, some o f whom arrived as slaves) who encountered hostilities right from the onset, the Black pioneers received some level o f acceptance from Victoria's White population. The British and the first Governor o f British Columbia, James Douglas, who himself had Black ancestry, were particularly welcoming. Many Blacks settled in other parts o f Vancouver Island and established themselves as gold prospectors, merchants, restaurant operators, manual labourers, farmers, barbers, dentists, homesteaders, teachers, policemen, lawyers and journalists ( K i l i a n , 1978). Indeed, their achievements defied the logic o f racial essentialism and White stereotypes o f the time that characterized Blacks as unambitious, poorly educated, dependent and unqualified to associate as equals in the institutions o f white society.  \u000C26 In Victoria, M i f f l i n Wister Gibbs stood out as the representative o f the Black community. Twice, in 1866 and 1868, he was elected to serve on the Victoria City Council. He eventually became the council's financial controller. A t the time when White American residents o f British Columbia threatened a demand for annexation to the United States, the Black community formed the first militia unit - African Rifles - in 1860 to defend the colony against American encroachment. They also formed a fire brigade to begin fire-fighting service. In 1867, M i f f l i n Gibbs was a delegate for the Y a l e Convention where terms for British Columbia's entry into the Canadian Confederacy were defined. In 1885, a Barbadian Black named Seraphim Fortes arrived in Vancouver and established himself as a lifeguard on English Bay Beach, near Stanley Park. He is credited with more than a hundred daring rescues o f swimmers. A t his death, a fountain monument was built in his honour. The irony is that, like the Asians, Jews and Indians, Black pioneers were not fully accepted into white society. Despite the promise o f legal equality, discrimination and segregation found expression in the churches, schools, theatres, saloons, restaurants and other public facilities. Whites, especially Americans, often employed physical intimidation and violence to enforce these divisions. A t Saltspring for instance, Blacks were compelled to open a separate school for Black children. While certain individual Blacks achieved acceptance, there was a widespread feeling among Whites that Blacks must not mingle with the general society. White prejudice against Blacks was grounded in the legacy o f slavery, imperialism, race \"science,\" and Eurocentrism, which gave credence to the notion of white supremacy. B y the 1870s, when the gold rush was over, the American C i v i l W a r had ended and slavery had been abolished, many Blacks found the United States to be economically more attractive than Vancouver Island and left for the United States. Walker (1985) noted that by the turn o f the century, Blacks were so thinly scattered across the province that they rarely came to public notice. The anxieties o f the white community were now firmly focused on the Asians - Chinese, Japanese and East Indians whose numbers, energy and \"foreignness\" alarmed the white society. Nevertheless, Blacks continued to encounter profound institutional discrimination in the areas o f housing, employment and education, even with their small population, but rarely was the discrimination publicized. From the 1920s, when the K u K l u x K l a n ( K K K ) established itself in British Columbia, there were  \u000C\u2022 27 scattered incidents o f discrimination and violence against Blacks in the workplace and in housing. K i l i a n (1978) noted that the K K K fell back on anti-Oriental agitation due to the lack o f adequate Black targets. The Black pioneers had played a key role in the early years o f the colonies that became British C o l u m b i a and yet the province had forgotten them. A s K i l i a n rightly noted, \"Fools, knaves and madmemhave given their names to British Columbia's streets and towns; the only monument to the Blacks is a drinking fountain dedicated to Joe Fortes, the lifeguard o f English Bay Beach\" (p. 12). Until the 1960s, Black settlers in Canada continued to face widespread racial discrimination, segregation and hostilities, particularly in N o v a Scotia. African Blacks and other visible minorities were restricted access to Canada through a host o f exclusionary immigration regulations. It was only in 1962 that Canada replaced its racebased immigration policy with one that placed emphasis on educational and professional background o f immigrants. Nevertheless, it was only after 1970 that Black Africans gained access to Canada in considerable numbers (see Table 1.1).  The Struggle for Educational Equity The education which was available to early B l a c k communities through missionary groups was both culturally irrelevant and less vigorous than that provided by the common school o f the day. The missionary curriculum was aimed primarily at maintaining a servile and content population (Winks, 1997). The \"African Schools\" in N o v a Scotia, or the \"segregated coloured schools\" in the Maritimes, Ontario and ,in the prairies, lacked adequate facilities, teachers and relevant curriculum. Although a few o f the coloured schools in Ontario followed the public school curriculum, a majority lacked relevant curriculum. This situation was not peculiar to the Black community. It also applied to the First Nations Peoples, Asians and to a lesser extent, \"working class European children,\" as well as East Europeans who were the economic underclass and less desirable immigrants respectively at the time (Owen, 1995). Black children were deliberately restricted to basic reading, writing, sewing and catechism (Pratt, 1972; Winks, 1997). Geography, algebra and grammar, for instance, \"were considered unnecessary accomplishments in children who would subsequently be required to perform the meanest tasks\" (Pachai, 1987, p. 52). Racism and racial stereotyping in Canadian education systems encouraged low teacher expectations and placement  \u000C28 of Black students in dead-end programs, or courses, which severely restricted their life opportunities. The separate school policy that was unofficially practised in many communities was an infringement upon the rights o f Black parents and their children. This is because despite fulfilling their tax obligations, many Blacks and other ethnic minorities could neither attend the public schools, nor continue with high school education and post secondary opportunities which were based on the grading systems o f the public schools. It is clear that the educational goals for Black children were being set by white society, which intended Blacks to remain ignorant and servile. Black parents persisted in their demand for educational and social equity even as they remained divided over the issue o f school segregation and integration. In Ontario, the establishment o f the Buxton Mission School in 1850, stood as an exception and benchmark for what Canadian Blacks could achieve. With adequate funding, qualified teachers and support from the Presbyterian mission, the school operated successfully well into the 1900s. It opened its doors to Canadians o f diverse ethnic backgrounds, offered multi-centred curriculum and produced many successful Black teachers and professionals (Alexander &amp; G l a z e , 1996; Winks, 1997). Like other school subjects, art education in Canada is centred on the Western canon and notions o f art. M a n y art critics and anthropologists, in the past, ignored the artistic accomplishments o f Blacks/Africans and erroneously referred to them as \"ugly,\" \"primitive\" and \"childlike,\" and invalidated its worth as a school subject . This prejudice continues to be reinforced in representations in art education, 3  art museums and galleries in many Western societies today. A number o f English and German art critics, (i.e., Owen Jones, Charles Hercules Read, Ormonde Dalton and Felix von Luschan), however, have consistently challenged such positions and praised the aesthetic excellence o f African art forms (e.g., Benin art and Asante ornamental designs) and judged their quality as comparable to the best works o f other civilizations (in Barkan, 1997; Eisenhofer, 1997) (see Figures: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, &amp; 2.4 for sample pictures). Owen Jones, for instance, admired African artists' affinity with nature and hoped that modern art \"would return to a more healthy condition . . . we must get rid o f the acquired and artificial and return to  See F. Graeme Chalmers, 1992, and Ira Jacknis, 1976, for a detailed description of Victorian views of African art and the art of the so-called primitive people. 3  \u000C29 and develop natural instincts\" (in Jacknis, 1976, p. 106). A r t educators and historians (Gardner, 1959; Janson, 1971; Schuman, 1981) have systematically ignored and distorted the long historical traditions o f African art and culture and suggested, for instance, that the civilizations o f the N i l e Valley, Ancient Egypt and N u b i a cannot be attributed to Black Africa in spite o f abundant historical evidence and similarity o f culture. Where African art and culture have been included in mainstream art programs, it is often presented as a token or a heap o f anthropological curiosities and exotic ritual celebrations. Across Canada, some Black parents have resisted such portrayal o f African culture and demanded structural changes to address concerns about discrimination and prejudice in the schools. Some parents have worked for policy and curriculum changes at the school board level and have been instrumental in the establishment o f race relation's policies in Ontario, N o v a Scotia and N e w Brunswick ( B E W G , 1993; B L A C , 1994; B U F , 1971; C A B E , 1992). Over the period from 1984 to 1994, there has been a plethora o f commissions, reports and theoretical pronouncements aimed at breaking down barriers and providing a more inclusive education to emerging and insistent multicultural audiences. In Ontario, the document,  For the Love of Learning: A  Report of the Royal Commission on Learning, 1994, reflects many o f the Black/African community's recommendations vis-a-vis their educational needs ( B E W G , 1993; C A B E , 1992). The British Columbia's educational reform initiative,  Year 2000: A Framework for Learning ( B C Ministry o f Education, 1992)  stresses the need to understand cultural heritage and develop tolerance and respect for the ideas and beliefs o f ethnic cultures. Similarly, in  A Legacy for Learners: A Report of the Royal Commission on Education,  Sullivan (1994) recognized that British Columbia needed multicultural education not only to ensure educational equity and foster healthy inter-group attitudes, but also to \"preserve diverse cultural heritages through language instruction and through other studies in history, geography, art, music, or drama to remind us o f who we are today and from what culture we once came\" (p. 28). These reports inject a new  legitimacy for multicultural education in the province. The Black Learners Advisory Committee's ( B L A C ) report o f 1994 is perhaps the most significant event in N o v a Scotia's attempts to redress its longstanding educational inequity. This report, like the others, sets the stage for a new educational accountability,  \u000CB r o n z e P l a q u e of O b a ( K i n g ) of Benin, N i g e r i a (1600 C . E . ) ( A Member of the 1897 British Punitive Expedition Note: From W o r l d History: Perspectives on the Past (p. 325) by L . S. Krieger, K . N e i l l and E. Reynolds, 1997, Evanston, Illinois: M c D o u g a l Littell.  \u000C31  Figure 2.2  Two Bronze Heads from the Yoruba Kingdom of Ife, N i g e r i a (1100 -1600 C . E . ) Note: F r o m W o r l d History: Perspectives on the Past (p. 325) by L . S. Krieger, K . N e i l l and E . Reynolds, 1997, Evanston, Illinois: M c D o u g a l Littell.  \u000CIvory Saltcellar from E d o of B e n i n , Nigeria (in the British Museum) Note. From Studies o f Benin A r t and Material Culture. 1897 - 1 9 9 7 . by J. Nevadomsky, 1997, African Arts 30(3). p. 21.  \u000C33  F i g u r e 2.4  Necklace of 108 Pieces of G o l d from A s h a n t i People, Ghana (in the British Museum) Note. From W o r l d History: Perspectives on the Past (p. 321) by L . S. Krieger, K . N e i l l and E. Reynolds, 1997, Evanston, Illinois: M c D o u g a l Littell.  \u000C34  which, i f carefully implemented, could serve as a blueprint for positive changes for Black students across Canada. While in theory, many o f the provincial documents aim to meet the challenge o f inclusiveness in school, the difficult task o f converting policy statements into concrete action remains. The calls for inclusive curriculum and alternative pedagogies and the demand for educators to incorporate African-centred ways o f knowing should not be viewed merely as a move to replace one hegemonic form o f knowledge with another, but rather as one o f many possible ways o f addressing inequalities inherent in Euro-Canadian/American schools. With Africentricity, Dei (1996) explains, emphasis [is placed] on the value o f group unity, mutuality, collective responsibility, community and social bonding. These values can help move education away from an emphasis on individual competitiveness and a privileging o f rights o f individuals without any matching social responsibilities, (p. 75) These cultural values can be taught using African art, which is a reflection o f African culture. The yearning to become familiar with African art and non-Western ways o f knowing, stands in conflict with those whose privileges are entrenched in Eurocentrism and Canadianism. This explains why reluctance to implement multicultural education has originated from the very institutions, schools and educators that are charged with its implementation. A nationwide survey by Solomon and Levine-Rasky (1994) shows that Canadian teachers' support for multicultural education varies according to how the innovation is conceptualized. When teachers conceptualize multicultural education as the encouragement o f respect for ethnic cultures, support was very high. On the other hand, when multicultural education was perceived as the curriculum mainstreaming o f diverse cultural norms, values and traditions, support fell by over 20%. Emerging from these conceptualizations are: the continuous marginalization o f multicultural education in the mainstream curricula; the superficiality in its treatment; the failure to engage in more profound meanings o f culture; and the preoccupation with inter-group harmony within school and community. The extent to which these pedagogical approaches can ensure equitable learning environments for all students has been the source o f much antagonism between multicultural and anti-racist educators. Lack o f adequate support and provisions (resource materials and means) to implement and sustain multicultural education initiatives has contributed to restricting the development and articulation o f its pedagogy. In multicultural Canada, where all teenage students have the opportunity to attend high school, one would expect that  \u000C35 Black students would take advantage o f their rights to pursue upward mobility through education. A n d yet, as noted by Patrick Solomon (1992), we have a paradoxical situation o f high educational aspiration and low school performance. Generally, schools are left to determine students' needs, and cultural bias often influences curriculum content, tracking, teaching methods, hiring, parent/school relations, assessment and language policies. The historical \"streaming\" o f black students and other ethnic minorities into vocational programs is a self-fulfilling prophecy on the part o f schools, many o f which view the presence o f Blacks and students o f various ethnic minority backgrounds as a Canadian dilemma. While higher educational attainments do not always translate to better employment opportunities for Blacks and other visible minorities in Canada, these groups continue to hold on to the conviction that education is a key ingredient for their successful integration into the Canadian society (Burrell &amp; Christensen, 1987; H o u &amp; Balakrishnan, 1996). Indigenous Black Canadians and Caribbean-Canadians have long histories in the provinces o f N o v a Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and in the prairies. These groups have also been widely studied over the years ( B L A C , 1994; Calliste, 1994a, 1994c; Codjoe, 1995; Pachai, 1987; Pratt, 1972; Walker &amp; Tholvaldson, 1979; Winks, 1997). N o group o f Canadian Blacks has been more closely and frequently studied than those in N o v a Scotia. Yet, as noted by Winks, \"for all o f this remarkable industry, for all o f the data gathered, the informants interviewed, the cards fdled, the computers programmed, little o f moment emerged\" (p. 384). Black populations o f continental African origins are the least studied among Black groups in Canada and particularly in British Columbia. W h i l e several reports have been produced on such visible minority groups as East Indians and Chinese, there remains a dearth o f research on Blacks and African immigrants in the Lower Mainland (Province o f British Columbia, 1992). A s shown in Table 2.1, the 1996 Census indicated that Blacks formed only 2.9% o f the visible minority population in the Greater Vancouver Regional District ( G V R D ) o f British Columbia compared with the Chinese and Filipinos with the percentage o f 49.4% and 7.2% respectively. Given the relative smallness o f Black/African community in the Lower Mainland, one could be tempted to explain away this lack o f attention. However, the dearth o f research on Black/African immigrants is a serious neglect o f a group that, arguably, faces higher levels  \u000CTable 2.1  Visible Minority Population in the Vancouver CMA, 1996 Visible Minority Group  Population  Percentage  Chinese  279,040  49.4  South A s i a n  120,140  21.3  Filipino  40,710  7.2  Japanese  21,880  3.9  Southeast Asian  20,370  3.6  Arab/West Asian  18,155  3.2  Korean  17,080  3.0  Black  16,400  2.9  Latin American  13,830  2.4  Visible Minority*  6,775  1.2  Multiple V i s i b l e M i n o r i t y * *  10,210  1.8  TOTAL  564,590  100  * This includes Pacific Islanders and other visible minority groups not included elsewhere. **This includes those who reported more than one visible minority group. Source: Statistics Canada (1996 Census). The Daily, February 17, 1998, p. 7.  \u000C37 o f racial stereotype and discrimination than other visible minorities owing to their higher visibility and the legacy o f slavery. Furthermore, several issues concerning the education o f Black/African-Canadians in the Lower Mainland lack the necessary research finding for any meaningful policy formulation. M y focus in this dissertation is on Black Canadian children from Continental African origin who are emerging as a visible minority group in Greater Vancouver and whose education, like their Black counterparts elsewhere, presents a Canadian dilemma (Brathwaite, 1989). Ogbu (1986) classifies this group o f Blacks as voluntary immigrants and yet unlike other voluntary immigrants, they encounter major barriers to their intellectual and social advancement in Canada.  Identity Politics and Black Educational Experience Racial stereotypes and the White image o f a B l a c k ' s place in society have tended to subject all Blacks in Canada, irrespective o f their differences, to common experiences that have tended to shape their identities, educational experiences and activities in Canada. Walker and Thorvaldson (1979) argue that: Because they [Black Canadians with parental origins from countries o f Africa] share their colour, image and many o f their experiences not only with each other but with the descendants o f Canada's earlier black settlers, the new black immigrants must be considered not just as \"new Canadians\" . . . but as \"new black Canadians.\" (p. 39) Racial essentialism is problematic because it distorts and ignores the complex and diverse intellectual reflections, histories, cultural practices, artistic creations, social classes and other experiences that describe the social reality o f Black people. W h i l e it is true that the lives o f indigenous Black/AfricanCanadian students, those from continental Africa and the Caribbean, are intertwined by race and diaspora experiences, there are certain issues around which they converge and diverge. Eurocentrism has been insidious in essentializing Blacks and has created a common alienation among Blacks o f continental Africa and the diaspora. Hicks (1994) points out the weakness in current multicultural art education approaches in the United States that ignore the dynamics o f cultural formation o f various ethnic groups who are the participants o f local education systems. Through her teaching experience, she discovers that the identities o f African-American students are located within the American context rather than continental Africa. Therefore linking African-American students with African culture, she notes, is a \"dislocation o f  \u000C38  pedagogy\" for students whose identities are formed by diaspora experiences and assimilation within the host society. Whilst her argument seems to provide the basis for resisting racial essentialism, it fails to engage in a historical analysis o f racial identity vis-a-vis the experiences o f Black people in A m e r i c a and elsewhere. What are the underlying reasons for African-American students' rejection o f an African cultural heritage? What have they internalized o f the African imagery in American society? What  '  impressions and impact have the negative imageries o f continental A f r i c a created among AfricanAmerican students? Whose interest does the unbalanced representation and distortion o f the continent, both in school texts and mass media, serve? Racism and the systematic disparagement o f African culture in Euro-Canadian/American society create widespread dislocation and disorientation among persons o f African descent. This explains why some scholars, students and artists o f African descent rush to deny their \"Blackness\" or their African identity in order to gain acceptance into the Euro-Canadian/American norm. If a child concludes that there is something wrong with her/his culture, then her/his self-concept and cultural pride is severely diminished. This is so because one's basic identity is one's self-identity, which is ultimately one's cultural identity; without a strong cultural identity, one is lost. Racial stereotyping in Eurocentric curriculum and pedagogy has produced aberrations o f perspectives among persons o f colour. Ironically, however, the reality o f Eurocentrism and racism in EuroCanada/American society also provides legitimate grounds for the discussion o f shared realities and \"enabling solidarity\" among African-Canadians, African-Americans, continental Africans and the diaspora. The solidarity and liberation o f all people o f African heritage was the main mission o f W . E . B . D u Bois in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States. Similarly, the Harlem Renaissance, an African consciousness movement in the United States, accentuated by Marcus Garvey, challenged the social order and asked Blacks in American to consider a return to Africa, their motherland (Clarke, 1985). A n enabling solidarity, according to D y s o n (1994), appeals to the richly varied meanings of cultural practices, the contradictions, the diversity o f authentic roles within Black cultural identities and the ever-changing historical experience in supporting the vision o f B l a c k identity and Black/AfricanCanadian artistic, educational and cultural experience. Due to historical continuity, the complexities o f racial identity and the reality o f racism in society, it is neither appropriate to ignore the solidarity among  \u000C39 Blacks and the link o f African-Canadians with African culture nor to place an ideological blockade on critical dissenters who w i l l situate their identities within a Euro-Western context rather than Africa. Black/African-Canadian students are not a homogeneous group. However, some commonalities exist in the educational experiences o f students born in Africa and the diaspora, including those o f mixed parenthood. Research by D e i , Holmes, Mazzuca, M c l s a a c and Campbell (1995) shows that Caribbean students are less inclined than African immigrant students to identify with Africa due primarily to negative and unbalanced representation o f the continent both in school texts and in the mass media. Caribbean students were more concerned with \"social labelling\" o f B l a c k students as \"trouble-makers,\" and about the attempts by schools to place students from the Caribbean in English skill development ( E S D ) classes. Students born in Canada, particularly to mixed parents, raised questions o f identity. Continental African students and their parents, on the other hand, were more concerned about the broad issues o f language, religion, culture and the negative image about the continent that mainstream school and popular media discourses present to unsuspecting students and Canadian audiences. Students, who speak with distinctly different accent and dialects, pointed to inter-group discrimination and prejudices among their peers. A l s o , concerns about racial discrimination, the lack o f representation o f Black/African perspectives, histories and experiences, the absence o f Black teachers and a prevailing culture o f Eurocentric dominance in the school system, were shared by a l l Black youths. The above findings suggest that diverse students o f African heritage can relate to the tenets o f African-centred education. It seems possible that African-centred education could bring all people o f African descent from the margins to the centres o f post-modern history. Despite differences among Black groups, many diaspora scholars (e.g., Asante and Asante, 1985; Diop, 1978) have argued that Africans and their descendants in the diaspora form a single cultural river with numerous tributaries characterized by their specific responses to history and the environment. Just as we can speak o f European art and culture despite the differences, so do we understand African art and cultures based on the knowledge o f common characteristics and differences. People o f African descent share a common experience drawn from the devastating legacy o f slavery and colonialism; a common struggle for liberation against political, cultural and economic domination; and a common origin traced from Africa, the ancestral home o f all Black  \u000C40 people. Baldwin (1986) contends that to speak o f \" B l a c k people and B l a c k experience outside the context o f African culture is utterly meaningless\" (p. 24). Asante (1987) also points out that the culture and history of African-Canadians, African-Americans and Blacks in the diaspora represent developments in African culture and history, inseparable from place and time. M a k i n g this claim, however, does not deny the African-Caribbean, African-Canadian and African-American histories and cultures in their own right. A viable multicultural pedagogy and politics must affirm both common cultural characteristics and differences. African-Canadians must be exposed not only to mainstream knowledge that assimilates them into \"Canadianism\" but also to Africentric knowledge that affirms their \"Africanness\" as their hyphenated identity depicts.  Explanations for Black Children's Educational Underachievement It is common knowledge supported by a large body o f research that the structural process o f delivering education has different impact on various groups in Canada. Various causes have been attributed for the relatively high incidence o f school failure and \"dropouts\" among Black students in EuroCanadian/American contexts (Dei, Mazzuca, Mclsaac, &amp; Zine, 1997). Traditionally, the theories o f \"genetic inferiority\" and \"cultural deprivation\" have been advanced to explain the school failures o f Black students and children from culturally diverse and deprived backgrounds. With these theories, often referred to as \"deficit models,\" school failure is blamed either on the students themselves, who are said to be genetically inferior, or on the economic and cultural disadvantages o f their communities, which deprive them o f the necessary preparation (Bereiter &amp; Englemann, 1966). Such a perspective overlooks the complex interrelationship between the economic, social, educational and political factors contributing to school failure. Cultural deprivation or the socio-pathological perspective was employed as a justification in the residential school system in Canada where Native Indian children were forcibly removed from their homes and families in order to \"exorcize\" them o f their \"malignant\" cultures (Boyko, 1997; Moodley, 1995) . This explanation o f school failure has long been discredited not only as ethnocentric and scientifically unfounded, but also for its inadequate explanation o f the failures o f so many students (Nieto, 1996) . Scientists and social reformers have concluded that differences in educational attainment among  \u000C41 groups are social artefacts created through historical, socio-political and educational inequities. Stephen G o u l d ' s (1996) masterwork,  The Mismeasure of Man, effectively and thoroughly contributes toward  deflating pseudoscientific explanations o f intellectual attainments among Black children. It undermines, for instance,  The Bell Curve and the hereditarian IQ theory, or those who would classify and rank people  according to their supposed genetic gifts or limits. W i l l i a m Ryan (1972) also challenges the theory o f genetic inferiority and cultural deprivation. He argues that: We are dealing, it would seem, not so much with culturally deprived children as with culturally depriving schools. A n d the task to be accomplished is not to revise, amend and repair deficient children, but to alter and transform the atmosphere and operations o f the schools to which we commit these children, (p. 61)  School failures o f Blacks and other minorities may be caused by the structures o f schools, which are static, classist, sexist and racist and which represent the interests o f the dominant classes. The emphasis of Euro-Western education has been on moulding and shaping children from non-European backgrounds so as to fit into an educational process designed for middle-class White children. Such an approach to schooling is inherently problematic because many of these children live in different conditions that directly affect their schooling, including their interactional and learning styles ( B . Y o u n g , 1990). Not acknowledging these differences often results in schools and teachers labelling children's behaviour as deficient instead o f making provisions for them in the curriculum. Ogbu (1986) and Nieto (1996) talk about the cultural incongruence between the home and the school and explain that it is the school's perception o f the students' values, skills, expectations, language, culture, race and class as inadequate and negative and the subsequent devalued status o f these characteristics in the academic environment, that help to explain school failure. Research on teachers' interaction with students, and particularly teacher expectations, has shown that students' performance is influenced by subtle messages from teachers about students' worth, intelligence and capability (Rosenthal &amp; Jacobson, 1968). Expectations o f students' achievements are often based on the social class and race o f the students. Because o f racial stereotypes, the academic abilities o f Black children and visible minorities are often underestimated. Due to systemic discrimination as well as administrative complexities, formal education is unable or unwilling to respond to the particular  \u000C42 learning styles, or specific problems o f Black/African-Canadian learners with varying socio-economic backgrounds. Research by D e i , Mazzuca, Mclsaac and Zine (1997) tells us that students who perceive a lack o f curriculum content devoted to their history, interest and experience are likely to disengage or 'fadeout' from school. If Black/African-Canadian students can relate to what they are learning at school, they are likely to learn better. But unfortunately, many Black/African-Canadians have lost their cultural centeredness and exist in a borrowed space. Their existential relationship to the dominant culture defines what and who they are at any given moment (Asante, 1998). In art education, researchers have examined differences in aesthetic perceptions o f ethnic groups (Gayle, 1972; Irwin &amp; Farrell, 1996; Neperud, Serlin &amp; Jenkins, 1986). Although the debate about a distinct Black aesthetics is far from over, Irwin and Farrell (1996) and Neperud, Serlin and Jenkins (1986) suggest that most ethnic groups possess aesthetic values central to their culture. Therefore, cultural discontinuity or the marginalization o f minority students' cultures is detrimental to their artistic development. If a school system, as a matter o f course, neglects the individual backgrounds, histories language, interactional and learning styles o f its students, and categorizes and labels those who do not fit the norm, then one should expect failure to be the outcome. It is important in these instances that culture is treated as a mutable process rather than as unchanging product. That is, while we examine how culture may influence learning and therefore achievement in school, we must be wary o f overgeneralizations that lead to gross stereotypes, which in turn may lead to erroneous conclusions about individual students' abilities and intelligence. Although culture is indeed integral to the learning process, it affects every individual differently, given differences in social class, family structure, psychological and emotional differences, birth order, residence and a host o f individual distinctions. Learning occurs in various forms, as there is uniqueness among individual students. Some students learn in combination o f preferred modes as supported by the theory o f multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983). From a pedagogical perspective, therefore, good teaching practices address the various intelligences as appropriate, reaching each student's preferred learning modes and challenging all students to develop intelligences they have not yet fully refined. In the United States, Twiggs (1990) observes that many teachers overtly or covertly tend to  \u000C43 characterize minority children, particularly those from poor socio-economic backgrounds, as unruly, lazy, inferior and dumb. A s a result, they expect little from them since they believe that such students have no worthwhile aspirations. Black males, especially, endure the most o f this negative attitude. They are often labelled in early grades as troublemakers even before they ever get into trouble and may be targeted for suspension as they progress through school. This prejudicial attitude is not peculiar to American White teachers. Canadian teachers have either inherited or imported similar attitudes as is evident from the study  Push Out or Drop Out? The dynamics of Black/African-Canadian Students' DisengagementfromSchool by D e i , Holmes, Mazzuca, Mclsaac and Campbell (1995). Blacks and minority teachers whose socioeconomic class, training and experiences are modelled from Eurocentric perspectives may also disapprove that which defies the Eurocentric middle-class norm. Even more destructive is the fact that Black children are deprived o f the knowledge o f Black/African artistic, cultural and historical traditions. Contrary to the notion that Black students disengage from school partly as a result o f low self-esteem, D e i , Mazzuca, Mclsaac and Zine (1997) discovered in their study that Black students are rather 'pushed out' because they have a strong sense o f cultural pride and self-esteem which schools ignore, devalue, or seek to contain through complex administrative processes and assimilation into the Eurocentric norm. Thus, Black/African-Canadians are faced with an educational dilemma. O n one hand, Black students and their parents recognize the importance o f finishing school for employment and social mobility; on the other hand, their interpretations o f the curriculum and the operations o f the school systems cause them to disengage from school. If teacher education in the future is to present a model o f the positive incorporation of racial, ethnic and gender diversity, its student body, faculty, curricula and pedagogy must become culturally diversified and receptive to multicultural perspectives. For far too long, minority groups have been underrepresented as teachers and role models in Canadian classrooms. Black students o f Continental African origin constitute a unique case. Some have to deal with memories o f their homeland; isolation as a result o f being newcomers to Canada; the challenges o f adjusting to their new environment where native culture, native language and foreign accents are devalued; and the problems o f discrimination and racial stereotyping. Due to differences in objectives, history, values and practices, incompatibilities between the home culture and the school culture become profound,  \u000C44 leading to \"cultural clash\" which may produce school failure (Nieto, 1996). With the unique experiences o f Blacks in Canada and the experience o f a long history o f discrimination, it is important that appropriate modifications in curriculum and instruction are made to ensure greater cultural congruence and the possibility for success. Without sensitivity to the intellectual and cultural needs o f Blacks and other minorities, Canadian educational systems have proceeded as i f the needs o f Black/African-Canadian children are the same as those o f middle-class White children. In 1971 the Black United Front ( B U F ) o f N o v a Scotia, outlined the long-standing causes o f low Black educational attainment and high dropout rate. In a brief to the Royal Commission on Education, 1971, B U F blamed Black learners low achievement and school drop-outs on the dominance o f Eurocentric curriculum and systematic lack o f \"Africentric\" curriculum; lack o f Black teachers, administrators and role models; insensitivity o f White teachers to the needs o f Black students; inappropriate testing methods for Black students; use o f prejudicial texts, remarks and racial slurs; systemic streaming o f Black children into general, vocational or dead-end programs; and the lack o f pre-schooling for Black children ( B L A C , 1994, p. 30). M a n y o f the conditions that existed in the 1970s have continued to limit Black/African-Canadian students' educational participation and attainment not only in N o v a Scotia, but also in other provinces as well. The B L A C Report (1994) on the education o f African N o v a Scotians also reiterates similar concerns based on evidence from the grass roots. It states that: Clear deficiencies that exist include the shortage o f policies affecting race relations at the Board and school levels; the need for school curriculum and policies to accommodate cultural diversity; the need to realign the relationship between the home and the school; the lack o f any development of creative and resourceful programs for teachers' professional training, maturation and growth in a multicultural and multiracial society; a scarcity o f Black role models in the [educational] systems, methods to respond to racial harassment and the assessment o f students for placement; the lack o f an effective process to evaluate text books for bias and the absence o f materials to engender more positive attitudes in the African N o v a Scotia student. ( B L A C , 1994, p. 14)  The protracted outbreaks o f racial violence in Cole Harbour District High School in Halifax, N o v a Scotia, in 1989, 1991 and 1997 (Hamilton, 1997), for example, attest to the consistent hostility to Black learners in the province.  \u000C45  The Promise of Multicultural and Anti-racist Education Multicultural and anti-racist education, both advocate greater opportunity for educational success o f students o f diverse background in Canada. Multicultural educators link the issues o f culture with school processes. They examine minority children's underachievement and stress that equality in education can be attained by: attuning teaching strategies to culturally different ways o f perceiving and learning (Smith, 1983); developing culturally relevant curricula (Fleras &amp; Elliott, 1992); providing basic knowledge o f students' own cultures (Hoopes &amp; Pusch, 1979); and improving the students' self-image, usually by valuing the students' culture (Fleras &amp; Elliott, 1992). Anti-racist education links the issues o f identity and power with schooling process. It integrates the institutional structures o f society including teaching, learning, educational administration and how local communities (e.g., parents, families, community groups) interact with these structures. Both multiculturalism and anti-racism promote the removal o f bias and ethnocentrism from texts and the curriculum. They'also emphasize the contributions o f minorities to the development o f Canada as a nation (Fleras &amp; Elliott, 1992). However, the major emphasis o f multicultural education has been on reducing individual racism while anti-racist education has been on reducing institutional racism. I find the goals o f multicultural education and anti-racism education largely compatible, complementary and reinforcing. A rigid dichotomy, which would create an obstacle to greater equality in education, is therefore unnecessary. Multicultural education is a means to enrich the lives o f all students by helping them to understand and value their own ethnicity, gain an appreciation o f the ethnic cultures o f others and to share their cultural heritage. A critical multicultural education perspective explores the promises o f both multicultural education and anti-racist education. It links issues o f culture with education and aims at promoting educational equity and inter-group harmony. However, it recognizes that education is not apolitical and therefore advocates the need to challenge its content and form. Critical multiculturalism brings to multicultural education a sharp institutional analysis that might otherwise be missing. African-centred knowledge embedded in African art and culture is one window through which the goals o f multicultural education could be achieved. African-centred knowledge involves \"the epistemic saliency, values, belief systems and world views o f society which are imparted to the younger generation  \u000C46 by community elders\" (Dei, 1996, p. 95). Africentricity brings us to understand that the interrelationship o f art and knowledge with cosmology, society, religion, medicine and tradition stands alongside the interactive metaphors o f discourse as principal means o f achieving a measure o f knowledge about experience. Thus, through the knowledge o f African art and culture, connections could be built between the home culture and the school culture, as well as between mainstream art and other artistic traditions in order to enhance students' self-esteem and success. African-centred curriculum according to Carol Lee (1994) is culturally situated and aims at cultivating a sense o f mutual interdependence among students, teachers, parents and the wider community. School, work and communities are interwoven in the articulation o f the experiences and social practices o f all stakeholders in the school. Curriculum and pedagogy are informed by a holistic integrated view o f schooling. The school promotes education for the interest o f the public rather than simply for private interest, individual enrichment or self-improvement. Nevertheless, it does not negate individual self-worth and the right o f self-determination by other groups. For the art educator, the challenges are: to raise these issues for classroom discussion; to provide students the opportunity to experience appropriate cultural education which gives them an intimate knowledge o f ethno-cultures; and to honour and respect the history and culture o f all people. African art education w i l l speak to continental African students in a familiar voice because it w i l l provide the opportunity for them to experience identity-based knowledge that connects with their experiential realities. It also has the potential o f connecting with mainstream culture due to cross-cultural commonalities and similarities in the social functions o f art. The art historian, Dissanayake (1988, 1992) and socioanthropological theorists (Banks, 1993; Chalmers, 1996) argue that there are far more similarities than differences among cultural and ethnic groups. Ironically, however, due to ethnocentrism, too much . emphasis is placed on the differences than on the commonalities. African art in a multicultural curriculum w i l l increase self-awareness and facilitate the search for personal identities among Black students and w i l l serve as a bridge to understanding mainstream art and other art forms (e.g., A s i a n art, First Nations art and Islamic art). M c F e e (1986) argues that all groups need and use art forthe purpose o f identity, continuity, change and to enhance their cultural values. A s students become well informed through the knowledge o f African art and culture, they gain some understanding which empowers them to question the dominance o f  \u000C47 European art in the school curriculum. Multiculturalism is a positive dynamic force, a philosophy that should permeate all curricula. It is based on the concept that each and all o f the diverse cultures now present in Canada have something o f value to offer and share with other cultures, as we strive to build a new and better way o f life together. A multicultural curriculum may be taught in a way that w i l l perpetuate racial stereotyping. A s a reform movement that challenges institutionalized paradigms and practices in education, multicultural education stands the risk o f being appropriated by the establishment. The way out o f this dilemma is for educators to become vigilant in the multicultural education process. Anti-racist teaching would incorporate appropriate pedagogical methods, attitudes, knowledge (e.g., multicultural content) and the necessary skills to bring about learning that w i l l challenge racism and change the bias o f the traditional ethnocentric education to which we are accustomed in Canada. Research in the pedagogy o f African-American teachers of African-American students, has shown how teachers employ students' cultural knowledge and experiences as a bridge to the dominant culture with the aim o f overcoming some o f the debilitating and negative messages to which their students are subjected in schools and society. This \"emancipatory\" pedagogy empowers students to think critically, analyze the inherent values o f dominant cultures and work actively for social justice ( K i n g , 1991; Ladson-Billings, 1994). Emancipatory art education should reflect the multiple and collective origins o f art and art historical knowledge and correct repressive and monovocal art historical text portrayals o f historically marginalized cultures and groups. It should also require a liberative student-teacher relationship that w i l l open up art history, art criticism, aesthetics and art production to critical analyses and reconstruction. Such critical interactions, according to Freire (1970), stimulate both students and teachers to be producers o f knowledge rather than passive receptors o f preformulated and privileged knowledge o f others. Africentricity needs to move from the conceptual stage to its practical application where teachers are taught to put Black/African-Canadian students at the centre o f curriculum and instruction. In effect, students should be shown how to see with new eyes and hear with new ears. Black/African-Canadian students must learn to interpret and centre phenomena in the context o f African heritage while nonAfrican-Canadian students are taught to see that their own centres are not threatened by the presence or  \u000C48  contributions o f others. Dei (1996) reiterates this point by arguing that, \"Euro-Canadian/American schools need a new form o f education that w i l l particularly assist Black youth to reinvent their \"Africanness\" within a diaspora context and create a way o f being and thinking that is congruent with positive African traditions and values\" (p. 90). This suggestion applies to all Black youths in Canada because firstly, racial discrimination negatively affects all Black children, though in varying degrees, and secondly, because the struggle for social justice and educational equity is a collective endeavour. Africentrism is a form o f intervention against white supremacist racism in the academy that has led to the trivialization, distortion, or exclusion o f African history and art, as well as the underachievement o f many Black students. This prejudice and biased omission gave the world the false impression that Africa did not possess any history, artistic excellence, civilizations and institutions o f value to study as contributions to knowledge, world history and civilization. Without an inclusive art education, Black/African-Canadians bring almost nothing to the multicultural table but a darker version o f whiteness. Inclusiveness means dealing foremost with equity and justice with regard to the intellectual and cultural needs o f all students; having a multiplicity o f artistic and cultural perspectives represented as integral part o f mainstream art education; and reforming school, classroom practices and learning materials to meet the challenges o f diversity. Africa is rich with many art forms and has greatly influenced European art styles, particularly  cubism. The contribution of Africans to world art and history, knowledge and civilization should, therefore, be acknowledged and celebrated in a multicultural curriculum. Five hundred years o f Western European contact with continental Africa was intertwined with slavery, imperialist plunders o f African art and treasures (e.g., Ancient Egyptian and Nubian art, Benin court art and Ashanti gold ornaments), artistic borrowing and cultural appropriation (Coombes, 1994). Historical injustice against the people o f Africa and the diaspora calls not only for a continuous dialogue about the protection and restitution o f cultural patrimony, but also for the transformation o f art curricula to meet the needs o f Black/African-Canadian students and other visible minority students.  \u000C49  Conceptions of Multicultural Education Multicultural Policy in Canada Canada has always been an ethnically heterogeneous society. Apart from the First Nations people, all other Canadians are either immigrants or can trace their ethnic backgrounds from the places (country or area) o f origin o f their ancestors (James, 1995). Since the arrival o f the \"founding\" peoples, the French and the British in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries respectively, the Canadian identity into which immigrants are socialized and incorporated has evolved from Anglo-conformity, melting pot, mosaic, twonations, to multiculturalism. In the decade and a half after 1945, 96% o f immigrants came from Europe (mainly due to post-war dislocation), the United States and Australasia. Immigration to Canada from other parts o f the world was discouraged or prohibited at this time. In 1962, Canada replaced its ethnic-based immigration policy with a less discriminatory \"colour b l i n d \" Immigration A c t which resulted in a dramatic shift in the country o f origin o f Canada's immigrants (see Table 1.1). Significant changes in immigration levels and patterns and the English-French tensions in the 1960s posed a great challenge to the well-established concept o f Canadian identity grounded largely on British institutions and values. In response to these developments, the federal government in October 1971 adopted the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism's recommendations, which inaugurated the policy o f multiculturalism for Canada. The new policy o f multiculturalism contained the government's concern for the integration and the protection o f ethnic groups and their rights to preserve and develop their own culture and values within the Canadian context (Friesen, 1985). Initially, the government provided aid to support ethnic organizations, including cultural centres, festivals, both ethnic and multicultural publications and a series o f histories o f twenty ethnic groups. While some people received this policy with enthusiasm and saw it as the biggest accomplishment in our journey toward social equity, others greeted it with disappointment (Fleras &amp; Elliot, 1992). The influx o f non-European immigrants in the 1970s and 1980s, re-awakened latent fears and hostilities toward non-White immigrants. The government responded to this with the passage o f both the Human Rights B i l l and the Canadian Multicultural A c t . The Multicultural A c t recognizes our cultural diversity and states that we are all free to maintain and share our cultural heritage and to participate fully  \u000C50 and equally in our national life. The multicultural policy issued by the House of Commons (pp. 85508581) according to Friesen (1985) contained the following guarantees: 1  The government of Canada will support all of Canada's cultures and will seek to assist, resources permitting, the development of those cultural groups which have demonstrated a desire and effort to continue to develop, a capacity to grow and contribute to Canada, as well as a clear need for assistance;  2  The government will assist members of all cultural groups to overcome cultural barriers to full participation in Canadian society;  3  The government will promote creative encounters and interchange among all Canadian cultural groups in the interest of national unity; and  4 The government will continue to assist immigrants to acquire at least one of Canada's official languages in order to become full participants in Canadian society. . . . (Friesen, 1985, pp. 1-2) Some provinces, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, became supporters of multiculturalism on the grounds that it makes Canada stronger and more of a \"global village.\" Notwithstanding, some ethno-cultural groups still view Canada's multiculturalism as tokenistic for not extending the promotion of ethnic cultures to embrace heritage languages. Multiculturalism within a bilingual framework creates tensions and contradictions between the taken-for-granted cultural and linguistic assimilation to English or French and the plurality that multiculturalism promises. Since language is an integral part of culture, the critics ask: What is cultural preservation without linguistic preservation? This demand led to the introduction of non-official language or Heritage Language instruction, both in and outside school hours by the various provincial ministries of education. The group to take greatest advantage of these multicultural programs were those of European origin and relatively long residence in Canada: Ukrainian, Italian and Polish Canadians. People committed to national unity, or \"Canadianism\" foresees multiculturalism as a further institutionalization and deepening of political and economic inequalities for minority cultural groups. Porter (1979) for instance, saw the integration of non-official languages and non-European cultural values into the Canadian classrooms as detrimental to the culture of science and technology and to the upward mobility of children of non-European origin. What this argument ignores are the facts that the nation has been historically divided along ethnic, class and gender lines, as well as the pervasive inequalities in social  \u000C51  justice, the distribution o f knowledge and power. The French, especially those in Quebec, like the First Nations, view multiculturalism as harbouring a hidden agenda to neutralize their distinctive claims: cultural hegemony as a \"founding nation\" and Aboriginal treaty rights respectively (Sanders, 1987). In Quebec, the term \"cultural pluralism\" was preferred to \"multiculturalism.\" The \"two-nation\" definition o f Canada, now discarded elsewhere in Canada, was much closer to the hearts o f Quebec than \"multiculturalism.\" B y the end o f the 2 0 century, Canadian national identity had evolved through several th  stages: \"Anglo-conformity,\" \"melting pot,\" \"mosaic,\" \"two nations\" to \"multiculturalism.\" Friesen (1985) perceives educational institutions' role as critical in fostering understanding o f cultural differences for all Canadian citizens. Equality o f education requires a serious re-examination o f the hidden curriculum with the aim o f including components o f various cultures in the school curriculum and activities. In Canada, most urban school boards, as in Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver, have implemented some reform with the aim to provide a more inclusive curriculum. However, because education is a provincial responsibility, the federal government has little power to ensure any uniformity in the implementation o f multicultural education policies. This situation has led to the implementation o f various models o f multicultural education in Canada that leaves much to be desired. In the  Legacy of  Learners, the report of the Royal Commission on Education for British Columbia, Sullivan (1988) acknowledges that with multicultural policy, the social agenda constructed for schools should be more complex and broadened to accommodate cultural, racial, ethnic, religious, gender and linguistic differences. Sullivan emphasizes that: This commitment to multiculturalism means that we also look to schools to foster healthy intergroup attitudes, to break down cultural stereotyping and to organize themselves in ways that ensure equality o f treatment and equality o f access for all minorities. This commitment means, too, that we look to schools to preserve cultural heritages through language instruction and studies in history, geography, art, music and drama, to remind us who we are today and from what culture we once came. Similarly, it means also that we look to schools to help solve the special learning problems faced by some minorities. A n d , finally, we look to the schools to do all these things without obscuring their larger educational vision, (p. 28) With the enormous challenges to schools and educators, multiculturalism needs to be approached as a progressive, innovative and a dynamic program that can affectively influence various levels o f Canadian society. In developing a school program for a multiethnic setting, Wright and Coombs (1991)  \u000C52  suggest six areas that may form the foundation for dealing reasonably with the complex task o f providing equal opportunity for all Canadians. First, \"developing a conception o f person or humanity\" may enable us to recognize the common needs o f society. Second, \"developing a sense o f self-worth\" may assure people that their values, abilities and contributions are important and appreciated. Third, \"developing a sense o f society\" is important to ensure that collective rights and responsibilities stand as the key to the cohesion o f community. Fourth, \"developing an understanding o f the concepts o f prejudice, stereotyping and racism\" is an important strategy for dealing with them. Fifth, \"developing an understanding o f what harms people\" is important to reveal all other factors that hurt people both physically and psychologically. Finally, \"promoting good reasoning\" is an important virtue, which enables individuals to understand social justice and participate fully in society. These principles, according to Wright and Coombs, cut across all cultural and ethnic groups when designing programs. The future direction and success o f multiculturalism requires both the government and public support and as Bagley, Coard and Friesen (1988) explain, \" I f multiculturalism is to work, it needs support from the grass roots\" (p. 30). To determine the grass root requires not only an understanding o f internal structures o f construction o f ethno-cultural groups, but also the examination o f the historical and social foundations o f the content o f a school curriculum and the structures that shape Canadian society. Nieto (1996) argues that multicultural education should not only concern itself with culture at the superficial level but also be active in challenging the societal power structure that has historically subordinated ethnic minorities and rationalized the educational failure o f members o f marginalized groups as being the results o f their perceived inherent deficiencies.  Defining Multicultural Education There is a massive body o f literature, theoretical pronouncements and research about providing education grounded in multicultural perspectives, with no consensus on what exactly constitutes multicultural education. Due to ambiguity curricula frameworks, textbooks and teacher education programs that claim to be \"multicultural\" often lack any coherent guiding philosophy. Consequently, diversity is incorporated simplistically into the art curriculum, often within a Eurocentric framework. Teachers' support for multicultural education, however, depends on the ways the innovation is understood  \u000C53 and conceptualized. What is understood by the term  multicultural education is varied, both in terms o f theory and  practice. It has become a slippery signifier onto which diverse groups project their hopes and fears. A s noted by Grant and Sleeter (1993), some theorists focus their work primarily on ethnic groups o f colour. Others conceptualize multicultural education more broadly to encompass race, class, gender and exceptionality - and the interactions o f these variables - as important components o f the field (Banks &amp; Banks, 1993). A s an open concept, multicultural education is subject to multiple interpretations and often contradictions, thus permitting critics to reject its effectiveness as an aid in deciding educational policy, or to view it as a concept without theoretical underpinnings. Multicultural education seems to have lost its focus as it struggles to accommodate more issues. For instance, race and gender issues bump on each other frequently. There is also a weak link between theory and practice, which is interpreted as weak theory. Despite Canada's early multicultural history, it is difficult to speak o f a distinctively Canadian model o f multicultural education. Multicultural education in Canada has evolved as a collection o f perspectives cross-fertilized by American and British variants (Moodley, 1995). Different images o f Canadian society have attracted different responses from the provincial school systems. Officially, Canada abandoned the policy o f assimilation in managing diversity when it embraced multiculturalism in 1971. Nevertheless, many criticize multicultural ideas as little more than a glossy veneer that quietly endorses a more deceptive variant o f assimilation. Various models o f multicultural education have been advanced or practised in Canada (Coombs, 1986; Fleras &amp; Elliot, 1992; M c L e o d , 1981; Ouellet, 1992; Young, 1979). Generally, they can be synthesised into five major approaches or meanings that represent the various ways that multicultural education is taught in English-speaking countries: 1) Human relations approach; 2) Education o f the culturally different; 3) Education for cultural pluralism; 4) Specific group studies approach; and 5) Multicultural and social reconstructionist approach ( E M C - S R ) (Grant &amp; Sleeter, 1989; Sleeter &amp; Grant, 1988): 1)  Human Relations Approach: This approach seeks to foster cultural understanding and positive relationships among individual members o f diverse racial and cultural groups, to strengthen each student's self-concept and to increase school and social harmony. This is a liberal pluralistic view that sees cultural diversity as intrinsically valuable and beneficial to society. The human relations  \u000C54 curriculum includes lessons about stereotyping, discrimination, ethnocentrism and individual differences and similarities. The human relations approach is grounded on an assumption that knowledge about cultures reduces inter-group conflict and increases opportunities for minorities. Teacher education based on this model prepares teachers to honour diverse student backgrounds and to promote cooperative learning and harmony among students. However, institutional discrimination, or real conflicts between groups, are often glossed over in lieu o f supporting the \" I ' m O K , Y o u ' r e O K , Everybody is O K \" ideology (Sleeter, 1992; Solomon &amp; Levine-Rasky, 1994).  2)  Education o f the Culturally Different: This approach helps fit students into the existing social structure and culture. It builds bridges between the students' backgrounds and the schools. This approach accommodates students who are exceptional and/or culturally different by altering regular teaching strategies to match students' learning styles and by using culturally relevant materials. Education that prepares teachers for teaching culturally different children would, by extension, not question the dominant culture's traditional aims. Rather, the emphasis would be on techniques for building bridges between children and their schools and helping students to master an official language and adapt to the norms o f the dominant culture. The problem o f cultural discontinuity remains for the student ( M c L e o d , 1992).  3)  Education for Cultural Pluralism: This approach promotes social equality and cultural pluralism. It stresses that all cultures warrant equal respect and value. Curriculum, in this approach, is organized around the contributions and perspectives o f different cultural groups. Cultural content can be assessed from the perspective o f the \"insider.\" It pays close attention to equity in terms o f gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, social class, language, age and physical ability. This approach to multicultural education also builds on students' learning styles, adapts to their skill level and actively involves students in thinking and analyzing life situations. It encourages native language maintenance for students whose first language is not English and multilingual acquisition for all students (Banks, 1993; Moodley, 1995; Nieto, 1996).  4)  Single Group Studies Approach: This approach promotes social structural equality and immediate recognition o f the cultures o f groups whose identities are at risk. Usually implemented in the form o f ethnic studies, or women's studies, this approach assumes that because o f past curriculum biases, knowledge about particular oppressed groups should be taught separately from conventional classroom knowledge in either separate units or separate courses. The single group approach seeks to raise people's consciousness concerning an identified group by teaching both its members and all others about the history, culture and contributions o f that group, as well as how  \u000C55 that group has been oppressed by, or has worked with, the dominant group in society. Although the ultimate goal o f such programs is the accommodation and maintenance o f diversity, they can be exclusionary in their group-specific nature (Dei, 1996; M c L e o d , 1992).  5)  Multicultural and Social Reconstructionist Approach: This approach extends previous approaches and teaches students to critically analyze social inequality and oppression by helping them to develop skills for social action. This approach encompasses \"anti-racist education\" and \"critical pedagogy.\" It entails direct challenge to societal power structure, racism and social inequalities. This approach promotes social structural equality and cultural pluralism and prepares students to work actively toward equality for all people (Grant, 1992, pp. 21-22; Nieto, 1996, p. x v i i ; Turner, 1994, p. 408).  These notions o f multicultural education contain many contradictions and the categories are not mutually exclusive, or as distinct as their labels seem to suggest. Culture is the central category while inequality, power and racism are infrequently mentioned. In Canada, M c L e o d (1992) identifies three approaches to multicultural education namely:  ethnic specific, problem oriented and cultural/intercultural  models. The ethnic specific model has the characteristics o f single group studies approach. Ethno-cultural groups in Canada that have established separate school programs include the Ukrainian, Hutterite and Mennonite schools in Alberta, Chinese, Hebrew and Greek schools in Ontario and Quebec and Punjabi and Hebrew schools in British C o l u m b i a (Moodley, 1995). There is a crucial difference between segregated schools imposed by the dominant group and those developed from within subordinated communities. The goals o f the latter are generally to provide excellent and affirming educational experiences for students who have been dismissed, or isolated by the traditional schools, whereas the goals of the former are usually to maintain social hierarchies. Taking into account a variety o f multicultural perspectives, self-segregated schools face some serious challenges and criticism. These include a tendency to create new myths in place o f old ones, and the segregation o f students by ethnicity, race and gender. A problem-oriented approach involves proactive and reactive programs that help immigrants to adapt to Canadian society and to respond to issues o f racism and other forms o f inequality. M a n y o f the immigrant service providers in Canada have adopted this approach to cultural education. The cultural/intercultural model promotes education for cultural pluralism. Its overarching values are equality o f access and shared  \u000C56 ownership. In Canada, multicultural education is located within a consensus paradigm. For most educators, differences are to be gently reaffirmed along guiding threads o f similarities. Some teachers' noncommitment to multicultural education signals their ideological opposition to the national policy o f multiculturalism. A s noted earlier, one study found that, as long as multicultural education is conceptualized as the encouragement o f respect for minority cultural traditions, rather than curriculum mainstreaming o f diverse cultural traditions, its support among educators from the dominant group remained high (Solomon &amp; Levine-Rasky, 1994). Such conceptualization o f multicultural education is based on the belief that multiculturalism may undermine the dominant culture, Eurocentrism or A n g l o centrism in Canadian society. Thus, defence o f \"Canadianism\" may well be a thinly veiled disguise for Anglo-conformity. The dominant culture does not necessarily mean the culture o f the predominant ethnic group in terms o f demographics but rather, it refers to the social practices and representations that affirm the central values, concerns and interests o f the social class in control o f the material and cultural capital o f society. Some o f what Jean Baker M i l l e r (1976) has to say about the relationship between dominant and subordinate groups would appear to explain the general lukewarm attitude o f mainstream Canadians toward multicultural education: A dominant group, inevitably, has the greatest influence in determining a culture's overall outlook - its philosophy, morality, social theory, [education] and even its science. The dominant group, thus, legitimizes the unequal relationship and incorporates it into society's guiding concepts . . . It follows from this that dominant groups generally do not like to be told about, or even quietly reminded o f the existence o f inequality. ' N o r m a l l y ' they can avoid awareness because their explanation o f the relationship becomes so well integrated in order terms; they can even believe that both they and the subordinate group share the same interests and, to some extent a common experience. . . . Clearly, inequality has created a state o f conflict. Yet, dominant groups w i l l tend to suppress conflict. They w i l l see any questioning o f the ' n o r m a l ' situation as threatening; activities by subordinates in this direction w i l l be perceived with alarm. Dominants are usually convinced that the way things are, is right and good, not only for them but, especially, for the subordinates. A l l morality confirms this view and all social structure sustains it. (pp. 6-8) This situation vividly elucidated by M i l l e r above, engenders continuous marginality o f multicultural education to the mainstream curricula, thereby undermining efforts to explore and engage in deeper analysis o f culture and power. In order for art educators to transcend their articulated conservative conceptualizations o f  \u000C57 multiculturalism toward a more holistic and inclusive model, concerted effort must be made to: move multicultural curricula beyond superficial practices to a deeper level o f literacy embedded in cultural pluralism and cultural group studies such as Africentric, Asiacentric and Aboriginalcentric pedagogies; move from institutional marginalization o f minority cultural knowledge forms to curriculum centrality; and develop an understanding that the movement from ethno-cultural injustices to social justice w i l l be conflictual, disharmonious and resisted by opponents. To bring about any real change in the relationship between Black/African-Canadian students and students from other cultural groups, multiculturalists must adopt not only the liberal pluralistic approaches but also eclectic approaches that incorporate the transformative political agenda embedded in single-group studies approach (i.e., African-centred knowledge and Asian-centred knowledge), cultural pluralism and the social reconstructionist approach. A truly holistic and inclusive approach w i l l avoid competition and judgement. A commitment to multicultural education reflects the premise that those secure in their cultural heritage w i l l concede a similar right to others whose cultural identities are at risk.  Multiculturalism and A r t Education Since the adoption o f the policy o f multiculturalism for Canada in 1971, there has been a growing expectation that schools w i l l broaden their agenda to embrace cultural, ethnic, religious, gender and linguistic differences. Unfortunately, schools have made little progress in reforming the art curricula to better serve children from diverse cultural backgrounds, particularly Black children who have experienced a long history o f racial discrimination in Canada. Multicultural art education calls for the restructuring o f art and art education from its Eurocentric focus to reflect the multicultural background o f students. The Getty Centre for Education in the Arts, through its Discipline-Based A r t Education project ( D B A E ) has had tremendous influence on art education curricula in North America. Although D B A E has evolved from an elitist concept to a dynamic curriculum movement that is open to multiple views, it falls short o f assuming a more aggressive and proactive role in serving the needs o f minorities. Multicultural education concerns itself with the relationship between cultures, between student and teacher, between school and society. It concerns itself not only with the understanding o f cultural  \u000C58 differences, but also with the positive endorsement o f such differences. It creates opportunity for the recognition o f similarities that exist between individuals and groups, the plurality o f the ethnic and cultural backgrounds o f these individuals and the acceptance o f such plurality. A s Best (1986) notes, \"the identity o f a human being and the character o f his thoughts and feelings cannot intelligibly be regarded as independent o f his culture\" (p. 34). He also points out that the failure to try to understand the different criteria o f other societies creates a tendency to depreciate them. Cultural expression through the arts is central in promoting the presence, identity and socio-political involvement o f the Black community in Canada. A s an educational tool, art at its fundamental level is multidimensional. It is timeless and dynamic, like an organism that continually develops meaning over time and space as their various contexts provide (Chanda, 1998). Re-imagining historical and cultural meanings as dynamic w i l l allow us to move away from our personal, egocentric viewpoint and embrace a broader construct that relates to a collective history. M a n y art educators (e.g., D i B l a s i o &amp; Park, 1983; Feldman, 1976) point out that art programs can help build a positive ethnic self-image by reinforcing the artistic heritage o f these students. A r t does not only bridge the gap between cultures and promote the transmission o f cultural heritage (Boughton, 1986), but it is also a strong means o f fostering unity and enhancing cross-cultural understanding o f similarities and differences. Although there are different conceptions and functions o f art among cultures, there are also common concepts and functions that could be identified. Both the differences and commonalities must be celebrated in multicultural art education. There is a presumption that inter-group conflict can be reduced with cultural literacy, especially, when it affirms and celebrates cultural differences and similarities (Solomon &amp; Levine-Rasky, 1994). It is this understanding and appreciation o f differences that Grigsby (1986) says creates bonds between people. Multicultural art education instils a sense o f integrity and dignity in children and, as Feldman (1976) adds, renews cultural identity and pride from generation to generation. Although building pride in one's cultural roots through positive exposure to artistic heritage may not automatically rehabilitate individuals who have experienced years o f marginalization, it can, in the long run, help to validate the existence o f a particular self with particular heritage (Collins &amp; Sandell, 1992). Through the discipline-  \u000C59 based methods o f art teaching, students from all cultures could gain knowledge o f the art from other cultures by understanding the context in which the art was created and the function o f the work o f art in that society. This understanding, laying the groundwork, could help them extend this learning to their own cultures and discover through art that culture is not a hermetically sealed unit. They would be enabled to see that, behind the cloud o f cultural diversity, there are common interests. Consequently, as D i B l a s i o and Park (1983) note, including art exemplars from diverse ethnic groups during instruction would not only benefit the mainstream culture but would also serve to bolster ethnic pride and reinforce collective cultural identity among the minority group. This is a major \"multicultural\" argument - the belief that incorporating other forms o f knowledge and cultural perspectives into the dominant curriculum w i l l benefit all students. The vast majority o f students are ignorant or misinformed about the bountiful reservoirs o f African-Canadian, African-American and continental African histories, cultures and contributions to the world. M a n y Canadians are ignorant not only about the ideas and achievements o f Martin Luther K i n g , Cheikh Anta Diop and countless other Black personalities who have helped to shape the course o f society, but also about the history o f Canadian Blacks and their contribution, particularly during the settlement o f N o v a Scotia, Ontario, the prairies and British Columbia. Raised on a diet o f Western history, colonial discourses, Eurocentrism, \"Tarzan books and films\" (which have resurfaced recently in a more subtle tone), racist myths and fears, stereotypes and sensational news media, many unsuspecting youths in North A m e r i c a have come to conceive o f Africa as a jungle, a large village, a land o f the grotesque, or at best a poor country inhabited by w i l d animals and \"savages\" and \"tribal people.\" But in fact, Africa o f a H o l l y w o o d movie is often very different from the Africa that really exists. Palaeontologists make us aware that human life started in Africa many millions o f years ago and then spread to the rest o f the world. Africa is where humans first learned to use fire, make tools and create art. It is truly the cradle o f civilization. Africa is the land o f lost kingdoms and ancient cities. The empires o f the N i l e flourished in Egypt and N u b i a from 3100 until 400 B . C . E . (Krieger, et al., 1997) (see Figure 2.5 for map). The kingdom o f Ethiopia has been traced to about 300 B . C . E . The royal empires o f Western Sudan - Ghana, M a l i and Songhai - and their ancient cities o f Awdoghast, Gao, Jenne, K u m b i Saleh, Tangier and Timbuktu thrived between 500 C . E . and 1700 C . E . (see Figure 2.6 for map). A t their peak, these empires rivalled those o f  \u000C60 Europe at the time. Modern Africa is the home to about 14 per cent o f the world's population and with more than 1000 different languages. It is the second largest continent consisting o f 54 different independent and separate countries (see Figure 2.7 for current map o f Africa). This enormous diversity coupled with the artificially created national boundaries by the colonial powers (during the Berlin Congress o f 1884-85), creates unique challenges regarding political stability, peaceful coexistence and economic development. The task o f reclaiming African humanity is a significant dimension o f the Africentric vision and o f the process o f de-colonization. Teaching children facts about Black people and their cultures w i l l encourage students to develop awareness o f themselves, others and the existing social structure that impact on their lives. It may also provide information and the tools for improving relations among ethnic groups that have historically lived in physical and psychological isolation from each other. In order to achieve the goals o f multicultural art education, Twiggs (1990) stresses the need for educators to become familiar with the culture o f their students, both lived-in and inherited cultures. For the Black/African-Canadian students, ideas such as mutual interdependence, group unity, resilience and the role o f religion, extended family traditions and motherhood must be considered when designing an African-centred art curriculum. The sources and promotion o f traditional African education are community based, originating in the symbolic interchanges in village life (Asante &amp; Asante, 1985). Stuhr, PetrovichM w a n i k i and Wasson (1992) advance five positions, which are relevant for teaching art in a multicultural context: 1) a student/community-centred education process in which the teacher must access and utilize the students' socio-cultural values and beliefs and those o f the cultures o f the community when planning art curricula; 2) an approach that acknowledges teaching as a cultural and social intervention and which alerts teachers to be aware o f their own cultural and social biases; 3) an anthropologically-based method for identifying socio-cultural groups and their accompanying values and practices which influence aesthetic production; 4) the use o f culturally responsive pedagogy that represents the socio-cultural and ethnic diversity existing in the classroom, community and the nation; and 5) a focus on the dynamic complexity o f factors that affect all human interactions such as physical and mental ability, class, gender, age, politics, religion and ethnicity. These socio-anthropological positions seek a more democratic approach whereby  \u000C61  F i g u r e 2.5  M a p o f Northeast A f r i c a showing E g y p t and A n c i e n t N u b i a Note: From N u b i a : Ancient Kingdoms o f Africa (p. 11) by J. L . Haynes, 1992, Boston: Museum of Fine Arts.  \u000C62  Figure 2.6  Map of Ancient African Kingdoms showing Ancient Ghana, M a l i and Songhai Note: From W o r l d History: Perspectives on the Past (p. 321) b y L . S. Krieger, K . N e i l l and E . Reyno 1997, Evanston, Illinois: M c D o u g a l L i t t e l l .  \u000C63  F i g u r e 2.7  M a p of A f r i c a s h o w i n g V a r i o u s C o u n t r i e s Note: From Contemporary Art of Africa (p. 18) by A . M a g n i n and J. Soulillou (Eds.), 1996, N e w Y o r k : Harry N . Abrams, Inc., Pub.  \u000C64 the disenfranchised are also given a voice in art education process. This study is in line with the multicultural education principles outlined by Stuhr, PetrovichM w a n i k i and Wasson. It suggests the infusion o f Africentric art content into the mainstream curriculum through a student/community-centred approach, and with culturally responsive pedagogy, that meets the needs o f Blacks and minority students. A s Zimmerman (1990) indicates, \"African art can be used as a vehicle for understanding distinctions between appreciating a work o f art from any culture and understanding its cultural origins and the context in which it was created\" (p. 9). It can therefore be included as a strand in a pluralistic approach to art education. Collins and Sandell (1992), however, argue that the arts o f non-mainstream cultures are not insulated against ideological bias and oppressive elements. Therefore, they caution advocates o f pluralistic approaches to multicultural education to be critical o f other forms o f artistic and cultural knowledge that mimics the gender bias and imperialistic disposition o f Western art. While the argument o f non-neutrality o f non-Western art forms seems plausible, it must be emphasized that power has been the underlying factor behind the hierarchical distinction between Western and non-Western art. Those with power have used it to enhance the status o f their art at the expense o f the powerless. African art is presented here as a non-hegemonic source o f a multicentric curriculum. Its ideological and philosophical positions are examined to identify any ambiguity, contradiction and biases. Africa is rich in every aspect o f human art. A s the cradle o f civilization and the home o f many art forms, it has shared its spirit with every continent. Best (1986) states that: It is the consciousness o f other cultures which allows us more fully to appreciate our own and to extend our understanding o f rationality and humanity by imaginatively entering into the activities o f other societies which have some significant relation to art in ours . . . The contribution o f education, or o f engagement with the arts o f other cultures is to stimulate a process o f dialectical interaction . . . W i t h open mind and willingness to learn one can extend and enrich one's artistic conceptions in an encounter with another culture, (pp. 41-42) W i t h the experience o f a long history o f racial discrimination and educational inequities and underachievement, Black/African students need a form o f multicultural education to compensate for educational inequity as well as a broader view o f world art history and contributions. The dominance o f Eurocentrism in art education has not served Black students well. Their cultural background, identity and heritage are often marginalized in the curriculum. African art within multicultural environment w i l l not  \u000C65 only permit the use o f African-centred knowledge and pedagogy but w i l l also provide identity-based knowledge that speaks directly to those struggling to define themselves within the mosaic o f multi cultures in Canada. It also has the potential o f enhancing cross-cultural learning and for connecting students' experiences with mainstream culture leading students and educators not only to question the dominance o f Eurocentric curricula but also to actively seek for cultural equity through inclusive curricula.  Approaches to Multicultural Art Education A variety o f curriculum approaches and teaching methodologies and strategies have been suggested for teaching art in a multicultural classroom. A m o n g them are: the Discipline-Based A r t Education ( D B A E ) , Multicultural Discipline-based A r t Education ( M D A E ) and Feminist Approaches to art education. Both D B A E and M D A E profess a discipline-based approach to art teaching and they could be employed to teach art in a multicultural classroom. The difference is that M D A E assumes a more crosscultural perspective, however, these models, i f skilfully implemented, could help art educators become more competent in handling the challenges o f multicultural art education. One o f the main goals o f feminist art educators is to uncover mechanisms by which gender discrimination is perpetuated in art education, in order to develop effective strategies to counter it. Feminist art education analyzes social systems and their representations o f women and minorities in the art world and explores alternative approaches to art education. It is a political ideology with varied perspectives within a broader political struggle. These approaches are not mutually exclusive. Despite their ideological differences, these models share a common focus in dealing with the socio-cultural aspects o f art education.  Discipline-Based A r t Education ( D B A E ) Discipline-based art education ( D B A E ) is undoubtedly the most discussed and written about approach to art education in the recent past in North America. The Getty Centre for Education in the Arts ( G C E A ) , now the Getty Education Institute for the Arts, became a catalyst for reform in art education by arguing that: art education is as fundamentally important for personal development as training in Mathematics, English and Science. It nurtures imaginative cognition. It develops understanding and appreciation  \u000C66 o f man's highest artistic achievements. It deepens understanding o f culture and history. A n d it sharpens perceptive and analytical skills that are vital for higher order mental tasks. ( G C E A , 1984, p.l) Although the idea o f D B A E had first evolved during the 1960s, its theory was not fully developed or integrated with actual practice in the classroom until the 1980s. Through extensive consultations with professionals and academics in the field, the Getty Centre adopted Discipline-Based A r t Education ( D B A E ) in 1982 as a vital approach to ensure a serious place for art in the public schools. In D B A E , four fundamental art disciplines o f aesthetics, art criticism, art history and studio production are integrated in a written sequential curriculum whose content leads to cumulative knowledge, skills and understanding in art in grade K to 12 (Dobbs, 1989). Clark, Day and Greer (1987) extended the ideas first set out by Greer (1984) in a monograph sponsored by the Getty Centre. They pointed out that works o f art present us with complex meanings and to comprehend such meanings require the cultivation o f abilities to explain them. D B A E therefore became an appropriate response to the challenges posed in interpreting works o f art. D B A E curriculum seeks to promote egalitarian values. It does not serve only the talented, but also provides for the majority o f students and teachers who do not have a particular bent for being creative or artistic. With D B A E , \"it is no longer as important to express one's inner self as it is to function as an informed and intellectual member o f society\" (Moore, 1991, p. 38). Differences o f opinion regarding the relegation o f studio activity and non-Western art to a minor rather than a central position have generated some levels o f confrontation within the field o f art education. Those in favour o f studio-centred approach to art education (London, 1988; Zessoules, Wolfe, &amp; Gardner, 1988) accused the Getty Centre for promoting D B A E as an elitist approach to art education and for ignoring other cultural perspectives. In their zeal to elevate art to the level o f an academic discipline, art educators gave little consideration to issues o f gender and diversity that were germane to the socio-cultural foundations o f art. A s early as the 1970s, Chalmers (1973, 1974, 1978), Grigsby (1977), M c F e e (1971), and M c F e e and Degge (1977) drew attention to the sociological and anthropological dimensions o f art. But it was not until the early 1990s that the G C E A began to welcome new voices and multiple perspectives on D B A E . In his book Art and  Ethnics: Backgroundfor Teaching Youth in a Pluralistic Society (1977), Eugene Grigsby, an AfricanAmerican art educator, demonstrated how art education could be used to heighten awareness and  \u000C67 sensitivity o f children toward multicultural and multi-environmental perspectives. M c F e e and Degge (1977) also recommended that art educators learn about other art, exemplified in non-Western traditions. They emphasized that a major purpose o f art education is \"to give teachers a somewhat broader basis for understanding how art functions in society generally and how functions are varied in meaning and style in any one specific society that has an identifiable culture pattern o f values and attitudes\" (p. 28). Chalmers, in his three articles, reiterates the need for a socio-cultural foundation o f art education that would complement the historical, philosophical and psychological perspectives o f the aesthetic education movement. Chalmers is particularly effective in articulating the concern that non-Western cultures were not represented as subject matters for study in D B A E . These works implicitly question the pretence o f D B A E to democratic praxis and the notion o f a universally applicable objective criterion for evaluation in art. D B A E purports to be universal, both in terms o f theoretical content and practice. However, its theoretical underpinning and formalist teaching methodologies are constructed to reflect the attitudes, beliefs, values and biases o f the dominant Euro-Western culture. That D B A E emanates from a Eurocentric patriarchal ideology is unquestionable. Its historical component does not offer any insight into the history of the art o f non-Western cultures since it focuses only on the history o f the art o f the West (Calvert, 1988). Dobbs (1989) explains that the Eurocentric perspective o f D B A E stems from the training, knowledge, experience and values o f professionals in the art disciplines, which in turn have been shaped by the overwhelming emphasis on European art prevalent in their own schooling. Within such context, it is not surprising that art education is perceived from a Eurocentric perspective. The problem, however, is that in a multicultural milieu, such a curriculum acts as a form o f oppression for those students whose experiences are incongruent with the world view that such knowledge affirms. Thus, in spite o f the promise o f D B A E many multiculturalists continue to question whether it is capable o f recognizing and addressing issues o f diversity. Since the beginning o f this decade, there has been an encouraging response in D B A E to embrace issues o f feminism and multiculturalism. This is evident from the Getty Centre's  DBAE Handbook (Dobbs,  1992), which supports curricula built around diverse art traditions. Under the leadership o f Thandiwee  \u000C68 Michael Kandall, issues o f gender and multiculturalism appeared on the centre stage o f Getty's agenda on D B A E (Kandall, 1993). Some o f the central themes emerging from the Third Issues Seminar on D B A E included the need to address biases and the problem o f context in art education; the need for new curricula materials and images in the classroom; and the need to attain equity and human rights through educational programs (Kandall, 1993). Dwaine Greer (1993) responds to the controversies that have surrounded D B A E since its inception in 1984 by concluding that: D B A E now seems to define art more broadly, includes art o f other cultures, seems to no longer promote only the 100 canons o f art made by dead white Euro-American males, seems to embrace the \"popular arts\" as worthy o f serious consideration, no longer equates aesthetics only with aesthetic experiences and responses; realizes the limitations o f aesthetic scanning, acknowledges that art has social content as well as form and is tolerant o f contributions o f feminist scholars. If the writers who support D B A E have understood the objections and have responded in a way that satisfies the critics, as the characterization above suggests, the future o f D B A E should be bright indeed, (p. 94) Chalmers (1992) points out that D B A E could be effective in addressing multicultural issues in the classroom i f art teachers would: Recognize, acknowledge and celebrate racial and cultural diversity in art within our society, while affirming and enhancing self-esteem and pride in one's own heritage. Promote cross-cultural understanding by identifying similarities, particularly in the role and function o f art, within and among cultural groups. Address, in all art disciplines and not just art history, issues o f ethnocentrism, biases, stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination and racism, (p. 16) The extent to which D B A E serves an art educator depends on his/her background, skill, imagination and creativity. D B A E is a guide to what to teach and not necessarily how to teach. Instructors do not necessarily rely on prescription or formulas, yet they are expected to achieve a natural balance among the four components o f D B A E . While it is impossible for an art teacher to discuss all the cultures of the world adequately at any given time, it is possible to examine and understand some o f the ways in which culturally different people may respond to the same visual phenomena. Due to the inadequate professional preparation o f teachers in multicultural issues, lack o f adequate in-service programs, many curriculum concerns o f ethnic minorities have been ignored.  Multicultural Discipline-based A r t Education ( M D A E ) Multicultural Discipline-based A r t Education ( M D A E ) is the most recent curriculum model, which Dennis Fehr (1993, 1994) offers as an alternative approach to art education in a multicultural milieu.  \u000C69 M D A E appears to fill in where D B A E is lacking. It is a tripartite model o f art education that focuses on the child, the subject and society. Fehr points out that the ongoing elitist-versus-populist debate over D B A E does not only increase the relevance o f multicultural study in the art classroom but also respect for the contributions o f minority cultures. The M D A E model is the infusion o f multicultural study with discipline-based art education. It provides for studying the cultural context o f a work o f art and examining its cross-cultural influence in addition to learning the history o f the specific work o f art. Fehr advocates the accommodation o f all the cultures represented in a classroom when teaching art. M D A E emphasizes reaching across cultural boundaries, examining cultural influences, contributions and common interests without looking down upon any culture. Its aim is to afford the art educator the opportunity to recognize and understand the inner realities o f the student, discover their ontological values and the realistic ways they attempt to understand the world. It identifies with a \"multicultural agenda, which is met more effectively with an art curriculum that emphasizes viewing than with one that emphasizes m a k i n g \" (Fehr, 1993, p. 192). M D A E enables art educators to tap, at regular intervals, into each student's culture in order to identify with all the students and give them the opportunity to express themselves in their own unique ways, thus justifying M D A E ' s tripartite nature - the child, the subjects and the society. The M D A E model does not nullify D B A E . What it does, according to Fehr, is to rejuvenate the D B A E curriculum to reflect \"a confluence o f academic content and studio activities within a secure and encouraging environment\" (pp. 197-198).  Post-modern Approaches to A r t Education This study is informed by the work o f Black feminist such as A i d o o (1984) hooks (1990), O y e w i i m i (1997) and Mohanty (1991). Feminist art education too is an outgrowth o f the women's movement and post-modernism. It deals with issues and topics relevant to feminism in the visual arts, taking place in formal classroom and alternative learning environments. Feminist art criticism, arthistory, aesthetics and art production have significant implications for the conception and implementation o f art education. In an effort to assert their legitimacy in the art world, feminists have been in the forefront in the development o f new methodologies and alternatives to art education (Collins &amp; Sandell, 1984; Gouma-Peterson &amp;  \u000C70 Mathews, 1987; Zimmerman, 1990). These researchers have set forth feminist approaches to art education and Collins (1981), Nadaner (1984), Garber (1990) and Hagaman (1990) have situated these position statements within the context o f feminist art criticism. Feminist researchers perceive gender as a basic organizing principle that profoundly mediates and shapes our understandings o f the world and art, both cognitively and emotionally. Therefore, feminist criticism has been directed toward correcting distortions, generating new theories and exploring alternative approaches to art education. For Frueh (1985), feminist inquiry serves both art criticism and art history \"by seeking knowledge about the overlooked meanings o f art; by examining our own unacknowledged assumptions and biases and those o f previous and contemporary art historians and critics; and by developing ways to write about art that w i l l serve as new models for art critical discourse\" (p. 41). In the formalist approach to art criticism from which D B A E derives its features, \"meaning is constituted by and gains its identity from, the language system o f the work\" (Nadaner, 1984, p. 21). Nadaner pointed out that this approach to art criticism, which builds on a careful description o f formal properties o f art is inadequate even when subjectivity is permitted. This is because it assumes that it is reasonable to apply universal formalist standards to the interpretation o f the aesthetic qualities o f an African mask, an Impressionist painting and a Byzantine icon without contextual and cultural considerations (Nadaner, 1984). The weakness in the formal approach to art criticism is that it does not consider the variety o f socio-cultural factors relevant to art interpretation. Feminists insist that we should always consider what criteria underlie decisions o f what counts as \"good\" art. To the feminist art critic, universal and objective criteria used for the evaluation o f art are non-existent due to different values, goals, interests and functions o f art (Garber, 1992, p. 213). Garber argued that: Evaluation accordingly must take place in a context that includes consideration o f cultural contexts in which the object is being evaluated. Contextual factors include the experiences, ideologies and taste o f the period in which the object was made and o f the person or group judging it. Feminists ask questions having to do with why painting is considered art while quilting is at best a \"mirror art\" or craft and why subjects o f war are valued above mother and child or flower paintings, (p. 213) Feminist art criticism discusses the dichotomy o f craft and art, a categorical split which excluded many female products from the latter designation. Such discussions characteristically do not fit within mainstream, formalist definitions o f art. Garber (1990) proposes a feminist approach to art criticism based  \u000C71 on contextual theory that recognizes art as a meaningful element of, and response to, culture and society. She argues that, feminist approaches allow the art critic: to analyze social systems and their representations o f women and minorities in the art world; to examine the political nature o f feminism itself; and to validate subjective experience and self knowledge as necessary for creating awareness among women. Feminist art critics have been influential in their shift toward exploration o f narrative in works o f art, as opposed to the modernist emphasis upon form. Unlike art historians who traditionally aim at objectivity by writing about various aspects o f an artist's life and career, or o f a particular period's aesthetic mentality, art critics write about the art o f their own time, more often than not, in a subjective manner (Frueh, 1985). The traditional art historical methodology answers questions about art: W h o made it? When? Where? H o w ? Feminist and post-modern art criticism, on the other hand, goes beyond these questions to examine the \" W h y s , \" which demand analyses o f social and conceptual contexts. It is a more inclusive activity, which pursues the acts o f recording, analysis and interpretation in new ways. Frueh (1985) argues that in the feminist approach to art criticism, the term art object does not make sense, because a subject-to-subject relationship replaces the standard subject to object relationship. This approach weaves the fabric o f it's content out o f the critic's subjective, psychological response to a work o f art. Aesthetic arguments raised by feminists are organized around female sensibility, or feminine aesthetics and the criteria for evaluation o f art. These issues form the foundation for structuring philosophical dialogue in the classroom. A search for a particular female aesthetic, most often referred to as female  sensibility, has occupied some feminist theoreticians o f literature and art. Collins (1981) defines  a female sensibility as \"a capacity or disposition o f female artist that is discernible in the personality o f that artist and which, i f evidencing itself in the artist's work, gives to it feminine characteristics\" (p. 84). This issue, like the concept o f female imagination in literature, has generated vigorous debate between female artists and art critics and eventually divided them into diverse ideological positions: those who are not w i l l i n g to make separate responses to works o f women; those who wish to create separate criteria for works done by women; and those who embrace diverse perspectives drawn from both the male art establishment and the female counter movement. The problem is whether the process and product o f the art making experience are different for women than for men. If so, is the origin biologically determined? Is  \u000C72 it purely socially constructed, or both? Advocates o f integrationist approaches to reform in art history and criticism challenge the validity o f the concept on the grounds that it perpetuates a negative stereotype and demonstrates a misunderstanding o f art activity. Collins (1981) stresses that \" i f this concept promises to give us access to reality but serves only to blind us to all perceptions which do not fit our prejudice, then it is not only useless, but dangerously unjust\" (p.85). The integrationist approach to feminist reform in art argues for the art teacher to expect and demand similar performance from students regardless o f gender. The separatists, those who believe in the existence o f an art unique to women, argue that women's political, biological and social experience is different from that o f men. The implication is that the art teacher should expect differences in interests, skills and attitudes to occur along the lines o f gender, but not to misconstrue the differences as indication o f inferiority or superiority o f one gender over another. A third model, evolving out o f the concept o f female sensibility is the pluralistic approach, which involves elements o f both integrationism and separatism. Zimmerman (1990) pointed out that, \" i n the pluralistic approach, gender differences in art are acknowledged but the concept o f two separate art worlds is not accepted. Inclusion o f female sensibilities, according to a pluralist, would enhance art learning for all students\" (p.2). A r t teachers in this context are expected to encourage individual differences and help all students develop a full range o f individual skills, attitudes and interests. Collins (1981) advocated that art teachers apply all three approaches in the classroom and engage in an ongoing critique o f values associated with art and women. Feminist art criticism is a political ideology. It should be understood not as another \"approach\" or a singular perspective, but as part o f a broader political struggle. It is fluid and ongoing, a means o f social action stressing alternatives to a patriarchal system o f art making, art history, art criticism and aesthetics so embedded in D B A E . It emphasized the relevance o f concepts such as class, sex, race and culture in respect o f the context in which art is created. The political ideology in feminist criticism drives the way methods are employed and the questions that are asked. T o fully understand the art world and provide inclusive curriculum, art teachers need to embrace feminist perspectives and broaden their choices to encompass personal, spiritual and socio-cultural functions o f art.  \u000C73  African Art and Multicultural Education The art o f Africa is like a great river that runs far, wide and deep. It reaches out and connects with other major art forms o f many cultures. Understanding its historical, cultural, environmental and its crosscultural and functions can enhance multicultural art education. Africa is a complex continent rich with many different people representing a wide variety o f cultures. A careful analysis o f African art w i l l shed some light on the political, economic and socio-cultural themes and characteristics that portray the image of cultural diversity as well as commonalities across cultures. Traditional African art is an instrument o f expression in which the socio-religious life o f the people is manifested and preserved from one generation to another. The realm o f African art can be classified into three hierarchical levels. On the lowest rank o f creation are the handicrafts: baskets, headrests, combs, smoking pipes, beadworks, divination objects, calabash bowls and other items o f utility, mostly the work o f hunters, gatherers and nomads. These are objects that reflect the socio-religious life o f the people but which are often judged by outsiders to be lacking substantive aesthetic worth. A t the next level are the masks and wooden sculptures, stools, musical instruments, paintings and the creations o f agriculturalists and villagers that inspired the PostImpressionists and Cubists. A t the apex are classic works such as the Benin bronze and ivory sculptures, Asante gold ornaments and cult objects (see Figures 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, &amp; 2.4 for sample pictures), the Great Zimbabwe architectural ruins and o f course ancient Egyptian and Nubian art, including the great pyramids and the sphinx (see Figure 2.8). Due to modernization and cultural evolution, contemporary African art and artists have taken a new character. The works o f leading African artists such as Ablade Glover and W i z Kudowor (Ghana), Austin Hleza and Margot Horn (Swaziland), Dada Qgam (Botswana), Elias Jengo (Tanzania), E l i m o Njau and Theresa Musoke (Kenya), Francis Musango (Uganda), Groupe Bogolan Kasobane (Mali), Penda Gueye (Senegal), Sfiso K a - M k a m e and Michael Miamane (South Africa), Tahir Bushra (Sudan), Tibebe Terffa (Ethiopia) and T o m y Ndebele (Zimbabwe), among others, boldly depict the ongoing evolution o f the African art experience using a variety o f artistic mediums with influences from Africa, Europe and elsewhere (Pollard, 1996). Some Western critics o f contemporary African art have often claimed that traditional art is the only true African art o f merit and that contemporary African art  \u000C74  F i g u r e 2.8  H e a d of the G r e a t S p h i n x ( A k h e t K h u f u ) and a P r y a m i d (2590 B . C . E . ) N o t e : F r o m Ei&gt;vpt the W o r l d o f [he Konemann  Verlagsgesellschalt.  P h a r a o h s (p. 74), b y R. S c h u l z a n d Ml. S e i d e l ( E d s . ) , I W 8 . G e r m a i n :  \u000C75  forms are not purely traditional and therefore are irrelevant (Pollard, 1996, p. 19). Ultimately, this attitude reveals considerable condescending ignorance and imperialistic arrogance. I f Western critics could not find anything wrong with Pablo Picasso, Matisse, Paul Simon and other European artists borrowing from Africa, why should African artists be confined to one cultural box or be represented through the eyes o f the Euro-Western critic? This is unacceptable because Africa, as a cultural entity, is evolving and so are its artists. It could be necessary to attempt to answer two crucial questions using the art o f sub-Saharan Africa as a focus for multicultural art education: W h y do people make art? What are the functions o f art? To respond to the above questions from a cross-cultural perspective, it w i l l be necessary to approach them in ways that acknowledge cultural diversity and, at the same time, celebrate what we have in common. A r t educators have a lot to learn from related disciplines o f anthropology and sociology i f we really want to advance the course o f multicultural art education. Judith B l a u (1988) argues that by focusing attention on the material and social conditions and functions that drive art production, sociologists o f art are able to advance their understanding o f why and how people make and use art. This approach w i l l be relevant to multicultural art education because it expands understanding and appreciation o f artistic productions from many cultures. African-centred art and knowledge can be integrated with other centred knowledge to achieve multicentric and inclusive education. Almost all visual art forms in traditional Africa are created for their utilitarian value. Their importance resides in their functions rather than their form. Some items are used to give prestige to nobility, to reinforce authority o f the king and to impress upon the commoner about the importance o f the court. Others are employed as a means to uphold or enforce social values. A certain mask, for instance, might be a status symbol, medal, certificate or an emblem o f rank. It might have the power to judge, or its presence might give authority in the meeting o f elders. It might be used for the collection taxes or entertainment. Some objects are purely utilitarian in function, such as boxes, baskets and containers or the heddle pulleys on traditional looms. The most important are the sculptural figures and masks used in religious ceremonies. Traditional African sculptural figures are used as points o f reference for contact with the ancestral world and as focal points for placating the guardian spirits o f the universe. Some are  \u000C76 employed as village guardian and special protectors o f pregnant women and people. Others are. mediums o f divination to foretell the future and communicate with the gods and ancestors. Sculptural figures permeate all aspect o f traditional life. They are present during entertainment as a source o f enrichment; during planting and harvest to enhance the fertility o f the land; during birth to ensure health and beauty o f children; during puberty and initiation ceremonies for the smooth transition o f the youths into the responsibilities o f adulthood; during marriage to ensure fertility o f the couple; and during deaths and funerals to ensure the smooth farewell and transition o f the departed to the underworld. Traditional African art objects usually are owned by individuals, groups, families, communities, religious cults and secret societies. Only a few may be owned by the entire tribe such as the Golden Stool o f the Ashanti o f Ghana. Masks on the other hand rarely belonged to individuals; they belonged to the collective group o f a religious cult, families and tribes.  African-centred Perspective on Gender and Multicultural Education Although attitudes towards gender are changing in contemporary African societies, many Black/African immigrants to Canada grew up in a cultural environment where people were socialized to believe that boys and girls were predestined to fulfill distinctly different roles in society. Certain forms o f masculinity, particularly ones that promoted \"machismo\" and chauvinism among boys, were sustained in the education system. The overarching effect o f male dominance in the colonial state became a legacy in post-independent Sub-Saharan Africa where women were virtually reduced to second-class citizens unfit to determine their own destinies. Formal education for boys in colonial and early post-colonial Africa was perceived to be a viable economic venture; one that could yield dividends, in the form o f economic security for parents in their old age (Adu-Poku, 2001). Females, generally, are socialized to internalize that marriage and procreation are what a woman was created for and that higher education was an unfortunate postponement o f her self-fulfilment (Aidoo, 1984). G r o w i n g up in Ghana, I witnessed the structural inequalities in the education system, and the unceasing discriminatory practices against females, within the family unit and society. When families with limited financial resources were confronted with decisions about which o f their children to educate, most  \u000C77 often, the men or fathers who had the final decision tended to favour boys over girls. Such decisions were grounded in prevailing patriarchal cultural discourse and the modern economy, which presented and socialized boys to take up roles as future husbands, breadwinners, leaders, decision makers, public/modern sector workers, craftsmen, soldiers and politicians, with girls as future wives, mothers, petty traders, farm workers, and domestic workers. The socio-political milieus in most African societies forced women into economic dependence and domestic servitude. A t an early age, I was initiated into the cult o f male chauvinism. A s a boy, 1 enjoyed many privileges that my social position afforded. Unlike my sisters who were overburdened with household responsibilities, I enjoyed continuous support and motivation from my parents toward my studies at home and school. M y parents demonstrated clearly their interests in their sons' educational achievement over their daughters', even though the girls spent much o f their time and energies generating extra income to supplement family resources. Ultimately, while my brother and I managed to pursue higher education, my sisters terminated their education after graduating from secondary school. M y family's experience o f sexism is not a unique one. It is a common experience in many African families. Until quite recently, official policies, written and unwritten served to reinforce the colonial tradition o f male dominance in the educational and political spheres. The educational system was deeply entrapped in gendered colonial histories, despite attempts to transform it toward a more neutral identity. The famous quotation from K w e g y i r Aggrey: \" I f you educate a man, you educate an individual. If you educate a woman, you educate a nation\" (Aidoo, 1984, p. 259) evidently points to the fact that some individuals perceived formal education as the answer to the limitations o f the untrained mind, and to the problem o f female subordination in society. The disadvantage o f females in formal education in most African states has engendered women's continuous subordination and lack o f access to resources in the postcolonial era. While I acknowledge my privileges and power under such a system, I critically interrogate prevailing patriarchal discourses o f Africentric theory and practice. I reject the lure o f hegemonic male domination entrenched in patriarchal culture and colonial legacies. This is because colonization played a major role in the subversion o f gender systems and relations rooted in ancient African traditions.  \u000C78  Colonial custom and practice evolved from a worldview which believes in the absolute superiority o f the colonizer over the colonized, the masculine over the feminine,  and the modern or progressive over  the traditional or the so-called \"primitive.\" T w o social categories that emanated from Western philosophical thought were the 'men o f reason' (the thinker) and the 'women o f the body' (Oyewumi, 1997). Feminists, both from Africa and the West view gender as a social construction and therefore repudiate Eurocentric male articulations o f gender. Gender was not the foundational social thought and identity among many African societies (i.e., the Akans o f Ghana, Zulus in southern Africa, and Ondo Yorubas o f Nigeria) (Arhin, 1983; Oyewumi, 1997). Nevertheless, due to imperialism, this debate, or 'the women question,' has been universalized and uncritically imposed on African cultures making it difficult for Black/African males and females to reclaim their traditional roles and relations with one another; relations grounded on indigenous principles o f reciprocity, mutual respect, community and group unity. In Africa today many women are increasingly being empowered to assert their rights to selfdetermination in the midst o f structural inequalities in society. They are claiming their own voices and spaces from which they could speak with people who make the policies that affect their health, education, economic and personal development. The pressure continues to mount on the male dominated governments in Africa to ensure gender equity by yielding some privileges men have inherited from oppressive colonial legacies and oppressive cultural practices in Africa. In the Western world, however, the intersection o f race, class and cultural histories, as well as the common experiences o f racism has led many Black women to see Black men as allies toward a collective struggle against racism rather than as perpetrators o f patriarchal domination. B y analyzing African societies through Western gendered perspectives, Western feminists and other scholars have largely ignored the fact that gender categories in many African societies are neither pre-cultural nor fixed in historical time and cultural space. Social and artistic roles in traditional African societies were differentiated and gendered, but not in ways that produced marked inequalities and subordination. Women and men worked together as partners with their roles complementing each other. Nevertheless, certain social and religious prohibitions limited both women and men from participation in certain art making ventures. In African cosmology, deities are linked with human safety and security, as well as fertility o f the earth, crops, animals and humans. To  \u000C79 make the deities accessible and channel their vital force for the benefit o f humans, artistic objects and rituals are employed to venerate and cultivate the powers o f benevolent spirits. A m o n g the Akans o f Ghana for instance, a woman in her menses is considered \"unclean,\" for religious reasons; therefore, she is restricted from engaging in certain sacred and mundane activities. Since kente weaving, adinkra cloth printing and woodcarving, like the ancient Egyptians and Nubians, owned their conception to the demands created by the king's court and priestly class, women were excluded from those sacred art forms. This is because o f the belief that menstrual blood, among other things, could defile or offend the ancestral spirits and the gods, thereby bringing calamity upon society. Sons and nephews learned the art o f stone- and wood-carving, metal smiting, leather tanning and weaving from their father and uncle. Older women in their menopause could, however, spin cotton into thread, make embroidered fabrics, and in some cases weave because they posed no threat to the gods. O n the other hand, pottery making has been the inherited legacy o f women. Religious taboos restrict men from traditional pottery making. Until recently, an entire family o f young women could become potters after being apprenticed by their parents from childhood. A g a i n , religious taboos prohibit women from producing figurative pottery and highly ornamented designs. However, with modernization and cultural evolution, some traditional customs are gradually being modified giving way to the participation o f both genders. Women are increasingly participating in roles that were traditionally designated for men and vice versa. Westernization has led to the production o f hybrid products from technical or formal institutions and industries, thereby eliminating the need to rely on traditional techniques and practices. Since most formal art institutions in Africa are founded on European models, the art disciplines tend to be elitist and male centred. W h i l e the fine arts (i.e., painting and sculpture) have been male dominated, women have found more expression in the utilitarian arts (i.e., textiles and pottery/ceramics). M o s t immigrants arrive in Canada with a mindset grounded in their home culture, which may conflict with Canadian cultural practices. Cultural incongruence between the home and school environments creates conflict for some Black children and their parents as they try to adjust to the new realities.  \u000C80 The African Cosmological Concept. African art is conceptual. It represents ideas drawn from the philosophy o f their worldview. It is interwoven with the fabric o f everyday life in ways quite different from most Western art. To explore the arts o f Africa, it w i l l be essential to understand the underlying philosophy behind the concept o f African Cosmology. African cosmological concept is a worldview that attempts to theorize the origin and nature o f the universe and humans place in it. Although there are slight variations in this concept, it is a general belief in traditional sub-Saharan Africa that the visible and invisible worlds are under the control o f a hierarchy o f supernatural beings and elements - humans, animals, inanimate objects, spiritual beings and so forth - who are interconnected and interdependent (Bell et al., 1990). This could be illustrated on a triangular analogy as shown in Figure 2.9. There is no separation between the spiritual and the material, substance and form. One realizes that one is a part o f an extended family: ancestors, the unborn, the Supreme Being (God) and nature. Therefore, to destroy one component o f the web o f cosmic elements is to destroy the entire universe, even the creator. The continuity from material to spiritual is the universal basis o f the Africentric viewpoint. In addition, the idea o f balanced ecology and o f being one with the environment is further expression o f the African cosmic beliefs. C o s m i c beliefs provide the background for African culture including art, customs and behaviour. Traditional African societies realize that there is a cosmic rhythm operating on different levels other than their own. These elements engage in continuous struggle for control over the universe. Humans are situated at the centre o f the earth, the presumed battleground o f the spirits. Therefore, benevolent spirits must be obeyed and venerated to reciprocate their protection o f humans against malicious powers. The Supreme Being charges the benevolent forces with the responsibility o f seeking human's welfare and protection, but they offer their blessings on contractual basis. They can withdraw their protection when provoked or violated. This could bring about premature death, natural disaster, barrenness and diseases. Humans therefore, placed at the centre o f these spiritual struggles, are fundamentally driven to use artefacts to objectify and contain the intangible spirits. Shrines are built as a means o f concentrating their powers in times o f worship. Worship involves the use o f magic and ritualistic art forms that serve as receptacles o f the spirits and vehicles o f psychic force. Africans  \u000C81  Figure 2.9  The African Cosmological Concept (Supreme Being, Creator, Sustainer o f the universe, Giver o f destiny, Immortal. Generally not represented in art) GOD  (Spirits o f the dead-  (Non-human spirits,  kings, chiefs, queen-  ministers o f the Supreme Being charged  mothers, family elders,  with special functions.  respectable and success-  Habitation: trees, rain,  ful individuals, heroes  thunder, lightening,  and heroines whose  sculpture, etc. They can  deaths were considered  influence one's destiny.  satisfactory. They are  They are usually repre-  represented in art  sented in art)  forms)  L o w e r Forces  Animals, Vegetation, Inorganic Matter, Nature  (Habitation: monsters, dwarfs, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic spirits, elephants, witches, sorcerers, diviners, forest, grassland, trees, air, sun, moon, rivers, streams, sea, lakes, rocks and mountains)  \u000C82  venerate their ancestors, pay homage to and appease the spirits in order to ensure security, survival, continuity and balance o f the family and society. The African cosmological concept and basic beliefs about human safety engage the African in complex magico-religious rituals involving the use o f all kinds o f artefacts. Religion, indeed, runs like a silver thread in African art and thus tends to become the real inspiration o f the craftsperson.  Artistic Criticism and Aesthetics o f African A r t The criteria forjudging quality and creativity in African art vary slightly from society to society, but many common characteristics could be identified. The traditional African uses both language and art as primarily an expressive means o f symbolic communication. In this sense, art becomes a vital mode o f symbolism o f culture. The African artists never lose contact with nature. In their subjective approach to life, they demonstrate their links with nature and the forces that activate it. Sculpture is the index o f African art. It is an expression o f force and movement revealed in human beings and nature. The artist does not create because o f any feeling o f a need to express herself/himself, but in order to produce some useful objects. Objects are made not as art in the Western sense, though valid systems o f aesthetics lie behind them, but as implements o f the socio-religious life o f the people in which art enhances status, reinforces authority, expresses spiritual values and, in the most intimate way, confirms life itself. The most beautiful work o f art may well just be thrown away or destroyed after it has been \"used,\" a fate that countless masks and figures have suffered. Generally, African wood sculptures display characteristics that include abstraction, stylization, rhythm, three-dimensional quality, static and erect posture, monochrome and decorative, restrained gesture, symmetry and frontalilty. In Yoruba land, for instance, a fine sculpture should neither be too real nor excessively abstract. F u l l , well-finished organic details are necessary. The art o f cicatrisation is o f paramount importance. It identifies ones lineage and was a mark o f civilization. Euphemism (depicting people in their prime o f life) is a necessary artistic criterion and is portrayed by a careful application o f round shapes. Angular shapes depicted old age. A m o n g the Luba o f Zaire, the Dogons and the Bamana people o f M a l i , however, images are stylized with interplay o f angular and round forms to produce rhythm.  \u000C83  Generally, all African human figure sculpture in wood follows the Proportion of Significance or the Relative African Proportion. The parts o f the body viewed as the most important, are given the greatest attention and subsequently exaggerated in sculpture. The head, which is the seat o f wisdom, is enlarged. The breast, navel and sometimes the sexual organs are all exaggerated to show their importance. Hands, fingers and feet are often rudimentarily treated because they are less significant or because o f limitations o f the wood from which they are carved. Similarly, in other artistic depictions, individuals are presented according to their rank in society with kings, chiefs, clan heads and spiritual figures given pre-eminence. There is immense stylization involving the use o f geometric volumes, broad planes, linear and plastic rhythms, angularity and roundness, abstraction, balance and symmetry that offsets any notion that African art lacks creativity and aesthetic qualities. Although we can identify some common characteristics o f African art, the multiplicity o f stylistic variations is enough to show the extent to which the artists kept innovating and changing designs to suit local contexts, beliefs, philosophies and purposes for which a work was made. Before the beginning o f the twentieth century, Europeans were baffled by the arts o f Africa because they defied the Western standard and notions o f beauty. M a n y Western art critics, in their ethnocentric views, derogatively referred to the art forms in Africa as primitive and childlike (cited from Jacknis, 1976 and Chalmers, 1992). A r t was viewed from the context o f Western aesthetics and isolated from the cultural and environmental factors that have influenced their creation. During the early part o f the century, however, Western artists such as Derain, V l a m i n c k , Picasso, Braque and Matisse contributed in projecting the works o f native African artists as an important branch o f world art. Picasso endeavoured to familiarize Westerners with the aesthetics o f African sculpture by translating into his paintings the African use o f distortion in sculpture. The principles o f African art were then applied to European painting and sculpture and the outcome was Cubism which was a radical development in Western art history. The Austrian artist, Gustav K l i m t and the German artist, Paul Klee also found inspiration from the symbolic and decorative patterns o f central Africa. A r t critics may evaluate by using visual comparisons, but it is not useful or valid to compare aesthetic qualities from different cultures using only Western standards. A r t educators need to recognize  \u000C84 that all cultures have definitions o f quality and can point out examples o f their own art that are excellent, mediocre and poor. M o r e recently, African art has undergone tremendous transformation due to acculturation. Styles and concepts from other cultures have been borrowed and utilized to meet the needs of new clients. Similarly, non-Africans have increasingly been producing art works with African characteristics. The dynamics o f cultural borrowing demonstrate an inherent connection among humans and their cultures and art teachers need to stress this connection in multicultural art education.  Cross-cultural Functions o f A r t Sociologists (Anderson, 1990; Blau, 1988) and the art historian (Dissanayake, 1992) suggest that all groups need and use art for the purposes o f identity, continuity and change and to enhance their cultural values and that, art exists across cultures for gnoseological (spiritual), hedonistic and recreational purposes. W o l f f (1981) argues that many people are involved in the production o f any work o f art because sociological and ideological factors affect the artist's work, and that audiences and \"readers\" are all active participants in the creation o f art. In traditional African societies, artists rarely claimed ownership o f what they had produced. Their identities were greatly influenced by the society in which they lived. Chalmers (1996) points out that the cross-cultural similarities in the roles o f artists, patrons, groups and publics need to be studied in multicultural art education. For example the cultural contexts in which images are erected in youths initiation camps in Africa or in which totem poles are executed and raised in a First Nations community in Pacific Northwest might be compared with a story o f the creation o f an altarpiece in medieval Europe or with the erection o f contemporary sculpture in a modern city. It is the job o f art educators to assist students to investigate those understandings and purposes. A r t for Life: Traditional African art was closely connected with the cycle of life. The importance o f life to Africans can be seen in the rich variety o f artefacts they make to inaugurate the Rites of Passage birth, puberty, marriage and death; to usher in the fishing, hunting and agricultural seasons; and in the service o f religion. The Dogon and Bamana people o f M a l i , Ashantis o f Ghana, Baule and Senefu people of Cote d'lvoire, Dinkas o f Sudan, Bakongos o f Congo, Luba and Mangbetu people on Zaire, Yorubas o f Nigeria, to mention a few, have creation myths about the origin o f the first birth and life. Across Africa,  \u000C85 fertility figures, couple sculptures, masks and magic sculptures are made to serve procreative, therapeutic, protective and religious functions in rites associated with birth and death. A r t for life and in the service o f religion is a cross-cultural concept. V i s u a l arts are used in places o f worship to enhance religious beliefs and enrich life. M c F e e (1986) indicates that, in all cultures, art is used to objectify by making beliefs and superstitions more sensuously tangible, so that they can be seen and felt. A r t and the Rites o f Passage: In most African cultures, both the transition between childhood and adulthood (initiation) and the transition between death and the afterlife were significant events celebrated by ceremonies called rites of passage. These consisted of three stages: separation, seclusion and re-birth. A variety o f artistic objects were employed during these ceremonies and rituals to educate and prepare members o f the society for these major changes. M a g i c sculptures and charms are employed to induce fertility among the barren. A n Ashanti woman from Ghana might carry an Akuaba doll to solicit a beautiful and healthy child. The Bakongos o f Zaire place aSimbu figure in their huts as soon as a woman begins labour to induce easy labour and delivery. The Yoruba o f Nigeria have the Ibeji figures to protect the souls o f twin children. Education o f the child was a community affair conducted informally through stories and participation o f daily activities and ceremonies. During initiation rites, the youths were educated to understand life and the universe. Images o f gods, ancestors and cultural heroes were erected in some initiation camps where the initiates learned the laws, traditions, histories and the secrets o f their tribes, groups and societies. A m o n g the Fons o f Benin and Akans o f Ghana, the initiates are provided with special woven clothes (kente) and stools carved for the initiation. A m o n g the Bapendes o f Zaire, the masks worn by the youths are thrown away to mark the end o f adolescence and entry into adulthood. Since death is believed to be associated with supernatural causes, traditional Africans consult shrines o f gods and their ancestors to verify the spiritual cause o f one's death. A m o n g the A k a n s o f Ghana, there are special mourning and funerals cloths popularly known as adinkra (farewell) cloth. A m o n g the Egungun and Gelede secret societies o f Nigeria and in Cameroon, masks are worn during funeral ceremonies. Masks, statues, effigy pots and reliquary figures are also associated with funeral rites and ancestral cults. In Western societies, the transition o f a child to adulthood might be signalled by a high school or college graduation, confirmation in a church or a special birthday celebration. The death o f a person would be  \u000C86 observed with a wake, funeral or other ritual. M c F e e (1986) posits that, in all cultures, art enhances and is used to enrich celebration and ritual in human events. The study o f different holidays and festivals is one way to show students that, across cultures, many types o f art are used to celebrate and enrich major cultural events. A r t for Nature and Social W e l l - B e i n g : In many African communities, art was employed to ensure that the community was safe, peaceful and well fed (Chanda, 1993). In parts o f West Africa, agricultural seasons are still inaugurated with festivals using masks, statues, hunting and fishing images, songs and dances to ensure successful hunting and a bumper harvest. Certain art forms were used to protect people from negative forces and to maintain law and order in society. M a s k s served as status symbols and emblems o f rank. The wearing o f a mask could confer on the wearer the power to act as a tax collector, a lawyer, a judge, a priest or the head o f a funeral ceremony. With the advent o f modern ideas, as well as the influence o f Christianity and Islam, many o f the artefacts have lost their social significance. Art as an Element o f Culture: The works o f art created in Africa make it possible for us to learn about and understand the people in that continent, their histories, values and beliefs. The artist did not only delight our aesthetic senses but also provided objects with many socio-cultural functions. The use o f art, both to perpetuate and change cultural values, is a universal phenomenon (Chanda, 1993). A pluralistic and multicultural approach to art should assist art educators and students to understand not only different types o f art but also their connection to specific cultural contexts. Therefore, rather than a mere exposure to techniques and materials from other cultures, art educators need to probe into why different individuals and cultures create, acquire, protect, commission, display, admire, steal, destroy, become advocates for and ignore art (Chalmers, 1996). A r t for Recreation and Aesthetic Enhancement: Educators, overall, have caused much harm to learners by equating art with recreation and with a limited understanding o f aesthetics rather than by viewing art from a socio-anthropological standpoint. This dominant perspective, unfortunately, has contributed to the neglect o f many other important functions o f art. The cross-cultural concept o f art as aesthetic enhancement has not been sufficiently translated into curriculum in multicultural art education. For many years, art has been used in all societies to decorate and enhance the environment. Public  \u000C87 sculptures, murals architecture and many objects are designed to beautify the environment and enrich life. In many African communities, places o f importance such as palaces, clubhouses, shrines and temples were beautified with wall decorations made o f paintings, engraved patterns, symbols and designs. Across cultures, nobles adorned themselves with rich artefacts in the form o f clothing, jewellery and other special objects. L i k e all other cultures, Africans produce a variety o f musical instruments for entertainment and recreation. In contemporary societies, people may visit museums, galleries and movie theatres for recreational purposes. A r t for Socio-political Power and Status: In all societies, people use art to show their personal wealth and social status. M a n y Africans believe that success or failure in life is determined both by destiny and attitude. A close bond to the spirit world through veneration and divination is not only a security against diseases, poverty and spiritual attacks, but also a means for establishing personal power and social status. Objects o f empowerment included shrines, masks, statues, charms, amulets and talismans. The possession o f these items could constitute a visible sign o f wealth and status in society. African traditional rulers are especially known to use art to show their wealth and power. A king's court may be surrounded by richly crafted objects o f adornment such as thrones, stools, palanquins, umbrellas, ceremonial staffs and swords, textiles with elaborate designs and jewellery o f gold and silver. A m o n g the Akans o f Ghana, it might conveniently be stated that without the stool there might be no chieftaincy; for it is a well known fact that to capture a c h i e f s stool at wartime is to bring an end to the sovereignty o f the chiefdom whose stool is seized. Similarly, the Golden Stool o f Ghana is believed to hold the souls o f all Ashantis, the loss o f which w i l l bring doom to the ethnic group. In Western societies, people may acquire or collect artefacts for personal wealth. It may also have some special correlation to social status. Berger (1972) has shown that, from the time o f the Renaissance, a relationship has existed between personal wealth or social status and the possession and display o f European o i l paintings. A r t and the Economy: Across cultures, art objects have always been valued for their economic worth. Since subsistence agriculture is a major occupation in Africa, artefacts are employed in the rites that foster increase in agricultural produce. Some magic sculptures are used to bring about wealth and economic prosperity. In Africa, art forms produced for trade ranged from embroidered cloth, printed and  \u000C88 dyed fabrics, woven cotton, silk and raffia, household baskets, beads, pottery, musical instruments, metal implements, ivory, wood sculpture, gold jewellery and cowry shells. Africans traded among themselves and with the Arabs before the arrival o f the Europeans. After the arrival o f the Portuguese in the fifteenth century, the Europeans traded with West Africa for gold, ivory and African artworks. In almost every country, tourist art has been promoted for its cultural, educative or economic value. Today, the demand for tourist art in Africa is so high that art objects are made under assembly line conditions. A theme approach to the study o f the functions and role o f art in sub-Saharan Africa has many implications for curriculum in multicultural art education. I f art educators became sensitive to, and aware o f the cross-cultural functions o f art, they w i l l be able to make the subject more meaningful and relevant to a greater variety o f students who cannot easily assimilate into the Euro-Western culture. Although ethnocentric traditions have limited our vision and understandings o f art, the realities o f today demand that we pay enough attention to the why o f art. This is a challenge in multicultural art education. Chalmers (1996) stresses that our culture-bound aesthetic preferences should not restrict the universality o f our approaches to the study o f art. \" W e need to move beyond our own preferences\" (p. 28).  Summary of Review of the Literature This study grows from issues raised in the literature that have been more often called for than resolved in multicultural education. In order to predict where Black/African-Canadian learners are heading, it is imperative to understand the context o f where they have been. The socio-historical context o f Black/African-Canadian learners in Canada provides a backdrop for understanding their educational realities, as well as the need for alternative education models that are more inclusive o f other cultural groups. The literature review revealed many factors that have implications for the effective education o f people o f colour, and for visual arts and multicultural education. These include: the persistent barrier to Black/African-Canadian participation and attainments in the education system; the absence o f research which specifically addresses the education o f Black/African-Canadian children in British Columbia; the gap between policy and promise o f multicultural education and the socio-political realities o f Black/African-Canadian learners; multiplicity o f approaches and ambiguity in multicultural curriculum  \u000C89 theory and practice; and the predominance o f European cultural hegemony in art education and the education system in general. These themes and issues have generated discussions, among Africentric scholars, about alternative paradigms that would foster understanding o f the cultural realities o f African peoples, both from the continent and the diaspora. They also reinforce the demand for the education system to explore the art and cultural knowledge o f ethnic groups that form the mosaic o f Canadian society.  \u000C90  CHAPTER THREE  A F R I C E N T R I C I T Y AND A R T E D U C A T I O N Scholars o f Africa and the diaspora have long sought new and alternative theoretical frameworks that would afford a fuller insight into the cultural realities o f African peoples and the dynamic processes unfolding in the continent. One o f the most intellectually stimulating and innovative concepts that has emerged in the scholarship on African peoples within the last three decades is \"Africentricity\" (Afrocentricity). Africentricity means placing African ideals at the centre o f our approach to problem solving or, any analysis that involves African culture and behaviours (Asante, 1987). Africentrists seek to regain control o f African culture, art, history and scholarship, which have experienced centuries o f epistemic violence through the legacies o f slavery, colonization and the hegemony o f Eurocentric scholarship. The Africentric conceptual framework influences my theoretical perspective. The underlying assumption in this study is that students o f African descent are in a stronger position to learn i f they are placed at the centre or in their \"own space\" rather than in a \"borrowed space\" or the margin o f Eurocentric curricula. In order to understand the Africentric project, it is first necessary to analyze and review Eurocentrism and its historical manifestations in modernity. A n awareness o f the intellectually debilitating effects o f the Eurocentric legacy forms an indispensable backdrop for understanding the contemporary debates about Africentricity and multicultural art education.  Critique of Eurocentrism in Art Education Broadly speaking, Eurocentrism refers to an ideology or body o f myths, symbols, ideas and practices that exclusively or predominantly values the worldview, existence and cultural manifestations (e.g., history, politics, art, language, music, literature, technology, economics, etc.) o f people o f European origin and that devalues and subordinates the cultural manifestations o f people from all other lands o f origin. Eurocentrism, like Renaissance perspective in painting, envisions the world from a single privileged point, attributing to the \"West\" an almost providential sense o f historical destiny. It centralizes and augments Europe in our understanding and practices o f art education, art history and the entire art  \u000C91 establishment, while literally marginalizing the rest o f the world. Eurocentrism organizes everyday language into binalistic hierarchies implicitly flattering to Europe: our \"nation,\" their \"tribes\"; our \"religions,\" their \"superstitions\"; our \"culture,\" their folklore\"; our \"art,\" their \"crafts\"; our \"defence,\" their \"terrorism\" (Stam &amp; Shohat, 1994). The word \"Eurocentric\" is sometimes taken as a synonym for \"racist.\" But although these two words are historically intertwined, they are in no way equal, for the simple reason that Eurocentrism is pervasive in our educational systems, the media and in the general consciousness o f our modern world. Despite its normative character, it is quite possible for both Europeans and non-Europeans to contest its oppressive aspects and still accept Eurocentrism in its non-hegemonic forms. For this reason, the critique o f Eurocentrism is directed not to individuals per se, but to oppressive institutions and historically configured relations o f power embedded in Western discourses. For centuries, Western Eurocentric thought has dominated our understanding and evaluation o f art, yet art has continued to be created throughout the diverse cultures o f the world. The theoretical underpinnings o f Eurocentrism in art education, and in schooling in general, could be traced to some o f the classical texts o f Western philosophy and science such as the writings o f Immanuel Kant, David Hume, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Carl M a r x , Georg W i l h e i m Friedrich Hegel and Charles Darwin. Although, there are points o f divergence in the narratives o f these classical Western theorists, they converge on their appraisal o f European modernity as the real in contrast to the unreality o f human existence in the nonEuropean world and on what is termed as the \"fulfilment o f all humanity\" (Lyotard, 1992). The imperialistic policy o f extension o f European authority, influence, power, domination over other people and territories was the driving force o f European modernity. Kant, the father o f foundationist epistemology sought to replace traditions, myths and religion with formal logic, reasoning and science as the focus o f modernity. According the modernist theory, \"universal freedoms\" and \"the fulfilment o f all humanity\" require us to look to humanity as a whole, not as it shows itself in all its diversity and amplitude. Furthermore, this universal fulfilment must be mediated through European historicity (Lyotard, 1989). This idea is in contrast to multiculturalism which stresses inclusiveness and views the world from different cultural perspectives. The idea o f European superiority has its roots from the Renaissance and flourished during the  \u000C92 eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It became the centrepiece o f the European Enlightenment, as well as the colonialist project o f global subjugation and expansion. Colonization per se is not a new phenomenon, having been practiced by ancient empires like the Aztecs, Greek, Incas, O l d K i n g d o m o f Ghana and ancient Egypt. What is peculiar in European colonialism is its global reach, its affiliation with institutional power, its imperative mode and its attempted submission o f the world to a single \"universal\" regime o f truth and power (Stam &amp; Shohat, 1994, p. 297). In its global invasion and subjugation, European modernity discovered the unreality o f myriad non-capitalist social formations and non-European democratic traditions which it violently shattered and replaced with its own replication o f itself in what it termed as \"an air o f normality\" (Serequeberhan, 1997). European imperialists' occupation o f Africa, for instance, destroyed the political structures o f the well-established kingdoms o f Ashanti, Benin and Z u l u , including the state-supported rich art traditions. In establishing colonial control, the traditional courts or palaces o f Ashanti, Benin and Z u l u , once the largest consumer o f local art was scattered, the Asantehene exiled, the Oba deposed and Chaka annihilated respectively. A s Achebe (1959) puts it, with the advent o f European colonialism \"things fall apart.\" The African's mode o f life, his indigenous habitat o f human existence, was displaced by the violence o f the \" c i v i l i z i n g mission.\" Cultural treasures, most o f which were already considered antiquities were plundered causing the indigenous culture to slip into an irrevocable artistic decline. In Benin City alone, 3,000 pieces o f valuable bronze and ivory works o f art were pillaged during the British \"punitive expedition\" o f 1897 (Nevadomsky, 1997) (see Figures 2.1, 2.2, &amp; 2.3). This normality, which obscures the limitations o f Western socio-political traditions, is grounded on an idea, which dignifies pure force with arguments drawn from science, morality, ethics and a general philosophy. The \"general philosophy\" that glorifies European existence as the true human existence has been passed on from Kant to Hagel, Lyotard, M a r x , Darwin and to generations o f European philosophers, scholars and art educators. In exorcizing \"the half devil and half c h i l d \" or \"savages\" o f their \"malignant\" cultures, European civilization became both the standard and the model by which this so-called deficiency o f non-Europeans is recognized and remedied. Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens and a host o f racist hardliners for instance, saw the extinction o f the so-called \"lower races\" as desirable and good for humanity (Brantlinger, 1990). N o doubt, European slavery and colonialization represented truly horrific chapters o f  \u000C93 the history o f humanity. Stam and Shohat (1994) point out that: Eurocentrism minimizes the West's oppressive practices by regarding them as contingent, accidental and exceptional. Western colonialism, slave trading and imperialism are not seen as fundamental causes o f the West's disproportionate power. Eurocentrism appropriates the cultural and material production o f non-Europeans while denying their achievements and its own appropriation, thus consolidating its sense o f self and glorifying its own cultural anthropology. In sum, Eurocentrism sanitizes Western history [and art] while patronizing and even demonizing the non-West; it thinks o f itself in terms o f its noblest achievements - science, progress, humanism but o f the non-West in terms o f its deficiencies, real or imagined, (pp. 297-298) In conventional treatments o f Western history, the sting o f Euro-Western oppression and colonialism is softened by the portrayal o f Black/Africans and non-Europeans as the beneficiaries o f a benevolent civilizing on the part o f Whites. In this way, a disgraceful part o f Euro-Western history is distorted and romanticized. The deconstruction critique o f the \"master script\" which serves as the foundation o f Western art and philosophy is a basic critical task in the discourse o f Africentricity. During the Enlightenment, colour prejudice was strong, even among highly influential and educated Europeans. The famous Scottish philosopher, David Hume, wrote in an essay published in 1742: I am apt to suspect the Negroes and in general all other species o f men (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior to Whites. There never was a civilized nation o f any other complexion than white, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation. N o ingenious manufactures amongst them, no arts, no sciences . . . Such a uniform and constant difference could not happen in so many countries and ages, i f nature had not made an original distinction between these breeds o f men. (in Popkin, 1973, pp. 245-246) A l s o , in Observations  of the Feeling of the Sublime, Kant (1784), who is often acknowledged as the  founder o f modern aesthetics, provides a categorical response to the critical question o f whose humanity was at stake in the Enlightenment project. Kant unequivocally affirms that: The Negroes o f Africa have by nature no feeling that rises above the trifling . . . among the hundreds o f thousands o f blacks who are transported elsewhere from their countries, although many o f them have even been set free, still not a single one was ever found who presented anything great in art or science or any other praise-worthy quality, even though among the whites some continually rise aloft from the lowest rabble and through superior gifts earn respect in the world. So fundamental is the difference between these two races o f man and it appears to be as great in regard to mental capacities as in colour, (pp. 110-11)  It is not only the \"Negroes o f A f r i c a \" that Kant mocks in this manner, but also all non-Europeans including Arabs, Persians, Japanese, Chinese, Indians and the \"savages\" o f North America. Nevertheless, Blacks stood at the highest point o f his negative pinnacle, precisely because o f their colour. A l s o , Kant  \u000C94 underplayed the implications o f being \"transported elsewhere\" from one's native country (i.e., the experience o f African enslavement) when he compares the level o f achievement o f the subjugator with the subjugated. Language and words are powerful tools in racial discourses and stereotypes. For it was not by accident that Caucasians o f fair complexion came to be constructed as Whites, Asians as Y e l l o w , Native Americans as Red and Africans o f darker complexion as Blacks. Race science and its classification coincided with European imperialist and Enlightenment project that sought to subjugate the rest o f the world and establish white supremacy during the 17 and 18 centuries. From a Eurocentric standpoint, and th  th  from the standpoint o f race science, \"whiteness\" and Caucasian/White people connote purity, moral uprightness and positive values. It is a location o f structural advantage, o f race privilege. O n the lower end o f the colour hierarchies, \"blackness\" and people o f darker complexion became associated with negative connotations. They were constructed as uncivilized, violent and threatening to Whites. This was an inversion o f reality, and a rationale for repression and control; for Blacks and people o f colour had far more reasons to be fearful o f Europeans, whose histories are characterized by structural violence and oppression through slavery and colonization. In view o f overwhelming scientific evidence that shatters the notion o f the existence o f race in morphological terms (e.g., Appiah, 1992; Gould, 1996), it is worth noting how Kant recognizes a \"fundamental\" \"difference\" and correlates \"mental capacities\" to the \"colour\" o f \"these two races.\" Serequeberhan (1997) points out that Kant was well aware o f the faulty character o f the empirical travel literature and information about non-Europeans that was available to him. For example, Kant's review o f the \"Ideas for a Philosophy o f M a n k i n d \" in 1785 states that: \" W o r k i n g with a mass o f descriptions dealing with different lands, it is possible to prove, i f one cares to do so . . . that [Native] Americans' and Negroes' . . . natural potentialities are on the same level as those o f any other inhabitants o f the planet\" (in Beck, 1963, p. 47). N o w then, why should Kent ignore the above and be so categorical in his negative and inaccurate evaluation o f non-Europeans? A s Kant himself tells us, what is at stake here is the making o f \"natural distinctions\" and \"classifications based on hereditary colorization.\" A l s o , like the conquest o f Native Indians and others, the enslavement o f the African required a rationalizing ideology. The starting  \u000C95 point was for the perpetrators to define Africans as inferior. Therefore, any information that presented contrary evidence to the notion o f existence o f race or African inferiority was discounted. It is ironic to learn that some o f the European cultural figures most revered today condemned European colonialism themselves. For instance, Samuel Johnson, an archetype o f the neoclassical conservative, wrote in his World Displayed o f 1759 that, \"Europeans have scarcely visited any coast but to gratify avarice and extend corruption; to arrogate dominion without right and practice cruelty without incentive\" (quoted from Green, 1977, p. 421). Yet, contemporary multiculturalists and Africentrists are often viciously attacked for making the same points. Nearly a century after Kant, the notion o f white supremacy and the idea o f Europe as the centre o f everything continued to be nourished in art education literature. In Europe at the end o f the 19 century, th  African and Pacific artworks were regarded as ethnographic curiosities. In 1876, Zerffi who taught art history and produced art education texts for nineteenth century British art teachers, propagated the dubious assumptions that the \"Negro's reasoning faculty is very limited and his imagination slow. He cannot create beauty, for he is indifferent to any ideal conception. He possesses only 75 - 83 Vi cubic inches o f brain\" (pp. 23-24). L i k e his predecessors, Zerffi (1876) describes the White man as: the crowning product o f the cosmical forces o f nature. To him exclusively we owe art in its highest sense . . . He surpasses the other . . . group o f humanity, not only in technical skill, but especially in inventive and reasoning power, critical discernment, purity o f artistic taste. The white man alone has produced idealized masterpieces in sculpture and painting, (in Chalmers, 1992, p.135) Numerous books and articles have been written about the arts o f Africa, including the European encounter with the civilizations o f the African N i l e valley (Egypt and Nubia), Zimbabwe architectural ruins and stone sculpture, Benin bronze and ivory art, Ashanti gold ornaments and others which refute Zerffi's assertion. In fact, the discovery o f ancient Nubian art, as well as Benin art and material culture confounded many Europeans due to their sheer technical mastery. To this day, Benin antiquities have been described as priceless, \"sophisticated and baroque products o f statecraft and empire that bear comparison with the best o f the West - the African equivalent o f Renaissance\" (Nevadomsky, 1997, p. 20). The European's attraction to this new aesthetics stemmed from the apparent inconsistency between the widely reported savagery and primitiveness o f native Africans and the surprising evidences o f artistic and  \u000C96 technical skills o f native Africans, particularly the Edo people o f Benin (see Figures 2.1, 2.2, 2.3). In Europe, the quality o f the British plunder, the novelty o f the subjects and the technical perfection o f the works were generally celebrated as unprecedented and the veneration o f Benin art overshadowed the punitive violence surrounding the events o f 1897. What was the impact o f these artworks on Western images o f Africa and on Western aesthetics in general? H o w are we to explain that this artistic transformation took place at the zenith o f imperialism, when social Darwinism was the prevailing ideology? Hegemonic education can exist only so long as accurate information is withheld. For instance, student would be able to interrogate the notion promulgated by Hume, Kant and Zerffi that Africans never contributed to the arts and sciences (cited in Chalmers, 1992) i f they know that the Greeks, particularly Herodotus credited Africa (ancient Egyptians and Nubians) for initiating the disciplines o f history, philosophy and science (Diop, 1974, Herodotus, 1987). Although African art was influenced mainly by sociological, cosmological and ideological factors, European interest depended on how these objects met the Western aesthetic criteria. Aesthetic appreciation o f African art influenced the Primitivist-Modernist revolution in England including the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts and Craft Revival (Barkan, 1997). Even before the avant-garde declared the arrival o f Primitivism, many works o f art from Africa defied their categorization as ethnographic curiosities. Nevertheless, many Europeans continued to view African works o f art, including Benin antiquities as a kind o f rubbish, or as \"damaged ivory\" (Luschan, 1919, p. 4, 8,). These Europeans were still stuck to the \"frozen vision\" and myths o f African inferiority in art and all aspects o f civilization in spite o f overwhelming evidence o f existence o f remarkable aesthetic accomplishments. L i k e the authenticity o f the discovery o f the first cave art in Africa, some Europeans out o f egocentrism began to deny the African roots o f Benin antiquities, stating that \"it is not possible to leave the discoveries o f Benin to the Negroes\" (Buchner, 1908, p. 981). Indeed, writers speculated about European, Indian, Assyrian or Egyptian origins o f the style and technique o f Benin art (Luschan, 1919, p. 15). Even the Primitivist art movement in England pursued their aesthetics without acknowledging the impact o f African and Pacific art. Chalmers (1992) notes that the notion o f the superiority o f some races based on craniometry, religion and geographical determinism influenced thinking in art education during the nineteenth and  \u000C97 twentieth centuries. A r t theorists, poets and novelists sustained their racial prejudice and stereotypes with dubious statistics about brain size and facial angle to determine intelligence and artistic development; by misapplying the Biblical account o f the O l d Testament - Pre-Adamite theory to account for separate origins o f humankind; and by evoking geographical determinism to defend racial ranking. Gould (1996) points out that racism was widespread throughout the egalitarian periods o f European Enlightenment and the American Revolution because o f the idea o f white supremacy and widespread illiteracy among nonEuropeans. Even though racist claims that no African, A s i a n , or Native American had contributed to civilization and the arts were inaccurate and rather shaped by the socio-cultural milieu, they became entrenched in white publications and popularized in the mass media as established fact. Gould argues that the supposed racial differences expounded during European enlightenment were nothing more than cultural differences which appropriate education could abridge. Although Jews, Catholics, or Protestants, depending on who was doing the writing, were also castigated in the battle for racial supremacy, it was promulgated in European circles that \"people o f colour just did not have the right things going on in their heads to qualify as man in the philosophical sense\" (Popkin, 1973, p. 250). Chalmers (1992) states that, \"today this sort o f thinking is covertly embedded in much o f what has been called elitist aesthetic and art education theory\" (p. 136). The Kantian notions o f a historical, non-instrumental aesthetic stance were influential in the aesthetic education movement o f the 1960s and 1970s. Arnheim and Lamer's notion o f trans-cultural expressive universals in aesthetics ignores the influence o f culture or context on aesthetic experience and perception. The question is: whose interests the media and aesthetic education theorists were serving as they defined and institutionalized certain regimes o f truth (i.e., the assumption that the fine arts are more noble, profound, or worthy o f aesthetic consideration than the folk arts, popular arts or nonmainstream art forms)? Certainly, those in positions o f power employed such means to maintain their position o f dominance. A number o f books and articles echoing similar sentiments and advancing sociological approaches to visual art education have been written for art educators in recent years (Freedman &amp; Hernandez, 1998; Kincheloe &amp; Steinberg, 1997; McCarthy, 1998). These views reflect an historical stance, one that accepts that knowledge, meaning and value are epistemologically bound to their social, historical and political contexts.  \u000C98 The Eurocentric idea that adults o f so-called inferior races are like children o f superior races led Europeans to stigmatize African art as \"primitive\" and \"childlike.\" Although discoveries o f African and non-European art (i.e., Benin art and Asante ornamental designs) have long undermined this myth, many, in their Eurocentric thinking, continue to devalue the arts o f other cultures even as some European artists (e.g., Braque, Derain, Matisse, Picasso and V l a m i n c k ) appropriated African aesthetics into their own painting and sculpture, the outcome o f which was Cubism, a radical development in Western art history. Colonialist discourse and Eurocentric discourse are intimately intertwined. W h i l e the former explicitly justifies colonialist practices, the latter embeds, takes for granted and \"normalizes\" the hierarchical power relations generated by colonialism and imperialism without necessarily contesting those issues directly. In a pluralistic Canadian society with different traditional art forms and cultural origins, the traditional standard o f a Western formalistic aesthetic system cannot be applied exclusively anymore but must be critically analyzed with regard to its underlying assumptions o f art historical scholarship. A historical analysis o f colonial discourse is intended to unearth the contradictions inherent in the assumptions o f Western art education and philosophy, in order to establish a context for rationalizing alternative theoretical/curriculum frameworks which recognize, validate and emancipate segments o f society that have been marginalized. The necessity for this undertaking is grounded on the fact that, Eurocentrism is the general consciousness o f our educational systems, global economy, politics, media and societal practices. Although today, our Black/African heritage is no longer (at least in principle) considered \" e v i l \" in the Euro-Western world, Blacks and visible minorities continue to face a more covert hegemony in the educational systems and the media which functions to perpetuate distortions, omissions, misappropriation and dominance. Eurocentrism is not something that merely affects people o f European descent. Westernized Africans, diaspora Africans, Europeans and other immigrants living in Europe, Canada and the United States generally share, by their training, socialization and educational formation, in the intellectual heritage o f Europe. Thus, to explore this shared heritage in terms o f how it conceptualizes our lived humanity is crucial to critically appropriating it. While Eurocentric ideologies marginalize other groups, the social immersion into Western intellectual heritage, paradoxically, empowers many immigrants in their struggle for political and cultural emancipation. Postcolonial criticism bears witness to  \u000C99 the unequal and uneven forces o f cultural representation involved in the contest for political and social authority within the modern world. Africentricity as a postcolonial theoretical concept explains the cultural realities o f African people in the midst o f European cultural hegemony in the educational systems o f the world. For contemporary Africans, such cultural realities and experiences are marked and, in fundamental ways, structured by our experience o f and confrontation with Eurocentrism.  Africentricity and Knowledge Ancient Egyptian and Nubian Civilizations: Symbolic Legacy o f Africa The civilizations o f the African N i l e valley, ancient Egypt and N u b i a continue to cast their spell over the modern world. This is undoubtedly due to their high level o f architectural, artistic and technological achievements, as well as their advanced system o f writing and the quality o f their literature (see Figures 2.8, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 &amp; 3.5 for sample artworks). Equally impressive is the all-embracing philosophy o f ancient Egypt, in which science and religion formed an indissoluble whole. The thrust o f the works o f Africentric historians (i.e., Asante, 1990; Bernal, 1987, 1991; Diop, 1974, 1978, 1991; W i l l i a m s , 1987) is a redefinition o f the place o f Egypt (Kemet) and N u b i a (Kush) in African history. In The African Origin of Civilization,  Cheikh A n t a Diop (1974) calls attention to the historical, archaeological and  anthropological evidence to support his thesis that ancient Egypt, like Nubia, was a distinct African Nation and was not historically or culturally a part o f A s i a or Europe as claimed by some Egyptologists. According to Diop, the history o f Africa cannot be written correctly until African historians connect it with the histories o f the civilizations o f the N i l e Valley. Interpretations o f Egyptian racial history remain diverse and inconclusive. Following the birth o f Egyptology in the early part o f the 19 century, many Europeans, influenced by imperialist ideology, have th  attempted to place Egypt (Kemet) as part o f the M i d d l e East or the Oriental world (Murdock, 1959; / Woolley and Randall-Murdock, 1910), creating the artificial division o f the continent at the Sahara desert. However, Diop (1974, 1991), Bernal (1987, 1991), W i l l i a m s (1987) and other Africentric scholars demonstrate unequivocally that ancient Egypt and N u b i a were indigenous African kingdoms and the birthplace o f civilization. They believe that linking Egypt and N u b i a o f antiquity to Africa is the best way  \u000CAncient Egyptian Linen Woven with Colourful Geometric Patterns and Strips (1550-1200 B . C . E . ) Similar to the Ghanaian Kente Cloth. Note: From Egypt the W o r l d of the Pharaohs (p. 403), by R. S c h u l z and M . Seidel (Eds.), 1998, Germany Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft.  \u000CFigure 3.2  Pharaoh and Wife before the Deity Anubis, God of the Embalmers (1280 B . C . E . ) Note: From Egypt the W o r l d o f the Pharaohs (p. 2), by R. Schulz and M . Seidel (Eds.), 1998, Germany: Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft.  \u000CThe Golden Mask from the Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamum (1325 B . C . E . ) Note: From Egypt the W o r l d o f the Pharaohs (p. 234), by R. Schulz and M . Seidel (Eds.), 1998, Germany: KQnemann Verlagsgesellschaft.  \u000C103 F i g u r e s 3.4 a n d 3.5  Figure 3.5: S h a w b i t s from the T o m b of N u b i a n K i n g T a h a r k a (690-664 B . C . E . ) Note. From N u b i a : Ancient Kingdoms o f A f r i c a (p. 28) by J. L . Haynes, 1992, Boston: Museum o f Fine Arts.  \u000C104  to conceive and build Africa's cultural future, similar to the role that Greco-Latin antiquity plays in Western cultures. Based on current research, in art history, archaeology and anthropology we know that the artistic and cultural achievements of the Kemites and Kushites were \"part of a continuous Negro civilization extending from the mouth of the Nile up beyond the sixth Nile cataract into what is now the Republic of Sudan\" (Drake, 1987, p. 142) (see Figure 2.3 for map). The Egyptians identified their neighbours from Nubia or Kush as people of the South. Although Egypt established its dominance over Nubia for a longer time, both countries shared a past of conquering and being conquered by each other. Because Nubia served as important cultural centre and trade route for travellers from the interior of Africa as well as the Mediterranean world, it was known throughout the ancient world, particularly to the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and peoples of the Near East. Drake (1987) points out that \"what the Egyptians called Lower and Upper Nubia, the classical Greeks called Ethiopia - \"Land of Burnt Faces.\" Ethiopia, as used by the Greeks, did not refer to the modern state of Ethiopia, which, in antiquity was called Axum and later Abyssinia. Instead, it embraced the land of Africa from Aswan in the south of ancient Egypt to Khartoum in the modern Republic of Sudan. Nubia, like Egypt, developed a complex society with a centralized government, written language and expanding commercial trade. Records show that the kings of Nubia or Kushites ruled Egypt during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (746-664 B.C.E.). The Kushites brought Egypt into their empire and ruled Egypt for nearly a century. They proved themselves impressive pharaohs, as they constructed many new monuments and encouraged a revival in both the literature and the arts in Egypt. Ancient records indicate that the Kemites defined themselves in the Mdu Ntr as K M T (i.e., the Black men and women or Black people (Faulkner, 1981, p. 286). In support of the Kemites selfidentification as Black people, Diop (1990) examines the \"divine epithets\" or attributes of Kemite deities as follows:  Kmt  Kmwr =  the Great Black for Osiris.  Km  =  the Black + the name of the god.  =  the Black + the name of the goddess.  \u000C105  According to Diop, \" 'Black' or 'Negro' is the divine epithet, invariably used for the chief beneficent gods of Egypt\" (p. 43). Precisely, the K m (Black) attribute is applied to deities - Anubis (see Figure 3.2 for picture), Apis, Hathor, Isis, Min, Thoth, etc. The attribution of Blackness to these ancient Egyptian deities demonstrates that the deities were in the image of the devotees. Being the most ancient of peoples, the Ethiopians said that Egypt was one of their colonies brought to them by the deity Osiris - ruler of the dead and funerary cult. The Kemite priests taught that, \"Egypt, in the late pre-dynastic times, was established as a colony of the Ethiopians - that people were moving northward beyond the first Nile cataract carrying the rudimentary elements of what would become Egyptian civilization\" (Drake, 1987, p. 16). Excavations at Qustul supported the hypothesis that Kemetic civilization and writing came from the South (Williams, 1987). In this excavation at the royal cemetery of the Nubians in \"Ta-Seti,\" Qustul, many Egyptologists were shocked to learn that the A-Group of Nubia at Qustul used Egyptian-type writing, hieroglyphics, 200 years before the Egyptians did (Williams, 1987). This fact had already been recognized much earlier by Diop (1974) when he wrote that it was in Nubia \"where we find the animals and plants represented in hieroglyphic writing\" (p. 125). The name Ta-Seti, meaning, \"Land of the Bow\" was the name given to a southern nome of Kemet and the A-Group people of Nubia in reference to their famed archers. The Ta-Seti had a rich culture at Qustul with the same funeral customs. The rich graves of the A-Group kings contained luxury objects of pottery, musical instruments, gold jewellery, stone vessels, statuettes and related artefacts, as did the Egyptians (see Figure 3.4 &amp; 3.5). Williams (1987) of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, has made it clear that Qustul pharaohs are the Egyptian rulers referred to as the \"Red Crown Rulers.\" Diop (1974) contends that the Black identity of the ancient Egyptians was an evident fact among European historians who preceded modern Egyptology and the contemporaries of the ancient Egyptians (Herodotus, Aristotle, Diodorus, Strabo, Pliny and others). Herodotus, who visited Egypt and other parts of Africa (between 484 and 425 B.C.E.) repeatedly referred to the Egyptians as dark-skinned with woolly hair (Diop, 1974, 1991). Nevertheless, interpretations of Egyptian racial history since the late 19 century th  have favoured the so-called \" Hamitic hypothesis,\" which attempted to establish a pre-historic prototype for the White colonization of Africa in the 19th century (Woolley and Randall-Maclver, 1910). Parker  \u000C106  (1917) points out that ancient Greek historical works make it abundantly clear that many ancient settlers of Greece came from Africa, especially the Garamantes and Pelesgians who founded many ancient Greek cities (pp. 15-16) These Africans who were described by classical writers as Blacks or dark-skinned, were Malinke/Mande-speaking people from the Fezzan region of Libya, the Egyptians and East Africans (Parker, 1917). Nevertheless, Lefkowitz (1992) perpetuates the myth that the only Blacks in ancient Europe were slaves or mercenaries. To this effect, Diop (1974) reminds us of the French scholar Count Constantin de Volney (1757-1820), who visited Egypt in the late 16th century, between 1783 and 1785 and tried to refresh the memory of Europe, who, because of the recent enslavement of Blacks, had forgotten the past of this people. Volney remarked of the Egyptians as the brown-skinned Copt with bloated face, puffed up eyes, flat nose and thick lips. He further states that the Kemites were the first people to \"attain the physical and moral sciences necessary to civilized life\" (Clarke, 1991). The opinion of the ancient writers on the Egyptians is more or less summed up by Gaston Maspero (1846-1916) in The Dawn of Civilization, where he says: \" By the almost unanimous testimony of ancient historians, they (the Egyptians) belong to an African race which first settled in Ethiopia on the middle Nile, following the course of the river they gradually reached the sea\" (quoted from Clarke, 1991, p. xix). The English writer, Sir E. A . Wallis Budge (1969) in his book, The Gods of the Egyptian, states that the Prehistoric native of Egypt, both in the old and new Stone Ages, was African and there is every reason for saying that the earliest settlers came from the South. Williams (1974), in reference to the sculpture of Akhet Khufu known throughout the world by its Greek reference, the Sphinx (see Figure 2.8), affirms the African identity of the Kemites in The Destruction of Black Civilization with the following comments: As though he intended to settle the question of his racial identity for all ages to come, he had his African features so boldly and clearly carved into a portrait statue that not even a fool could seriously doubt that this mighty monarch was a \"Negro.\" (p. 69) In his review of Martin Bernal's book, Black Athena, the English writer, Basil Davidson also makes the following statement about how Egypt, as a part of Africa was left out of world history: But isn't Egypt, other issues aside, quite simply a part of Africa? That it seems is a merely geographical irrelevance. The civilization of Pharaonic Egypt, arising sometime around 3500 B.C.E. and continuing at least until the Roman dispositions, has been explained to us as evolving  \u000C\u2022  \u2022. \u2022  107  either in more or less total isolation from Africa or as a product of West Asian stimulus . . . Now what is one to make of this unlikely view of the case, coming as it has from venerable seats of learning? Does its strength derive from a long tradition of research and explanation? Is it what Europeans have always thought to be true? Have the records of ancient times been found to support it? . . . The answer to such questions is plainly and unequivocally in the negative. That the ancient Egyptians were Blacks (again, in any variant you may prefer) - or, as I myself think it is more useful to say, were African - is a belief which has been denied in Europe since 1830, not before. It is a denial, in short, that belongs to the rise of modern European imperialism and has to be explained in terms of the \"new racism,\" especially and even frantically an anti-Black racism, which went together with and was consistently nourished by that imperialism. (Quoted from Diop, 1991, pp. xvi-xvii) What can be understood from Davidson's statement is that the rise of Europe and its recovery from the Middle Ages brought about systematic colonization not only of most parts of the world, but also of information about the world. Consequently, the historical achievements of Africans including the legacies of ancient Egypt, Nubia, and the kingdoms of Western Sudan have remained frozen in Western historiography. What Africentric historians, both in Africa and in the diaspora, have attempted to do is to unveil colonial discourses and restore what had been taken away under slavery and colonialism. Diop (1991) contends that if Egypt is a dilemma in Western historiography, it is a created dilemma. This is because Western historians have rested the foundation of \"Western Civilization\" on the mistaken assumption, or claim, that the ancient Egyptians were Caucasians. To achieve this, Diop explains that, they had to \"ignore masterpieces of Egyptian history by ancient Greek writers and other White historians who did not support this point of view, such as The Ruins of Empires by Count C. F. Volney (1787) and Gerald Massey's great classic, Ancient Egypt, The Light of the World (1907). An examination of Egyptian art from Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs, shows that Egyptian artists often depicted themselves with varying shades of brown: red-brown for the men, yellow for their women and a dark brown or black for Nubians (Schulz and Seidel, 1998). Paintings from the tomb chambers of Egyptian kings and queens that show the monarch in dark brown or black skin colour indicate that they were Nubians or of Nubian descent (see Figure 3.2). Many colour illustrations published in Africa in Antiquity: The Arts ofAncient Nubia and Sudan by Hochfield and Riefstahl (1978) and in Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms ofAfrica by Haynes (1992) show that the Nubians also depicted themselves with varying shades of red-brown, varying features and hair texture. This pictorial evidence counteracts speculations that the Kemites got darker as one moved farther south along the Nile and that those from the  \u000C108 South were markedly different from those in the North (Yurco, 1989). Winters (1984) points out that, the Kemites, like their cousins in Kush, were composed of the two major African variants: one straight-haired and the other curly-haired with varying facial features. Many Western historians and scholars have questioned Africalogical research by Africentric scholars and especially, the evidence of an African foundation for the Egyptian and Nubian civilizations, as well as the view that Egyptians spoke an African language rather than an Afro-Asiatic one (e.g., Baines, 1991;Martel, 1991; Schlesinger, 1992; Yurco, 1989). They cite the shortcomings of Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (vol. 1-2) by Martin Bernal (1987, 1991) and argue that his thesis of Hyksos or Egyptian foundation of Grecian civilization is based on poor and outdated theories that cannot be supported by historical, anthropological, or archaeological criteria. The use of Bernal as a method to discredit Africentrists is groundless because Africentric scholars who recognize the contribution of Blacks in the formation of Athens and Attica do not hold BernaFs view that the Hyksos (Egyptian Asiatic kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty) founded Greek civilization. In his review of Diop's (1991) book in the New York Times Review of Books, Baines (1991), an Egyptologist, claims that both the evidence and the reasoning used to support Diop's arguments are frequently unsound (p. 12). Baines asks the readers to reject Diop's work because it was not a work of originality, yet he fails to dispute any factual evidence presented by Diop (1987, 1991). In the United States, Africentrists have been described as ethnocentrists who want to tribalize America (Schlesinger, 1992). Many Egyptologists believe that the Egyptians were a mixed population, which got darker and \"more Negroid\" the farther down the Nile one went. Nevertheless, Schlesinger (1992) and Yurco (1989) maintain that the base of Egyptians were White. The Egyptians saw very little difference between themselves and the Nubians, despite disagreements that often resulted in wars. A comparison of Egyptian, Dravidian, Nubian, Mende and other ancient African languages illustrates a common cultural macrostructure shared by these speakers, which subsequently evolved along separate lines (Diop, 1974). Diop points out that all of these languages share pronouns and demonstrative bases that validate the theory that there were cognate Black civilizations in Africa before the expansion of Indo-European-speaking peoples after 1500 B.C.E.  \u000C109  Based on research, in art history, archaeology and anthropology, Africentrists have undermined the theory that the Egyptians and Kushites were ethnically and racially two different groups (Yurco, 1989). Ongoing studies and excavations in Africa continue to produce evidence of the rich legacy that the ancients left for their progeny on the continent and throughout the diaspora. Prominent among other evidence is the reference to the ancestral lineage all over Africa. When one examines the culture and traditions of both ancient Egypt and Nubia, one finds a common core that is characterized by (a) a concept of spirituality that is typified by Per-ah, the Pharaoh as the house of light and by the entire place being a \"temple of the light of God;\" (b) particular burial customs that reflect a high level of symbolism and deep philosophical thought and conjecture regarding life and the afterlife; (c) areas or nomes governed by a god-head or deity; and (d) socio-historical governance and rulership being recorded as dynastic periods. Many of the cultural practices that existed in ancient Egypt and Nubia are still evident in contemporary times, among African peoples. The effort of Africentric historians (i.e., Asante, 1990; Bernal, 1987, 1991; Diop, 1974, 1978, 1991; Williams, 1987) to redefine the place of Egypt (Kemet) and Nubia (Kush) in African history should inspire multicultural educators and teachers to seek revisions in their local curricula to include African-centred multicultural education.  The Africentric Paradigm The Africentric paradigm holds that \"any meaningful and authentic study of peoples of African descent must begin and proceed with Africa as the centre, not periphery; as subject, not object\" (Abarry, 1990, p. 123). Africentricity at its best is \"a quest for and an expression of historical and cultural anchor, a critical reconstruction that dares to restore missing and hidden parts of our historical self-formation and pose the African experience as a significant paradigm for human liberation and a higher level of human life\" (Karenga, 1988, p. 140). Africentricity is a \"standpoint,\" an epistemic location from which people of African descent look at themselves, others and society. \"Standpoint epistemology,\" refers to the selfconscious perspective on self and society, arising out of an oppressed group's critical apprehension of itself and its location in relation to the system it inhabits (Hartsock, 1983). In articulating elements of the Africentric standpoint, I acknowledge the influence of feminist standpoint theories, particularly, those that  \u000Cno embody a rich tradition of critiquing hegemony and a dominant gender or racial discourse. It should be emphasized that reference to the Africentric standpoint does not negate the existence of multiple positioning within it. This is because Africentrists are not homogenous in their ideological and cultural orientation. The theoretical conceptualization of an African-centred approach is the handiwork of contemporary African scholars such as Amilcar Cabral, Chinua Achebe, Cheikh Anta Diop, Frantz Fanon, Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Martin Heidegger, Molefi Kete Asante, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Tsheloane Keto, Mualana Karenga and a host of other social scientists mainly based in Africa and the United States. The main thrust of the Africentric project is to liberate the research and study of African peoples from the hegemony of Eurocentric scholarship and thus assert a valid worldview through which Blacks/African peoples can be studied objectively. Though the Africentric idea has featured in the works of Black/African intellectual pioneers in Africentric thought and action (e.g., Dike, 1956; . Diop, 1974; Du Bois, 1947; Ngugi, 1983; Nkrumah, 1963; Senghor, 1970; Woodson &amp; Wesley, 1922), its present conceptualization is more innovative and sophisticated. It has been described more appropriately as a philosophical model based on traditional African philosophical assumptions and contemporary intellectual and popular movements (Abarry, 1990; Asante, 1988, 1990; Schiele, 1990). A liberating ideology enables Africans to see themselves as conscious beings who are active and central agents in the making of history and in the reconstruction of identities after enslavement, colonialism and apartheid. Africentricity, as a postcolonial intellectual enterprise, seems to have invigorated the debate among a wide range of scholars (Asante; 1998, Dei, Mazzuca, Mclsaac &amp; Zine, 1997; Calliste, 1994; hooks, 1991; Wallace, 1989; West, 1989) with respect to the production and use of what is termed \"emancipatory knowledge.\" Swartz argues that: this debate over the centrality or marginality of race, class and gender groups in the production of knowledge is not over the relative importance of historical figures and events, nor is it over the potential impact of the curricular experience on self-esteem or the modelling of race, gender and class heroes or heroines. Rather, it is a debate over emancipatory versus hegemonic scholarship and the maintenance or disruption of the Eurocentrically bound \"master script\" that public schools currently impart to their students. (1992, p. 341) In classroom practices, Eurocentric ideologies silence multiple voices and perspectives, mainly by  \u000CIll  legitimizing dominant, White, upper-class, male voicing as the \"standard\" knowledge students need to know. A l l other ways of knowing are omitted from the master script unless they can be dis-empowered through misrepresentation. Thus, any content that does not reflect the dominant voice must be brought under control, mastered'and then reshaped before it can become part of the master script (Swartz, 1992). Much of the writings on African historical past, prior to the 1970s, have been Eurocentric, therefore, they neither recognize African classical thought and past that have been instrumental to the development of early societies and institutions of the world. Several attempts have been made to deny the 4  African origin of ancient Egyptian and Nubian civilization (Adams, 1977; Randall-Maclver &amp; Woolley, 1909), as well as devalue its long historical traditions of art and culture (Gardner, 1959; Janson, 1971; Schuman, 1981). Scholarly works by historians and Egyptologists (i.e., Bernal, 1987; Diop, 1974, 1981) , 5  however, confirm the African origin of ancient Nubian and Kemetic or Egyptian civilizations. These scholars redefine the place of Egypt in African history. Through historical, archaeological and anthropological evidence, they establish that the ancient Greeks were influenced by the civilization of Africa, which predates all other civilizations. The Greeks taught that the study of subjects such as art, history, philosophy, mathematics, astrology, literature and science originated in Africa along the Nile Valley of ancient Egypt and Nubia (Diop, 1974; Herodotus, 1987). Africentrists also stress the need to recognize the achievements of Blacks/Africans in modern medicine, engineering, astronomy, politics, scholarship, entertainment, sports, the military and in religion. Histories of world civilization have become so disjointed and distorted that students have no way of discovering these essential pieces of information as well as other knowledge of the organic relationship of Africa to the rest of human history. Consequently, the works of Cheikh Anta Diop and other African historians, both in continental Africa and the diaspora, is a restoration project; an attempt to restore what slavery and colonization had taken away. Africentricity does not only insist on African origin of ancient Kemetic or Egyptian civilization  A notable exception is Basil Davidson, author of over 30 books and documentary films on Africa, spanning the years from early civilizations and centuries of slavery to colonial rule and independence. 4  The African Origin of Civilization, 1974, by Cheikh Anta Diop (an African from Senegal) is the first major work on Egypt to assert the African origin of the ancient Kemetic civilization. Martin Bernal's first volume of Black Athena, 1987 (The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985), discusses how the \"Ancient Model's\" recognition of Egypt (and Phoenicia) as the root of classical civilization was overthrown by the \"Aryan Model\" which denied it. 5  \u000C112 but also adopts Africa as the classical reference point in any discussion of African culture and civilization. It is Diopian in methodology. In the thinking of Cheikh Anta Diop (1974), Africa can never be understood until Africentrists dare to link the continent to its classical past. The importance of Egypt to constructing an African worldview rests on its antiquity, authenticity, level of achievement, document availability, relevance to contemporary Africans, world history and civilization (Karenga &amp; Carruthers, 1986). Robinson (1983) argues that the construction of the \"Negro\" by the colonialists effectively savaged African history and created historical amnesia in Europe and among Africans concerning the contribution of Africa to world history and civilization. Robinson notes that Eurocentrism, substantially eradicated in Western historical consciousness the necessity of remembering the significance of Nubia for Egypt's formation; of Egypt in the development of Greek civilization; of Africa for Imperial Rome; and more pointedly of Islam's influence on Europe's economic, political and intellectual history [to which Africans also contributed significantly], (p. 4) Africentrists see it as an important obligation to rescue and reconstruct this rich complex and varied legacy that introduced the basic disciplines of human knowledge, produced the oldest sacred texts (i.e., Book of the Dead) on which a significant part of Judeo-Christian ethics and theology are based, produced magnificent artefacts that have stood the test of time, developed a technology for smelting iron and steel long before Europe did, contributed the calendar and hieroglyphs among other critical things and was a school for the Greeks to whom other Europeans pay so much homage (James, 1976). Africentrists view the remarkable contributions of Blacks in Nubia, the forgotten empires of Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Benin, Ashanti, the lost university at Timbuktu, as well as the achievements of modern Africans as crucial in view of systemic distortion of African history from Eurocentric accounts. Many historians and educators in Europe and North America have made plantation slavery and its legacies their sole preoccupation, and have avoided all of the fragments of the African past, which could re-establish African historical and cultural continuity. They have also indoctrinated their students to do likewise, thereby denying Blacks/Africans a role in ancient world history. Africentricity as a political ideology should be understood as part of a broader socio-political struggle. Africentrists see African-Canadian, African-American or African-Caribbean experience as a dimension of African history and culture which cannot be separated from its past (Diop, 1976). This notion  \u000C113  is firmly rooted in the Pan-African movement and the concept of \"Negritude\" promoted by renowned Black/African nationalist such as Du Bois (1947), Nkrumah (1963), Ngugi (1984) and Senghor (1970). Due to enslavement and colonialism, Africa becomes the \"homeland\" for the African diaspora more in symbolic, metaphoric and cosmological terms than in a sense of territoriality or landedness. PanAfricanism as a concept is more meaningful and important to diasporic Africans than are the regional, national or ethnic boundaries within Africa.  Africentrism, Centrism and Polycentrism. The philosophy that Black/African thinkers extract from Diop's interpretation of ancient African texts is called \"holism\" (Asante, 1988, 1990). This view, which has come to be called \"Africentrism,\" claims that all reality is a unity and that we divide this unity into parts only because of limitations of our present knowledge. Although its principles may encompass all groups, Africentrism highlights a centre in its name because self-knowledge depends on being centred in one's self, one's own experience and one's history. In education, \"centricity\" refers to a perspective that involves locating students within the context of their own cultural references so that they can relate socially and psychologically to school curricula and other cultural perspectives. Restoring Black/African-Canadian students to the centre of their experience according to Dei (1994) can provide them with a sense of agency in the context of phenomena. Although, the experiences of Black/African-Canadians have never been centred in the Canadian cultural space to be restored, yet drawing on the history can inform and create symbolic space for cultural identity. The centrist paradigm is supported by research showing that the most productive method of teaching any student is to place his/her group within the centre of the context of knowledge (Asante, 1990). For students from EuroWestern backgrounds in Canada, this is easy because almost all the experiences discussed in Canadian classrooms are approached from the standpoint of European perspectives and history. On the other hand, students from non-European backgrounds exist in a borrowed space. They are made to see themselves as the \"acted upon.\" Only rarely, do they read or hear of non-Europeans as active participants of history. For example, most classroom discussions of the European slave trade concentrate on the activities of Europeans to the exclusion of the resistance efforts of Africans (Asante, 1991). The \"centrism\" in  \u000C114  Africentricity emphasizes a path to knowledge rather than displacement of the other. Africentrists recognize the validity of other non-hegemonic perspectives - Asia-centred, Aboriginal-centred, Americacentred and even Europe-centred in its non-hegemonic forms. Africentrists have argued cogently that the acceptance and recognition of all perspectives: acentrism, is far more likely to lead to genuine human knowledge and inter-cultural understanding than reliance on one absolute worldview. \"Acentrism\" is the view that no single group can claim a centre stage except in the context of incomplete descriptions. Each group constitutes its own centre, but these \"polycentres\" coalesce to form the whole. Polycentric multiculturalism could be the focus of multicentric education. Centring the self in experience and history is an important first step toward holism (Verharen, 1995). But as we become more mature, we progress beyond the self to encompass our group: ethnocentrism. A wide contact with all the groups of humanity leads to a vision of humanity as a unity: anthropocentrism. But a holistic philosophy pushes us beyond humanity to the universe and the whole realm of reality: acentrism. A person educated in a truly centric fashion comes to view all groups' contributions as significant and useful. There can be no ethnocentrism in a holistic philosophy. In effect, Africentrism becomes \"polycentric\" in its practical expression. Within a polycentric vision, the world has many dynamic cultural locations, many possible vantage points. \"Polycentrism\" here deals with fields of power and struggle over the centrality or marginality of cultural groups in the production and dispersion of knowledge. Polycentric multiculturalism envisions a restructuring of inter-communal relations within Canada and beyond. It sees all cultural histories in relation to social power. Unlike liberal pluralism which is grudgingly accretive and premised on an established hierarchical order of cultures: Polycentric multiculturalism thinks and imagines 'from the margins,' seeing minoritarian communities not as 'interest groups' to be 'added on' to a pre-existing nucleus but rather as active, generative participants at the very core of a shared conflictual history . . . It sees identities as multiple, unstable, historically situated, the products of ongoing differentiation and polymorphous identifications and pluralizations. (Stam &amp; Shohat, 1994, p. 300) Polycentric multiculturalism is not merely about sensitivity toward sentimentalized \"others,\" but rather, about dispersing power, empowering the disempowered and transforming institutions and discourses. Its affiliations are clearly with the underrepresented, the marginalized and the oppressed.  \u000C115  Philosophical Underpinnings of Africentricity In Asante's (1988) formulation, Africentricity is a way of life, undergirded by a value system, a religious orientation and a way of knowing that differ from, but connect with other conceptions of human beings. To understand the Africentric concept better, it will be important to analyze its cosmological, ontological, epistemological and axiological underpinnings. In Understanding an Africentric Worldview: Introduction to an Optimal Psychology, Myers (1988) distinguishes between a traditional African worldview (optimal) and Eurocentric worldview (suboptimal) in their interaction with the attributes of cosmology, ontology, epistemology and axiology (see Table 3.1). It seems to me that Myers' conceptualization of African and Euro-Western worldviews is rather polemical as it pits one view against another by suggesting the existence of two distinct worldviews. In reality, however, there are multiple standpoints and centres of culture within the Euro-Western, African or other worlds. Africentrists do not only acknowledge these multiple world-views but also the many contradictions embedded within them. Western feminists, post-modernists and critical theorists, for instance, may not fit into the essentialist model outlined below because despite being products of EuroWestern consciousness, the ideological positions of these theorists are inconsistent with the traditional Euro-Western category to which Myers attempts to confine them. Similarly, Africentrists are not homogenous in their ideological or theoretical orientation. This is evident, for instance, from the diverse ideological positions located in the discourse on the African liberation struggle (i.e., Kwame Nkrumah's Marxism-Leninism theory in African politics, Leopold Senghor's Negritude and Julius Nyerere's African Socialism). The Africentric perspective expounded in this study goes beyond the occlusion or exclusion of the traditional African and Euro-Western categories as it takes into account the multiple positions, contradictions and interconnectedness within them. Although the Africentric philosophy is grounded on traditional African ideals, our contemporary experience of and confrontation with Eurocentrism, colonialism, neo-colonialism and the lived actuality of post-colonialism in Africa and the diaspora, in fundamental ways, structure it. European and African worldviews cannot be perceived as totally distinct and mutually exclusive categories in view of our shared cultural and intellectual heritage.  \u000C116  Table 3.1  L. J. Myers' Distinctions Between Traditional African/Euro-Western Worldviews Worldview  Traditional African  Euro-Western  Reality  Spiritual  Material  Nature of Knowledge  Self Knowledge  External Knowledge (Counting  (Symbolic Imagery and Rhythm)  and Measuring)  Highest Value: Interpersonal  Highest Value:  Relationship. Womanism.  Object - Materialism  Logic (Reason)  Union of Opposites (Diunital)  Either/Or  Identity  Extended Self  Individual Self  Self Worth  Intrinsic in Being  Extrinsic  Values Guiding  Spiritualism, Oneness (We)  Materialism, Competition (I)  Life Space  Infinite  Finite  Worldview  Holistic, Oneness  Segmented (Quality)  Peace-Happiness  Eternal  Temporal  Carefree  Continual Confrontation  Unconditional (See Beyond to  Conditional (Appearance)  Nature of Value  Behaviour  Orientation Stress-Anxiety Orientation Love Orientation  Trust) Group Orientation  Unity through Ideology  Unity through Common Goals  Learning  Consensus  Universal  (Handout developed by Dr. Fred Swan, O h i o State University, Columbus, O H , 1988).  \u000C117  Africentricity is an inclusive ideology. It rejects the continuous existence of a particular cultural hegemony. The manner in which the Africentric conception expresses the fundamental sense of African peoples of the proportions, meaning and functions of the universe and of the natural context of their own existence is represented in the African cosmological belief. Cosmologically, an Africentric mode, like other non-hegemonic discourses, views the structure of reality from a perspective of interdependency. That is, all elements of the universe are interconnected (Bell et al., 1990). The preservation of the components of terrestrial and celestial elements becomes the supreme responsibility of humankind. African Cosmological beliefs provide the background for African art, religion and culture. The planet earth serves as a battleground of the spirits competing for control, or to topple the order of the universe. Therefore, the Supreme Deity (God) must be obeyed and worshipped through the mediums of benevolent spirits and minor deities (see Figure 2.9) to preserve the order of the universe and guarantee humans' security, survival and continuity. Worship involves the use of magic and ritualistic art forms that serve as receptacles of the spirits and vehicles of psychic force. Ontology represents the sense and beliefs of African peoples of the meanings and origins of their existence. The nature of reality (ontology) in an optimal conceptual system is spiritual and material simultaneously. Africentricity assumes that all elements of the universe, including the earth, humans, animate and inanimate elements are spiritual - that is, they are created from a similar universal substance (Akbar, 1984). Spirituality in this instance implies the invisible or nonmaterial substance that connects all elements of the universe. The belief in life after death and re-incarnation compels the traditional African to ensure continuity of life through the bond between the living and the dead ancestors, or the material and spiritual worlds. The Africentric model presents a holistic perspective of human beings: mind, body and soul are believed to be interdependent and interrelated phenomena. Without the development of the spiritual or metaphysical element, the human is considered incomplete (Asante, 1987; Mbiti, 1970; Nobles, 1996). In a suboptimal conceptual system, material and spiritual are separate. Only external sources versus internal sources are accepted as reality. Epistemologically, the Africentric construct places considerable emphasis on an affective way of  \u000C118  obtaining knowledge (i.e., understanding events and reality). That is, from an Africentric standpoint, selfknowledge through emotion or intuition is considered valid and critical (Akbar, 1984; Asante, 1988; Schiele, 1991). One will use all of one's senses, not just formal logic, to explain their reality. The focus on affective ways of knowing does not imply a rejection of rationality. Rather, affect and cognition are considered interdependent in the process of knowing. Africentrists believe that human actions cannot be understood apart from the emotions, attitudes and cultural definitions of a given context. Myers (1988) explains that people of African descent learn through symbolic imagery and rhythm. Symbolic imagery includes the use of phenomena such as words, gestures, tones, rhythms, rituals, intuition and objects to convey multiple meanings. The Akans of Ghana, for instance, express their philosophical thought in oral literature embedded in proverbs, myths, folktales, songs, rituals, customs, traditions, artefacts and its very socio-political institutions. Akbar (1984) states that, \"In Western dualistic thought, not only is mind and body (reason and emotion) considered to be independent phenomena, but there is a trinitarian tendency that views spirit as independent of both mind and body\" (p. 408). Knowledge is acquired externally and scientifically through counting and numbering, as revealed by positivist researchers. Axiology embodies the dimension of values, principles and standards of ethics and morality. Axiologically, Africentricity significantly underscores the value of group unity, mutuality, collective responsibility, community and social bonding. The highest value would be interpersonal relationships between woman and man, family and the tie with extended families and community. This emphasis fosters a human-centred perspective toward life rather than an object or material perspective in which the value in maintaining and strengthening interpersonal bonds supersedes the concern over acquiring material objects and accumulating wealth (Schiele, 1994). The stress on collectivism does not mean a rejection of the notion of uniqueness (Akbar, 1984). Rather it rejects the idea that the individual could be understood apart from others. In the suboptimal worldview, the highest value would be the acquisition of materials, objects and not personal relationships. Life is finite and limited; external forces such as money and clothing are indispensable in determining ones happiness. What makes Africentric concepts more inclusive is that they seek to orient our worldview in ways that challenge social Darwinism, capitalism and most forms of Marxism - all of which are grounded in their own particularity.  \u000C119  Critique of the Theoretical and Methodological Conception of Africentricity The preoccupation with the ancient world, particularly, ancient Egypt by Africentrists is described by some critics as \"intellectual weakness\" (Appiah, 1993; Chavez, 1994). These critics claim that apart from Egypt, the rest of Africa has no intellectual legacy. Africentrists have dismissed this attack by proving the existence of ancient monuments, art, politics, iron and steel smelting technology, medicinal knowledge and writing systems in places like Nubia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Libya, Sudan, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Congo as well as African artefacts that are found in museums across the colonial nations of Western Europe (i.e., France, The Netherlands, Britain, Germany, Holland) and the United States (i.e., Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles; National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C.; the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). Africentrists have also focused on the modern achievements of Black/Africans in all fields of endeavour to make their point. They argue that the study of Egypt is not simply for its hieroglyphics and monuments but in terms of its philosophical and epistemological understanding of time, place and histories of the African peoples. The study and understanding of the full extent of ancient Egypt is seen as the starting point rather than the limit of Africentricity. Just as Europe has looked to its past as a source of pride, it is important for Black Africans to recover that part of their history that has been frozen. Without this rich history, Africans can only then assume the status and identity accorded them by the Euro-Western world and would have no resource of classical heritage from which to counter Eurocentrism and racism in our society. Methodology provides a system of rules that govern the means by which statements of theory may be challenged (W. C. Banks, 1992). Banks argues that within a multicultural environment, the most successful methodology is that which sets forth the most stringent rules for challenge and refutation as well as the most liberal appearance of accessibility. The Africentric paradigm, like other ideologically oriented paradigms (e.g., critical theory, feminist theory, neo-Marxism), is a system that is contending for a position of pre-eminence in expressing the interests and explaining the actions of subordinated groups and particularly, the Black/African community. Unlike scientific theories and methods that have acquired ontological and epistemological hegemony, Africentric theory is often criticized as lacking sound epistemological foundation and for paying only the barest attention to the protective demands of theory for  \u000C120  methodological framework. The scientific paradigm presumes the existence of an objective external reality about which secure, \"truthful\" statements can be achieved through inquiry. Although the Africentric theory presumes an objective, external reality, it believes, unlike the scientific theory, that reality is multiple and \"truth statements,\" \"knowledge\" and \"values\" are historically, culturally, politically and socially mediated and legitimated by those in power to perpetuate domination. Africentrists, like postmodern deconstructionists, are sceptical of modern views of science, epistemology and methodology. Some Black/African scholars (e. g., Asante, 1998; W. C. Banks, 1992; Dei, 1996; Karenga, 1988) criticize conventional empiricist frameworks as neither appropriate nor relevant to the sociological realities of Black/African students and other ethnic minorities. This is because of ideological bias and the logical problem inherent in analytic and synthetic structure of racial comparison. The Africentric theoretical school has advanced constructs that focus upon the unique characteristics of African peoples (i.e., from physical appearance to artistic creativity). Conventionalists however, argue that such claims of distinctiveness, when set forth as a theoretical principle, are problematic because it either presupposes the validity of racial distinctions or simply reflects the existence of sociologically defined categories. The problem here is that the most concrete evidence to which science has appealed for the substantiation of the existence of race as a category has lacked demonstratable reliability. Because of the diversity of African existence and postmodernist distaste for grand theories, any Africentric claim of uniqueness of human conduct becomes questionable. The primary challenge for Africentrists is the need to specify clearly the priority and centrality of the African-diaspora in the Africentric project. Although, as an intellectual enterprise the Africentric idea was conceived and developed under Pan-Africanism, Negritude and the Black Civil Rights Movement, the project is unavoidably and ideologically linked to the liberation project of all African peoples and even the Third World as a result of similar historical and human experience. Asante and Asante (1985) and Wiredu (1980) argue that beyond what may be a fragmentation of the cultures and philosophies of African peoples along ethnic, national, religious, class, ideological and gender lines, lie some common characteristics and experience of all African peoples. Notwithstanding the manifesto of Africentricity for a return to authentic African cultural and  i  \u000C121  cosmological roots, many Africans and the diaspora have drawn upon an array of indigenous and foreign discourses to sustain their program of self-affirmation. The absence of analysis within the Africentric framework of what is traditionally called teleology, for instance, deprives it of an essential source of justification for programs of self-development rooted in the African Christian doctrine of salvation and the mission of the Nation of Islam which have been sustaining intuitions in diasporan African experience. Africentrists have been accused of distorting and replacing documentary history with ideology by teaching, for instance, that Cleopatra, Socrates and some other ancient Greeks were Blacks, and that the French army, during the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt in 1798, blew the nose off the Sphinx to cast doubts over the race or ethnicity of the Pharaohs represented in these great ancient monuments. Africentrists are of the view that history should be continuously re-imagined and revitalized for each historical situation. They insist that while there could be some errors or exaggeration in attempts to revitalize the frozen histories of Africa, much of their scholarship is based on responsible and defensible claims. Some of the criticisms from the anti-Africentrists' camp are based on ignorance and distortion of Africentric ideas to suit their own purposes. Their argument is based on the assumption that multicultural and Africentric projects could fragment society (Bissoondath, 1994; Porter, 1972; Schlesinger, 1992). Unfortunately, this is a false assumption because the history of Canada, like the United States, has been pluralistic from the beginning and cannot be interpreted simply from the standpoint of any single group. The Africentric idea is thus projected as a model for intercultural agency in which pluralism exists without hierarchy. Critics of Africentricity claim that it attempts to replace one type of hegemony (Eurocentric) with another (Africentric). Critics view it as a separatist dialogue and a reaction to Eurocentrism and hence antiEuropean. However, the theory is based on the assumption that there are multiple centres of culture and history. It emphasizes a holistic mission that connects and builds the various centres of one's own life and living. The notion of \"polycentrism\" is an inclusive ideology that connects Africentricity with the concepts of \"cultural pluralism,\" and \"multiculturalism.\" Hence, it cannot be claimed to be a proposition for antiEuropean discourse. In fact, it is the \"generative theme\" of acentrism contained in this discourse that makes it a captivating paradigm. It totally rejects hegemonic centrism, regardless of its sources. The political dimension of Africentricity is rather a response to Euro-inferiorization of African personhood,  \u000C122  destruction of much of their civilization, suppression of their histories and distorted accounts of Africans and their history. It should be re-stated that Africentricity represents a range of beliefs rather than a fixed ideology. It can be manifested in a variety of ways, from a sentimentalized and romantic view of culture, to an inclusive and humanistic curriculum and pedagogy. African-centred epistemology is also criticized for ignoring issues of gender in its analysis. The observation that culture can be used to perpetuate and legitimize certain practices, which may be disempowering for women is valid, particularly in the context of Africentricity. As Dei (1995) points out, in traditional African communities, varied forms of domination and exploitation based on gender, ethnicity and class have existed and continue to exist today. African women and those in the diaspora continue to expose and challenge the contradictions in their societies (hooks, 1989; 1994; Oyewumi, 1997). Attempts by some scholars to perpetuate, or establish male dominance in Africentricity through selective recapturing or misreading of traditional African cultures has been questioned. It is important for scholars to decolonize African studies and the Africentric project by incorporating both male and female perspectives and experiences in order to understand the fundamental ordering of social relations, institutions and power structures in African and diasporan communities. Dei (1995) opines, \"the complete rejection of feminism by some African scholars in the name of maintaining tradition or on the basis that it is Western is problematic\" (p. 161). While there is a legitimate ground for the discussion of shared realities and enabling solidarity in addressing contemporary social injustices, Africentrists need to guard against totalizing discourses that trivialize the pain and suffering of Black women and the Black \"underclass\" that are everywhere on the continent and in the diaspora.  Summary of Africentricity and Art Education Africentricity provides an alternative perspective for the conceptualization of art education and general education. It offers students, teachers and school administrators an opportunity to reaffirm the Africentric worldview that has been repudiated and defamed within the Eurocentric framework. The predominance of the Eurocentric worldview has created an illusion that the perspective of people of European origin is the only view of the world. The recovery of Europe from the Middle Ages brought  \u000C123  about systemic plunder, subjugation, colonization and control not only of most territories of the world, but also of knowledge systems of the world. The legacy of white supremacy propagated during the European Enlightenment created the myth of African inferiority in art and all aspects of civilization despite evidence of remarkable aesthetic, technological and political accomplishment. Africentricity unveils colonial discourses and attempts to restore what has been taken away under slavery and colonialism. Due to their reference to a philosophical worldview and values based on African cultures, Africentrists are often accused of promoting dogmatic, rigidly ethnocentric and exclusionary ideology. These criticisms however are unfairly generalized since Africentricity in education represents a range of beliefs rather than a fixed ideology. Inclusive Africentric models cannot be exclusionary because they emphasize a holistic philosophy of polycentric multiculturalism, which connects and builds on multiple centres of knowledge, history and culture, to engender multi-centric curriculum and pedagogy. The ideological assumptions inherent in the Africentric theory influence the research method for this study.  \u000C124  CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH METHODOLOGY  Research Method This section deals with the methodology and method of the research. As has been stated in the first chapter, the primary objective of this research was to examine the cultural and educational barriers to Black/African-Canadian students' participation and attainment in art and education and to seek better ways of providing inclusive art education and schooling. Due to the inherent complexity of social interaction and \"openness\" of this inquiry, I adopted a qualitative research methodology influenced by Africology or the Africentric conceptual framework and critical ethnography. As a rationale for choosing a qualitative research method for this study, including data collection and analysis, I referenced Filstead's characterization of this method: Qualitative methodology refers to those strategies, such as participant observation, in-depth interviewing, total participation in the activity being investigated, fieldwork etc., which allow the researcher to obtain first-hand knowledge about the empirical social world in question. Qualitative methodology allows the researcher to 'get close to the data,' thereby developing the analytical, conceptual and categorical components of explanation from the data itself. (1970, p. 7) The thoughts, feelings and perspectives of Black students and those from other backgrounds, parents, guardians, teachers, community service workers and concerned adults, were crucial to developing a methodology for this study. Africology is defined as the Africentric study of phenomena, events, ideas and personalities related to Africa (Asante, 1990). The Africentric research method flows from the ideological assumptions inherent in the Africentric theory. It establishes a worldview about the writing and speaking of African peoples that is epistemologically valid. The Africentric paradigm is eclectic. In this sense, it embraces several liberationist approaches to studying phenomena. For instance, the tenets of participatory research, feminist research and critical ethnography coincide with the Africentric framework. Despite the liberationist tenets of feminism, Africentrists and feminists have not yet agreed on the role that, for instance, White feminism or Marxism, can play in Africentric discourse (Asante, 1998; W. C. Banks, 1992; Dei, 1996; hooks, 1990; Oyewumi, 1997). This is so because, as products of Eurocentric consciousness, these theories often exclude the historical and cultural perspectives of Africa. As a theory  \u000C125 -  therefore, Africentricity is undoubtedly still in an evolutionary process. This multi-method qualitative research approach provides participants with a much stronger voice in expressing their individual and collective struggles and in making sense of the interaction of complex issues in their multicultural and educational experience. Studies that rely on quantitative data to explain minority students' experience may not adequately deal with the complexity of issues that influence their participation in school. M y goal in this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of Black/AfricanCanadian artistic and educational experience, including the soc'io-historical and present socio-economic context. I examined related research and historical documents. I listened to the narratives, observed the interactions among students, teachers,-parents, community service workers and connected their narratives to each other and to wider social issues. In addition, I needed to gain some insight into the impact of a multicultural art and cultural program on various groups of students. The qualitative research approach enabled the researcher to explore these complex issues from various perspectives. Lather (1991) explains that \"theory adequate to the task of changing the world must be open-ended, non-dogmatic, speaking to and grounded in the circumstances of everyday life. It must moreover be premised on a deep respect for intellectual and political capacities of the dispossessed\" (p. 55). Educational research is about understanding human problems and behaviour with the goal of addressing problems and transforming behaviour to produce better teaching or learning processes. The views on qualitative research expressed by Lather are compatible with the goals of Africentric research. It empowers the people researched by treating them as participants and not as subjects. People as autonomous beings must have a moral right to participate in decisions that claim to generate knowledge about them. Such a right protects them from being managed and manipulated. Participatory research is a methodology that facilitates the liberation of oppressed people (Hall, 1981a; Irwin &amp; Miller, 1997; Tandon, 1981). VioGrossi (1981) suggests that participatory research must attempt to \"initiate a process of dis-indoctrination to allow the people to detach from their own cultural elements, those elements that have been imposed on them and are functional to the status quo\" (p. 46). Participatory research is pragmatic in that it involves those who are traditionally the researched in the formulation of problems, collection of data and interpretation and use of findings. The Africentric method rejects the hierarchical relationship between an investigator and subjects.  \u000C126  It speaks of research that is ultimately verifiable in the experiences of human beings, as the ultimate empirical authority. The methods of proof are grounded upon the principles of fairness and openness. The knower is inseparable from the known. A researcher's sensitivity, flexibility, listenability, objectivity, empathy with others and tolerance for ambiguity play an important part in the research process. Asante (1990) points out that: The Africentrist seeks to uncover and use codes, paradigms, symbols, motifs, myths and circles of discussion that reinforce the centrality of African ideals and values as a valid frame of reference for acquiring and examining data. Such a method appears to . . . re-valorize the African place in the interpretation of Africans, continental and diasporan. (p. 6) The Africentric method is open to approaches under which researchers are immersed in the socio-cultural context of study. As a community-based collaborative study, this research involved two experts who were members of the African-Canadian community in the implementation of the African Art and Cultural Program as well as the data collection process. The study achieved triangulation of information through focus group interviews with student participants, individual in-depth interviews and interviews with parents to corroborate students' responses. This approach is in contrast with traditional ethnography and the experimental frameworks, which are based on the logic of manipulation of variables and prediction. Traditional ethnographic research has relied upon \"the rationality and stability of writers and readers and upon non-contradictory subjects who say what they mean and mean what they say\" (Britzman, 1990, p. 2). But for the Africentrist, \"being there\" does not guarantee access to truth and so the tradition of ethnographic authority derived from participant/observation becomes decentred. So, too, does the investment that \"reality\" is somehow out there waiting to be captured by language (Asante, 1990). Like the phenomenologist or feminist, the Africentrist searches for essence by questioning all assumptions about reality that are rooted in a single view of the universe (Asante, 1990). The context of African people encourages collective as opposed to an individual struggle against the structures of racism and oppression. No doubt, cultural and social immersion is viewed as crucial to an Africentric inquiry than scientific distance. As an insider, I had to deal with all the problems and possibilities that surface when the researcher and those researched are members of a common cultural community. In this sense, my identity provided a contextual starting point for developing relationships. It  \u000C127  provided some degree of trust and accessibility to information. M y socialization and training provided the advantage of knowing the history, language, philosophy, values and myths about the people under study. Other methods often assume that the researcher need not know anything about a culture in order to undertake a project. In recent times however, some classic ethnographic and social science research have become the subject of much controversy. In the article, \"Ethnography of Africa: The Usefulness of the Useless,\" Owusu (1978) argues that due to fundamental misunderstandings of groups and cultures under study, many traditional ethnographies are \"at best, oversimplifications and at worst, flat wrong\" (p. 312). An \"outsider\" to a culture often is faced with the problem of misrepresentation and misappropriation in an attempt to gain access to the discursive space of others. M y shared identity with the Black community enabled me to establish rapport, which was necessary for honest and open discussions, and for recovering authentic narratives with participants. Nevertheless, my relationships with participants were also differentiated by other equally important diasporan characteristics such as differences in nationality, native language, ethnic background, religious beliefs and experience that made me both an insider and an outsider simultaneously. Thus, I had to grapple with the political conflicts, the methodological dilemmas, ethical issues and often, conflicting roles in this research. One of the values that attract me to Africentric and critical ethnographic methods is the commitment to the participant as a knowing intentional being who contributes to the construction of knowledge. It argues that people are bearers of ideology rather than essential authors (Fuss, 1989). M y thrust as an Africentric researcher is to abandon the linear method of inquiry and adopt a methodology that will treat my participants as knowers in knowledge production through dialogue. The multi-method qualitative research approach enabled the voices of the participants to inform significantly the analytical process and resultant interpretations. Africentric method, like critical ethnography, promises to deliver voices that have been previously shut out of normative educational research. There is also the practical commitment of the right to speak, to represent oneself and, in this vision; the researcher is committed to advocating subjugated knowledge. By centring participants' narratives in the analyses and working from their experiences to develop a theoretical understanding, the participants themselves have played an important role in the creation of this knowledge. Agar (1980) points out that:  \u000C128  Whether it is your personality, your rules of social interaction, your cultural bias toward significant topics, your professional training, or something else, you do not go into the field as a passive recorder of objective data. During the fieldwork, you are surrounded by a multitude of noises and activities. As you choose what to attend to and how to interpret it, mental doors are slam shut on the alternatives. While some of your choices may be consciously made, others are forced by the weight of the personal and professional background that you bring to the field, (p. 48) Lather (1991) suggests the use of reciprocity as a system for negotiating meanings, power and understanding, while speaking with participants in emancipatory research. According to Lather, Critical inquiry is a response to the experiences, desires and needs of the oppressed people. Its initial step is to develop an understanding of the worldview of the research participants. Central to developing such an understanding is a dialogic research design where respondents are actively involved in the construction and validation of meanings. The purpose of this phase is to provide accounts that are bases for further analysis and a corrective to the investigators' perception regarding the subjects' life-world and experiences, (p. 63)  Site and Context The principal sites for this study were: 1) Multicultural Family Centre (MFC); and 2) an east Vancouver Elementary School in British Columbia. Research participants were selected from the African6  Canadian parents and children who participated in the activities at the M F C , and from a Grade 7, art class at the east Vancouver School including the school principal and art teacher. The Multicultural Family Centre (MFC) is a community-based social service provider with a wide range of programs, support and services aimed at improving access to health care and social services for immigrant and refugee communities in Vancouver and its surrounding districts. It is located at the Research, Education and Action for Community Health (REACH) Community Centre in the heart of east Vancouver. The M F C , a brainchild of Carole P. Christensen (Professor at the University of British Columbia School of Social Work &amp; Family Studies, and a former Director of that School), was established in 1991 with initial funding from Multiculturalism and Citizenship Canada (now Canadian Heritage), following a comprehensive survey and community consultation. During the first phase of its existence, the M F C extended its outreach program to the Vietnamese Community. At the request of several other i community leaders and members, services were later extended to the Latin American and the African To protect the identity of participants from the school, as promised on the Consent Form, the actual name of the school is never mentioned in this study.  6  \u000C129  Communities in 1993 and 1994 respectively. As a Canadian of African-American heritage, and a professor with over two decades of crosscultural clinical practice and research experience in Quebec (McGill University, School of Social Work) and in British Columbia, Dr. Christensen (Program Director of the MFC) demonstrates understanding of issues faced by people of colour in Canada. The need to provide culturally appropriate outreach programs led the M F C to work in close cooperation with members of the various immigrant communities in order to promote healthy adaptation and integration of their members into the host society. Similar motivation led the M F C to enter into a working partnership with the R E A C H community health centre which provides medical and dental care, counselling and health education programs in the multiethnic GrandviewWoodlands area of Vancouver. This partnership has enabled both the M F C and R E A C H to enhance the cross-cultural training of their respective staffs, thereby, ensuring the delivery of culturally appropriate programs and services to the various ethnic communities. Since its inception the M F C has cooperated with several agencies and existing programs to assist its clients. It has served as a practicum or field training site for students of Social Work, counselling, nursing and art therapy, and has provided education, volunteer and employment opportunities. As an indicator of success, the M F C has managed to continue its programs through funding from the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board, the former British Columbia Ministry of Multiculturalism and Immigration, and grants from a number of other sources. In addition, the M F C was awarded the End Racism Award by the Ministry of Multiculturalism and Immigration in the year 2000, for the African Women and Children's Program. Based on community input, the M F C ' s program for the African community has expanded from its initial focus on women dealing with issues of health, parenting, intergenerational conflict and adaptation to include programs for children. The purpose of the African children's program is to foster positive cultural identity and increase self-confidence in academic and social abilities. The M F C began a Youth Program in the spring of year 2000, emphasizing the promotion of self-esteem and combating racism experienced in schools and in the wider society. The Centre, through its cross-cultural facilitators, encourages Black/African parents to be active participants in their children's education by becoming familiar with the Vancouver school system and school/teacher expectations of parents.  \u000C130  My connection with the M F C started through my voluntary experience with the African-Canadian children at the Centre. After working with the children and youth for about two years as a volunteer instructor in African art and culture, I began to identify with their problems and concerns, particularly with regard to the conflict of values that some of them experience between the home and school cultures. I also became concerned about the cultural discontinuity and marginalization of the children's cultural heritage in school. M y goal was to help raise their self-esteem and cultural awareness through art activities. Following two years of volunteer time, I expressed to the M F C Cross-cultural Facilitators and the members of my dissertation committee, a desire to conduct a study about the African children's art and cultural experiences at the M F C , and their educational realities in the public school classroom. The parents, the M F C staff and members of my committee responded favourably to my proposal by providing insightful suggestions, which helped in the formulation of this research. The East Vancouver Elementary School: M y decision to extend the study to a public school was a difficult one because of the Vancouver School Board's moratorium on unsolicited research in the school district at that time. As I grappled with the decision either to abandon the idea altogether or to seek a school in another district, the Program Director of the M F C , promised to arrange for me to conduct my study at an inner-city, multi-ethnic elementary school in east Vancouver with which the M F C had an ongoing working partnership. This decision was a welcome development since it enabled me to gain access to a second research site: a school right in the heart of Vancouver with a large multicultural population and close to the M F C , my first research site. The school has a student population with roots from over 29 ethnic, linguistic and national backgrounds. The majority of students were of Chinese and Vietnamese origins, with the remainder having various backgrounds, including First Nations, IndoCanadian and Euro-Canadian. Due to its multicultural student population, its relations with the M F C , and its open-door policy, it warmly accepted my request to conduct this study at the school.  Selection of Participants/Entering Before the selection of participants and sites for the study, I put together a curriculum advisory team. The advisory team included two M F C cross-cultural facilitators (who are also mothers), two parents,  \u000C131  two members of the Black/African-Canadian community (who eventually became facilitators for the African Art and Cultural Education Program), an art teacher from the east Vancouver School and the researcher. As participatory research, my goal was to bring together parents, community workers and the school to provide suggestions for appropriate content and methodology for an African-centred multicultural art curriculum. The first meeting with the curriculum advisory team took place in February 1998 at the School of Social Work in the University of British Columbia. At the meeting, I discussed the focus of my study and the role of the advisory team. It was during this meeting that the idea of expanding the study to cover a public school was decided. At first, I was reluctant to expand the study knowing the commitment it would involve. However, after speaking with my thesis committee, 1 felt excited about the possibilities of implementing an African-centred multicultural art program at both the community and public school settings. I was enthusiastic that my work would make a valuable contribution to art education and provincial and district multicultural education policy. I felt pleased that my proposal had received positive response from both the curriculum advisory and the thesis committees. The second meeting with the curriculum advisory team took place in April 1998 at the M F C . There had been initial contacts with the parent-group during their vocational training sessions and parent forums at the M F C . Our deliberations centred on content, rationale and scope of the African Art and Cultural Program. We discussed the logistics: time lines, materials and equipment, costs, space, potential participants and research sites. When I was ready to begin my research, I submitted a proposal to the Multicultural Family Centre requesting permission to conduct research at the M F C with the African-Canadian Community. I indicated my intention to design and implement an African-centred multicultural art curriculum project at the centre and in a school setting. The M F C responded positively to my proposal and suggested that I could undertake a pilot study during some of my regular voluntary art teaching sessions at the centre. From then on, the M F C program facilitators began to introduce and advertise me to the Black/African Canadian community who visited the centre weekly. For eight weeks, I was provided a platform to explain my proposed research to the group, as well as invite them to volunteer as participants. There was a lot of enthusiasm on the part of the Black/African-Canadian parents and youth toward the study. Consent forms  \u000C132  were provided to all the parents and the youth who volunteered to participate in the study. The consent forms outlined the title, purpose, procedures, commitments and benefits of the study. Besides their own consent, students had to have their parents' signature on the consent forms if they were willing to participate in the research project. I also assured them of confidentiality and anonymity (i.e., use of pseudonyms in place of real names). I reminded them that their participation was voluntary and that they could change their minds at any time during the study. In all, 10 parents agreed to participate in face-toface interviews but only eight of them participated in the interviews. It was expected that speaking directly to the stakeholders involved in the daily experience of Black/African-Canadian children would most effectively portray the issues involved in their education. The process of arranging and negotiating the details of my interviews and visits provided me with some insights regarding the extent to which the African-Canadian parents and their children accepted my claims of insider status. Although I provided the parents the option of choosing the venue for the interviews, all of them invited me into their homes to conduct the interviews. In many cases, their courtesies and desire to share their meals with me were typical of the tradition of African hospitality. The M F C , through its partnership with the School in east Vancouver, assisted me in securing a second research site in east Vancouver. As indicated earlier, the Vancouver School Board had placed a moratorium on unsolicited research undertakings involving the school district at the time. At our first meeting in November 1998,1 was introduced to the school principal and four classroom teachers by the M F C cross-cultural facilitator. Since the meeting was pre-arranged, the principal had organized four teachers who expressed their desire to have me teach African art and culture in their respective classes. I discussed briefly the purpose and nature of the research and explained that the kind of study I was planning to conduct in their school would not permit me to work with all the classes and their teachers. It was collectively agreed that a Grade 7 art class would be the most suitable group for the study. I also raised the issue of obtaining informed consent from the parents of students who were to participate in the African Art and Cultural Program and a focus group interview. It was commented that since my proposal was compatible with the Grade 7 art curriculum and was not going to subject the students to individual interviews it should not be an issue. In any case, I suggested that the school, through the classroom  \u000C133  teacher, should make the parents aware of the program and students given the option to opt out if they so desired. I assured them of confidentiality and anonymity. I was, of course, elated that the school had responded positively to my proposal without any pressure from me. I knew the importance of developing a sincere, non-hierarchical, reciprocal relationship with participants. After obtaining approval from the school, I was introduced to the school's administrative staff, vice principal and some other teachers. I felt welcome. The following week, 1 met with the Grade 7 art teacher during lunchtime to discuss the implementation process. We had a detailed discussion on how to integrate the African Art and Cultural Program into her own art curriculum for the year. The school agreed to provide all the art materials that would be needed for the project. We set up the dates and times that were mutually convenient for starting and completing my work at the school. Following the lunch break, the teacher introduced me to the class. I told the students that I was there to share my expertise in African art and cultural knowledge with them. 1 also told them that 1 would conduct a focus interview with the entire class at the end of the program and that their teacher would send notes to inform their parents of the program. I thought carefully about what to wear since I was going to be introduced to the art students who would be participants of my study. For my visits to the school, African costume became my clothing of choice. Securing the consents of the M F C , parents, students and from the east Vancouver Elementary School was time-consuming, nevertheless, designing the program was not as easy as I had anticipated. It took me nine months after my first meeting with the curriculum advisory team to come up with the outline of my final program. In August/September 1998 the African Art and Cultural Program was implemented at the Multicultural Family Centre. It was again implemented at the east Vancouver School between January and June 1999. Between the Fall of 1998 and Winter 1999,1 spent the time contacting students and their parents for interviews. Before the implementation of the African Art and Cultural Program, a series of focus group interviews were piloted at the M F C . This allowed me to test and develop my interview questionnaire, as well as gain a preliminary understanding of Black/African parents' and students' perceptions and opinions of the education system, particularly with regard to multicultural education.  \u000C134  Data Collection Data for the study has been generated through the implementation of the African Art and Cultural Program (AACEP). In the study, 30 Black/African-Canadian students between the ages of 10 years and 18 years participated in the two-week African Art and Cultural Education Program in August/September 1998 at the M F C . Fifteen children who could provide informed consent and met the demands of the research were selected for the interviews (see Table 4.1 for attendance record). Individualized interviews were conducted with Black/African-Canadian students and parents at their homes; with the art teacher and principal at the east Vancouver School; and with the Cross-cultural facilitators at the M F C . Table 4.2. provides the background information of Black/African-Canadian students who participated in the interviews. Out of the 15 students, there were 7 females and 8 males. The gender of the participants was fairly balanced in order to gain broader understanding of the issues from the perspective of both genders. Interviews: Two formal interview methods were employed following the implementation of the program. These included: 1) focus group interviews, with the 15 selected Black/African-Canadian students, and 29 students from the Grade 7 art class in the east Vancouver School. Each interview session, took between one and two hours. Questions were formulated according to the level of the group being interviewed to achieve a better understanding of each group of participants. I was aware of the age group of the students, as well as the educational background and socio economic status of the six parents and two M F C facilitators who agreed to participate in the study. A l l the parents, except one had at least a university degree. Of the three fathers, one was a high school teacher in Surrey, one was pursuing a PhD degree and the other was a security officer. The mothers held such positions as administrative secretary, teacher, child support service worker and social worker. The interview questionnaire was pilot tested with a group of African-Canadian children and parents at the M F C . Interviews with parents, guardians and M F C facilitators made it possible to cross-reference students' narratives as well as to gain the adults' views and perspectives on Blacks and education in British Columbia. The interviews allowed me to review the research questions in the course of data collection and analysis with the aim of soliciting adequate answers to the research questions. A second round of  \u000C135  Table 4.1  Attendance Record of Black/African-Canadian Students for the African Art and Cultural Education Program at the Multicultural Family Centre Date  1998  September  August  #  Name &amp; Country  24th  25th  26th 27th  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  Amet (Somalia) Bayan (Ethiopia) Charles (Nigeria) Dave* (Uganda) Dixie* (Uganda) Don* (Kenya) Eden* (Eritrea) Emma* (Ghana) Estella* (Uganda) Fadai (Eritrea) Fatima (Ethiopia) Feven (Somalia) Filmon (Zambia) Gifty* (Uganda) Hannah* (Sudan) Henok (Ethiopia) Jethro (Uganda) John* (Uganda) Judas* (Sudan) Jonathan (Djibouti) Lillian* (Uganda) Maryam* (Sudan) Nancy (Nigeria) Ronald* (Uganda) Ruth (Nigeria) Sammy (Somalia) Susie* (Sudan) Simon (Eritrea) Sarah* (Uganda) Thomas (Ghana) Total  \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ X \\ \\ \\ \\ X X \\ \\ X X \\ X \\ \\ X \\ X \\ X 21  \\ X \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\. \\ X \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ X \\ X \\ X 25  \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ X 29  Break  \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ 30  \" X \" refers to non-participation &amp; \"\\\" refers to participation. (*) identifies students who participated in the individual interviews.  31st  1st  2nd  \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ X \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ 29  X \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ 29  \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\  X \\ \\ \\ X \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\  X \\ \\ \\  \\ 27  \u000C136  Table 4.2  Background Information of Black/African-Canadian Students January - September 1999 No.  Name &amp; Gender  Age &amp; Grade  Country of Origin  Immigration Date  1  Estella (F)  1214, Grade 7  Uganda  1990  2  Gifty (F)  14'/ , Grade 9  Uganda  1990  3  Hannah (F)  14, Grade 8  Sudan  1994  4  L i l l i a n (F)  13, Grade 7  Uganda  1989  5  Maryam (F)  17, Grade 11  Sudan  1994  6  Susie (F)  12!/ , Grade 7  Sudan  1994  7  Sarah (F)  17, Grade 11  Uganda  1989  8  Dave ( M )  16, Grade 11  Uganda  1990  9  Dixie ( M )  14, Grade 9  Uganda  1992  10  Don ( M )  1314, Grade 8  Kenya  1986  11  Eden ( M )  15, Grade 10  Eritea  1993  12  Emma(M)  18, Grade 12  Ghana  1996  13  Judas ( M )  14'/2,  Sudan  1994  14  John ( M )  15, Grade 10  Uganda  1990  15  Ronald ( M )  15, Grade 10  Uganda  1992  2  2  Grade 9  \u000C137 interviews with participants were carried out to augment and clarify previous information. I videotaped all the seven lessons in the African art unit with the consent o f parents and the students. Similarly, 1 audiorecorded all the interviews and transcribed them for analysis. Transcribing the interviews was a very arduous process as any ethnographer can attest. I transcribed 27 individual and group interviews, most o f which required at least two separate visits to complete an individual interview. When all the transcriptions were completed, there were over 250 pages o f transcripts to study. Black/African-Canadian students' interviews: 1 carried out two major interviews (focus group and individual) with each o f the 15 Black/African-Canadian student-participants. The goal o f the interviews was not only to shed light on the artistic, educational and cultural experience o f the learners from the African-Canadian community in Vancouver, but also to obtain the perspective o f individual participants regarding their perceptions about the African A r t and Cultural Program. The focus group interview at the M F C provided some insights into students' reaction immediately following the implementation o f the program. Since the lessons were still fresh in their minds, it was expected that their responses would be an accurate reflection o f their experiences during the workshops. The purpose o f conducting the individualized interviews with the Black/African-Canadian students was to follow up on the focus group interview with a broader scope o f questions that provide information in greater depth. Questions that guided the interview o f the Black students can be seen in Appendix II. Focus interviews (in-school): A t the east Vancouver School, the focus group interview was intended to determine the impact o f the program on students' understanding and perceptions o f multiculturalism, African people, their art and culture. Questions that guided my focus interviews at the school can be found in Appendix II. Parent/MFC cross-cultural facilitators' interviews: Although schools play the most direct role in affecting the educational experiences o f students, including their cultural education; parents, guardians, the community and other stakeholders also have responsibilities and identifiable roles to play in the delivery o f education in Canada. Black /African-Canadian parents and M F C cross-cultural facilitators were interviewed to solicit their opinions and perceptions o f the education system, with special reference to Black/African learners and multicultural education. Questions that guided my interviews with the two  \u000C138  groups o f educational stakeholders can be seen in Appendix II. School principal/teacher's interviews: A s \"front line\" workers in the education system, teachers are crucial in the schooling process. I interviewed an art teacher and a school principal at the end o f my program at the east Vancouver school. The interviews took place at a pre-arranged time in their offices. Sample questions that guided my interviews can be found in Appendix II. Informal interviews: Throughout the study, I talked to the students, parents and M F C program coordinators during the weekly group meetings at the M F C and during African parents' workshops. I also participated in the monthly forums at the M F C where Black/African-Canadian parents brainstormed and discussed pertinent issues affecting their lives and the Black community in general. Although these conversations sometimes touched on issues discussed in this study, they were largely informal in that they were neither pre-arranged nor directly connected to my study. I did not take notes, but usually summarized the conversation in writing at the first opportunity. I frequently talked to the Black youths who came to the centre, some o f whom were not participants in the African A r t and Cultural Program. I also talked with many parents, some o f whom were not formally interviewed.  Data Interpretation from a Critical Multicultural Education Perspective To interpret and make sense o f the data and materials collected, I adopted data analysis procedures most appropriate for critical multicultural education research. The goal for adopting such a procedure was to understand the role that critical pedagogy could play in facilitating a more thoughtful analysis o f multicultural education, as well as how students understand and interpret their school experiences. In order to manage the large volume o f data gathered, I used Q S R N U D I S T (N5), a software program for qualitative data analysis to code the interview transcripts and field notes. B y importing the interview transcripts and field notes onto the Q S R N U D I S T (N5) program, it became possible to manage, explore and analyze the data. The flexibility gained from the N 5 program in coding documents, searching texts and nodes, importing and exporting data and reporting on the research data, enabled me to become familiar with the data including its main outcome and themes. In reporting the data in Chapters S i x and Seven, I employed a reference system obtained from the  \u000C\u2022\u2022'  \u2022  139  N U D I S T (N5) program for qualitative data analysis. First, I grouped the interview transcripts into four separate documents: 1) Responses from Black African-Canadian Students (S); 2) Responses from Black Parents/MFC Cross-cultural Facilitators (P); 3) Responses from School Principal/Art Teacher (T); and 4) Responses from Students at the east Vancouver School (N). Second, each document was subdivided into text units (a text unit is the smallest segment o f text that the N U D I S T program can code or retrieve) that corresponded with responses o f participants to the interview questions. Finally, after coding the documents, the N U D I S T program numbered all the text units (responses to each question) and automatically generated a reference system for each document. This made it possible and easy to find, retrieve and work with each text unit or question and response from participants. B y identifying the common themes and viewpoints, I gained comparative perspective on perceptions o f the education system and on the impact o f the African A r t and Cultural Education Program. In deciding on categories or themes to re-present participants' perceptions o f the education system in British Columbia and Canada, I went back into the literature and re-read many o f the pieces I had employed to frame my proposal and justification for the study. The research literature on Black/AfricanCanadian educational experience in Ontario, N o v a Scotia and other parts o f Canada became more meaningful when I placed it in juxtaposition with the stories o f the Black/African-Canadian parents and students in this study. Many o f the issues that were discussed in Chapter T w o were reinforced in the course o f the interviews with participants. Due to prolonged contact with participants and the comprehensive nature o f the interview data, as many as 24 issues or themes emerged from parents' perceptions o f the education system. When the various interview transcripts were exported into the Q S R N U D I S T (N5) program as four separate documents, I coded and searched the documents using the initial 24 themes as code words. In order to make sense o f the data I decided to merge related issues into broader categories o f seven themes namely: curricula issues, institutional constraints, multicultural education and Africentric knowledge, teacher preparation and representation, role models, family and community participation and gender issues. This process enabled me to know what each individual or group o f participants was saying under each o f the seven major themes. In order to provide a reflective analysis o f data during different stages o f the research, I used Sonia  \u000C140 Nieto's (1999) framework for the interpretation o f data in multicultural education research. According to Nieto, the experiences o f people who have been disenfranchised by traditional schools could be properly understood by applying six principles from a critical multicultural education perspective. Critical pedagogy has inspired the inclusion o f students' voices in multicultural education through its insistence on students' involvement in the process o f their own education. Because critical pedagogy recognizes the political nature o f education and the need to challenge its content and form, it also brings to multicultural education a sharp institutional analysis that might otherwise be missing under \"liberal\" or uncritical forms o f multicultural education (Sleeter &amp; M c L a r e n , 1995). H o w can the lens o f critical multiculturalism facilitate our understanding o f the perspectives o f students, parents and teachers on the education system; and o f the impact o f an African centred cultural education model on students? Nieto (1999) points out that multicultural education without a critical perspective may conceal oppressive social structures or, in other words, bring about superficial changes that may not affect, in any meaningful way, the life chances o f students who have been marginalized in the school system. While it is necessary that students' lived experiences be centred in the curriculum to make education more meaningful to them, it w i l l not necessarily make them more critical thinkers. Similarly, the celebration o f ethnic or cultural festivals and the inclusion o f a few characteristic examples from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to the curriculum can be very uplifting for students, but it may not help them critique the Euro-centric male focus on art history or how history has been traditionally taught as unproblematic progress, regardless o f the ethnic perspective. A g a i n , changing pedagogical practices in response to community demands, while probably a good thing to do, w i l l not likely, in itself, result in transforming experiences o f Black/African-Canadian learners. Critical multiculturalism introduces new directions in data analysis and interpretation that w i l l bring about a critical assessment o f racism and the negative impact o f school policies and practices on students who have been the greatest victims o f school failure (Nieto, 1999). The six principles Nieto proposes bring to multicultural education a critical and institutionalized analysis o f data: 1.  Critical multicultural education affirms students' culture without trivializing the concept o f culture: It was evident in the stories o f the Black/African-Canadian students that African art, culture and history, which were conspicuously missing from the school curriculum, had become a  \u000C141 rich source o f motivation and pride during the African A r t and Cultural Education Program at the M F C . But a critical multicultural education perspective goes beyond the mere affirmation o f students' backgrounds, to a genuinely transformative pedagogy and curriculum. 2.  Critical multicultural education challenges hegemonic knowledge: Students often accept much o f what is taught in schools as factual knowledge. Knowledge from textbooks acquires even more authenticity among students. Banks (1995), however, makes it clear that \"hegemonic knowledge that promotes the interests o f the powerful, elite groups often obscures its value premises by masquerading as totally objective\" (p. 15). A critical multicultural education perspective demands that all knowledge be interrogated and scrutinized to determine its veracity or otherwise.  3.  Critical multicultural education complicates pedagogy: A critical multicultural perspective enables us to understand that there is no one right away to teach. This perspective complicates the question o f pedagogy; it challenges teachers to re-think what and how they teach, and to constantly question their decisions.  4.  Critical multicultural education problematizes a simplistic focus on self-esteem: Critical multicultural education perspective problematizes the notion that students cannot learn unless they feel good about themselves. Self-esteem operates in relation to particular contexts rather than as a unitary concept. If self-esteem is understood as an individual psychological construct, it overlooks the socio-political context o f students' lives, downplaying racism and other oppressive behaviours that students experience. Hence, how schools and society create low self-esteem in children needs to be considered. L o w self-esteem may be the result o f school policies and practices that respect and affirm some groups while devaluing others. While students internalize many negative messages to which they are subjected, others actively resist negative messages through interactions with, peers, family and school.  5.  Critical multicultural education encourages \"dangerous discourses\": Multicultural education is perceived by many as a threat because it encourages \"dangerous discourses\" that challenges the status quo in and out o f school. During the interviews, students were able to discuss \"dangerous discourses\" about race, power, privilege, identity, difference, culture and inequity, which have no place in most schools, but which have profound effects on students' lives. Critical multicultural education demands that students be encouraged to discuss controversial issues within their sociopolitical context that may provide meaningful focal points for the learning o f all students particularly, those alienated by the school. It has the potential to link learning with democracy. It is not neat; it does not hold all the answers, nevertheless, it is a more hopeful pedagogy.  6.  Critical multiculturalism admits that multicultural education cannot do it all: Multicultural  \u000C142 education is a hopeful pedagogy in that it holds great promise for transforming the future o f countless youngsters who would otherwise be alienated by the school and society. But a critical perspective makes it clear that multicultural education is not a panacea. For Black/AfricanCanadian youths the road ahead is difficult one. M a n y have little to look forward to but a life o f unfulfilled expectations. The dilemmas faced by many Black youth, obviously include far more than irrelevant curriculum and pedagogy. They are potential victims o f socio-political circumstances like racial discrimination, violence, police harassment and cultural maladjustment. Despite the many challenges, schools can still make meaningful improvements in education o f the youths who are poorly served by the education system i f multicultural education and school policies are tuned to their needs not, just as those o f English speaking, middle-class students. Many teachers and schools have provided inspiring cases o f academic success o f students who might otherwise have been dismissed as incapable o f learning or achieving.  Summary of the Research Methodology The African-centred multicultural art education curriculum and pedagogy acknowledges the significance o f issues o f research orientation, methods, data collection and analysis as discussed in this chapter. The research methodology is influenced by the Africentric conceptual framework and critical ethnography. Africentric research methods flow from the ideological assumptions inherent within Africentric theory. It is eclectic and embraces the tenets o f approaches such as participatory research and feminist research. Critical ethnography situates this study within a wider socio-political and historical context which serves emancipatory and democratic interests. Through the implementation o f the multicultural curriculum unit, the study generated its data. Interviews (group and individual), participant observation, field notes and videotaping o f the workshops form the basis o f this study.  \u000C143  CHAPTER FIVE  DESCRIPTION OF THE A R T A N D C U L T U R A L C U R R I C U L U M IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS  Introduction Cultural discontinuity is detrimental to students' artistic and intellectual development due to cultural differences in aesthetic perception and learning styles o f ethno-cultural groups (Irwin &amp; Farrell, 1996; Neperud et al., 1986; Nieto, 1996). For a long time Canadian school systems have been unable or unwilling to adequately address the artistic and cultural needs o f Blacks/African-Canadian children and other visible minorities despite the policy o f multiculturalism. The purpose o f this integrated curriculum is to provide an interrelated, arts centred unit o f study using Black/African culture as the theme for organizing experiences. The unit employs the mediums o f visual arts, verbal arts and history and geography to foster understanding and appreciation o f African art and culture (see Appendix I). T o the Africentrists, all academic disciplines (mathematics, science, philosophy, history, art and literature) are interconnected; they are taught as separate subjects only by distortion (Verharen, 1995). The overriding goal is to attempt, through the implementation o f this unit, to redress some misconceptions about Africa and its people, celebrate the positive aspects o f Africa that are rarely seen or known, enhance cultural awareness and self-esteem o f Black/African-Canadian students, as well as promote cultural understanding and healthy inter-group relations among students. The unit can be useful to children in Grades 7 - 12. A s indicated earlier, this curriculum unit is an interdisciplinary approach to multicultural art education. A s educators respond to calls for inclusive education, many art educators are increasingly moving toward interdisciplinary models o f art teaching. M a n y educators agree that any given discipline is not merely a content area or a concentration on certain topics, but a set o f strategies, perspectives and processes. The more educators think o f disciplines as living practices, the more we realize that multicultural education curriculum must draw from the processes - the pedagogy and learning modes - o f different discipline areas. Most o f the activities in this unit, while they focus on visual art, are appropriate for a social studies class. Some activities are also appropriate for language arts, science and other subject areas.  \u000C144  Curriculum Process A curriculum, as a document, is a plan o f what one wants to teach (content skills or knowledge to be learned); why one wants to teach (the reasons for teaching the content in the curriculum) and how one wants to teach (strategies or methods for effective transmission o f the curriculum). The curriculum process was broken into two parts: 1) The Curriculum Platform established the reasons that served as the foundation to the curriculum; and 2) Deliberations included the content and methods o f implementing the curriculum. The foundation for African-centred multicultural education is grounded on African cultural values, both indigenous and contemporary, the cultural needs o f stakeholders, especially the AfricanCanadian community and the rationale for art and multicultural education. Education and artistic life in Africa is not separated from everyday life. A r t education exists both in theory and in practice. The theoretical aspects o f African art knowledge are embedded in the abstract, philosophical, cosmological, psychological and spiritual ideas. For example, by combining round shapes/forms (which may represent women or the Supreme Deity) with angular shapes/forms (which may represent men) in an African sculpture, a message o f harmony between the Supreme Being, women and men in society is conveyed. The practical aspects o f African art are the concrete artistic visual productions and the aesthetic life o f indigenous and contemporary Africans. They include the performing arts, body arts and visual arts forms. There is a strong socio-cultural reinforcement in traditional African art education. Africans believe in a Supreme Being and a hierarchy o f gods and ancestors. The African view of the universe from a perspective o f interdependence and interconnectedness o f spiritual, material and human elements is the underlying philosophy o f African art and culture. Artefacts may represent the spirits and deities in concrete form and facilitate spiritual communication. Africans believe in communal life and spontaneous sincere expressions. Important ideas are expressed in graphic and abstract symbols. Artistic expressions have meaning (i.e., utilitarian, psychological, spiritual, symbolic and philosophical). They are impersonal representations o f ideas rather than resemblance and individual self-expression. Ideas o f knowledge are found in proverbs, graphic symbols, stories and folktales. For instance, the following African proverbs, \"knowledge is like the baobab tree\" (meaning there is no end to what a person can know), and \"two heads are better than one\" (meaning collaborative thinking yields better results), confirm  \u000C145 traditional African ideas about knowledge. Since there is no end to knowledge, no one can claim to know everything. Therefore, important decisions and conclusions are arrived at through discussions and consultations (two heads are better than one).  Rationale Visual arts education provides opportunities for students to perceive, respond to, create and communicate through images. This enables them to experience and apply throughout their lives the power, ideas and emotions expressed in visual images. The visual arts are fundamental to the development o f individual potential, social responsibility, cultural identity, cultural awareness and cultural appreciation. Unlike other subjects, art education is unique because through artistic expression, children can think, feel and act creatively at the same time. A r t objects are visual sources o f knowledge and are necessary for human development. Images become meaningful to students when they develop an understanding o f the personal, social, cultural and historical contexts in which these images are viewed or created. W e acquire and develop subjective thinking through art. This process enables us to cope with differences in interpersonal relations and contradictions o f life. Art is an integral part o f any culture. It may serve as a means o f communication through which cultural ideas and values may be transmitted and taught. For it is through art that people express their profound cultural values and cognitive patterns. In traditional Africa, art and life are interwoven. The meaning o f art is conceptual and therefore, the use o f the term art in a Western sense o f understanding may not be accurate or appropriate to describe the myriads o f objects, rituals, ceremonies and symbolisms that characterize the arts o f Africa. African art represents ideas drawn from particular circumstances and a particular worldview. T o best appreciate it, therefore, requires the understanding o f the historical, cultural, philosophical and environmental factors that have influenced its creation. This task requires a great deal o f contextual knowledge o f the role o f the arts in the diverse African cultures and an effort o f imaginative and aesthetic judgement. It w i l l also require a broader conception o f art that includes the visual arts, verbal arts, body arts and performing arts. Africa is the land o f lost kingdoms and civilizations. Most people today assume that the world o f ancient Africa was limited to Egypt and that sub-Saharan Africa had no historic past before European  \u000C146 contact in the 16 century. Nevertheless, Nubia, Egypt's rival, stands as one o f the earliest known African th  civilizations that flourished for over 500 years, before the building o f the great pyramids o f Egypt until after Columbus's voyages to the N e w W o r l d (Botwinick, 1978). A g a i n , for well over a thousand years, from about C . E . 500 to 1700, the civilizations o f Western Sudan - Ghana, M a l i and Songhai, flourished. The wealth o f these Mende-speaking kingdoms o f Western Sudan was legendary in medieval Europe. During the same period, Europe suffered from constant warfare and only slowly recovered its lost glory. The history o f the \"Dark A g e s \" and the Renaissance is taught in every school. However, most o f us know nothing about Africa's history, except Egypt. Awareness o f the fact that there existed great African civilizations and well-ordered empires such as those o f ancient Egypt, Nubia, Great Zimbabwe, O l d Ghana, M a l i and Songhai shatters the long held myth that Africans were inferior, incapable o f creating art or anything o f value. Colonization o f Africa did not only result in the systemic control o f territories but also o f information about the continent. A s a result, achievements o f Blacks o f ancient Egypt, Nubia, O l d Ghana, M a l i , Songhai and other African kingdoms have remained frozen in world history. Revealing the glory o f these forgotten empires in Africa enables us to share in the inspiring process o f historical recovery that is taking place today and thereby scraping away hundreds o f years o f ignorance, prejudice, misrepresentation and neglect. The content o f cultural education employed in this unit included lessons on: 1) The land o f Africa, 2) Ghanaian Kente weaving and African identity, 3) M a s k making, 4) African mythology, folktales and fables, 5) Printmaking from African Adinkra graphic symbols, 6) Ancient Egypt and Nubia, and 7) Introduction to ancient empires o f Ghana, M a l i , and Songhai. A copy o f the complete curriculum unit plan is presented in Appendix I. A brief summary o f the activities w i l l be provided here to facilitate the reading and understanding o f the curriculum implementation process. 1.  The Land o f Africa is intended to encourage children to learn through artwork, map study and verbally the various African countries (see Figure 2.7 for map), their cities and major geographical features, in relation to other continents. Knowledge about the continent o f Africa, the size, the various countries, political boundaries, landmarks, minerals and other natural resources, population and culture, could serve as the context for understanding the role o f the arts in diverse African sub-cultures. Since most children may be either ignorant or misinformed about Africa, this lesson w i l l provide a more accurate and practical knowledge about the geography o f the continent and disabuse the misconception o f Africa as a village, a jungle or a small country.  \u000C147 2.  Traditional African Cloth Weaving is an ancient industry in Africa, having been practiced by the ancient Egyptians and Nubians (see Figure 3.1 for a picture o f an ancient Egyptian woven linen, with patterns similar to a Ghanaian kente cloth in Figure 5.1). Cloth weaving was already a part o f African life before the European explorers reached the continent in the 15th and 16th centuries. Clothing can tell us a great deal about both individual wearers and the cultures o f which they are members (Chanda, 1993). In West Africa, members o f royalty, honoured gods and many ordinary people wore elaborately decorated clothing made from animal skins and woven cloth like kente (see Fjgure 5.1 for a sample kente). Kente, a cloth o f many strips, rich colours and geometric patterns is worn on joyful occasions as symbol o f Asante pride and Ghanaian identity, nevertheless, it finds expression among AfricanAmericans and Africans in the diaspora as a symbol o f African identity and cultural heritage. Children w i l l be introduced to Asante and E w e kente from Ghana and Togo after a brief historical introduction to kente and African identity and weave similar beautiful patterns with coloured paper.  3.  Masks play important roles in African, North American and other cultures. For more than 5000 years, masks have been a characteristic African art form (see Figure 3.3) and a central feature o f African ceremonial and social life. They validate political authority, initiate the youth into adulthood, protect communities from witchcraft, assist the spirits o f the dead, teach social values and simply entertain. Each mask is part o f a dynamic ensemble worn by an individual who, in assuming the role o f the mask, is transformed from her/his everyday personality into an expression o f a spirit force (see Figures 5.2, 5.3 &amp; 5.4 for sample masks). Today, masks are often worn in public performances for general entertainment. Their changing role reflects social and cultural transformations occurring in the continent. In North America, masks play some role in First Nations cultural celebrations as well as Halloween. Children w i l l be introduced to a wide variety o f masks across Africa including their significance. They w i l l learn the skill o f using papier mache to fashion their preferred masks and they w i l l reflect upon them.  4.  African mythology. Ananse stories and folk tales form the basis o f learning by \"oral tradition.\" The verbal arts serve as mediums for entertainment, for expression o f profound religious beliefs and for instruction in moral, intellectual, spiritual and emotional values. In Africa, oral tradition has been a means o f passing on cultural heritage from one generation to another. From the many peoples o f Africa and the diaspora come dramatic tales o f native folk tales o f honour and sadness, good and evil about animals, humans and super-humans (See Peggy Appiah, 1966). Specialists in Ananse Stories and African folklore w i l l retell some dramatic stories that w i l l rekindle the creativity and selfawareness o f the children. The remaining time w i l l be used to complete all unfinished works.  5.  M a k i n g prints from African symbols has been part o f the continent's artistic and cultural tradition particularly, in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Zaire. In many societies, cultural symbols have been employed as artefacts for interpreting and codifying knowledge and experience. The Ghanaian adinkra graphic symbols convey ideas about society, the spiritual world and the individual inner world (Figure 5.5). W h i l e kente is worn on joyful occasions, adinkra cloth is worn at functions for departing guests and at funeral ceremonies (Rattray; 1959, Chanda, 1993) (see Figure 5.6). In this lesson, students w i l l study numerous symbols from Africa including their symbolic meanings. Children w i l l provide their own T-shirts, choose their own symbol(s) and design them on \"Copy-Trans Paper\" which w i l l transfer permanently to their T-shirts.  6.  Ancient Egypt and N u b i a are among the earliest known civilizations that flourished along the African N i l e Valley (see Figure 2.5) over 5000 years ago (O'Connor, 1993; Krieger, N e i l , &amp; Reynolds, 1997; Hochfield, &amp; Riefstahl, 1978). Studying Egypt (Kemite) and N u b i a (Kush), the two earliest known African civilizations w i l l therefore help lead us toward an overdue reassessment o f Africa in terms o f its contribution to world cultural history. Additionally, awareness o f ancient African artistic and cultural achievements w i l l not only inspire and empower young people o f African descent but also challenge other youths to be critical o f their \"received\" knowledge. This lesson w i l l introduce students to Egypt and N u b i a as birthplace o f civilization and examine the legacy o f artistic and cultural knowledge in their closely intertwined history.  \u000CKente Cloth, Ashanti People of Ghana Note: From K o f i and His M a g i c (p. 13) by M . Angelou, 1996, N e w Y o r k : Clarkson Potter Publishers.  \u000C149  Figure 5.2  Mask, We People, Ivory Coast (Early 20th Century) Note: Source: African A r t Collection. B r o o k l y n M u s e u m . California: Pomegrante Calendars &amp; Books Rohnert Park, (1997).  \u000C150  Mask, Mende People, Sierra Leone Sende Society M a s k (Sowie), (Early 20th Century) Note: Source: African A r t Collection. B r o o k l y n M u s e u m . California: Pomegrante Calendars &amp; Books Rohnert Park, (1997).  \u000CMask, Lumbo People, Gabon (Late nineteenth - Early 20th Century) Note: Source: African A r t Collection, Brooklyn Museum, California: Pomegrante Calendars &amp; Books Rohnert Park, (1997).  \u000C152  Figure 5.5  ^CCV 1  f-'untunfunafu denkyem funafu. won afuru bom nso worididi a na wo ko\". ^r^BBP-S/w/np one stomach yet they fight f j a C * over food  \\Kr  Gye Nyame (except God). Symbol of the Omnipotence and immorta H'Y of God  f^^^r ^HK\" miJ r^F\\  Odenkyem (crocodile) da nsuo mu j y nso ohome nsuo na mframa The crocodile lives in water yet it breathes air. not water *wU^^  4  ^  5  8  LJfLJ J l C  Nsaa (a kind of blanket). N  e  a  \u00A3rfm\\  ^riflf  onim nsaa na oto nago  JJS^\\  llW/J  Adinkra hene (Adinkra king). Chief of all the adinkra designs, forms the basis of adinkera printing  YJHK /jjXG*  Vi^\u00AB-^ 11 V^Sj ^N^\\  Mpuannum (Nkontimsofoo Puaa). Five tuffs of hair A traditionally fashionable hair style  om  a  oac  o  n  e  Dwanimen (Ram's horn). \"Dwonnin ye asise a ode n'akorana na ennye ne mben\" It is the heart and not the horns that leads a ram to bully (Concealment).  12 V I l K CM/O  Hye wo nhye (he who burns you be not burned). Symbol of forgiveness\u2014Turn the other cheek  14  13 M^VB \u2022 15  Kramo-bone amma yanhu kramo-pa We cannot tell a good mohammedan t' ^ The fake and the genuine look alike because of hypo.-  Fofoo. \"St die fofoo pt ne sc gyinantwi abo bedie\" What the fofoo plant wants is that the gyinantwi seeds should turn black. Symbol of/ealousy  10 /KWRj  9  f/&gt;v\\|  Bi-nka-bi. \u00B0bi nka obi (bite not one another): Avoid conflicts Symbol of unity.  fQjftw ^v99lV ASjSJ  . Osrane (moon). \u00BB A \"Osrane nnfitipreko ntware man\" ^^^f / / takes the moon sometime to go round ' ^ Q ^ F the nation. 7  m  \u201E A / \\ 9 V \u20AC_J  Nkonsonkonso (link or chain). We are linked in both life and death Those who share common blood relations never break apart Symbol of human relations. 16  Sepow: (knife used in executions) This is thrust through the victim's cheeks to prevent his invoking a curse on the king  Kftm  17 ^ Cl 1  19 ^taiiA n|  21 _ #T#.  fwgj^ 9uOC9  Owuo Atwedie Baako Nfo (obiara bewu). All men shall climb the ladder of death  H  1  Wawa Aba (the seed of the wawa tree). 'Wawa' is a hard wood used in carving hence its significance in Akan culture:  Gyawu atiko. This is said to be the design shaved by Gyawu. a once Bantamahene.  8 f^T\\ VS^y  Kuntinkantan (do not boast). There is need for humility and servi-  (5o \u00AB\u00AB*\u2022  20 Fihankra (the circular house) This signifies safety in a home  CA^TTji  at)  Ohene niwa (in the king's eye), The king has lots of eyes and nothing is hidden from him  Nyame nwu nn mawu (if Nyame God \u2014 dies then I may die) Perpetual existence.  22 ^^\u20224 f 1 ^^^f  Akoma (the heart) \"Nya akdma\" heart) Have patience Symbol of endurance  Adinkra Graphic Symbols, Ashanti People, Ghana  \u000CAdinkra Cloth, Ashanti People, Ghana  \u000C154  7.  The introduction to the Royal Empires o f O l d Ghana, M a l i and Songhai is important for Black/African-Canadian self-identification, self-esteem and existence, as well as the \"multicultural literacy\" o f all students. Africa has contributed immensely toward world history and civilization as is evident from the empires o f Western Sudan and many more. The royal kingdoms o f Ghana, M a l i , Songhai and their ancient cities o f Awdaghast, Gao, Jenne, K u m b i Saleh, Taghaza, Tangier, Timbuktu and Walata thrived from 500 to 1700 C . E . (see Figure 2.6). A t their peak, these empires and cultures rivalled those o f Europe at the time ( M c K i s s a c k , 1994; Davidson, 1977). Unfortunately, this history has long been frozen. Most accounts o f African peoples have, in the past, emerged from outside the Black/African community, as such, they interpret Black/African societies and histories in terms o f their deficiencies, real or imagined, as opposed to their achievements. This lesson w i l l introduce children to brief histories o f these empires and their major contributions to Africa and the rest o f the world. The knowledge o f Black/African history and artistic accomplishments w i l l not only stimulate the minds o f the youths to dig deeper and explore for even more information on Blacks and other ethnic minorities, but also inspire them to be critical o f their \"received\" knowledge. Furthermore, awareness o f collective human achievements can promote healthy relationships among students o f all backgrounds.  Content Selection and Implementation Curriculum considerations always include questions that centre on issues o f inclusion and exclusion with respect to content selection. This presents several conceptual and practical problems particularly when dealing with a complex heterogeneous and multi-ethnic Black/African Canadian community with no defining boundaries. Some art educators (Hart, 1991; Jagodzinski, 1982) suggest an emphasis on multiple values or aesthetic pluralism because a universal aesthetic is hard to find. Aesthetic pluralism assumes the accessibility o f understanding art multiculturally and cross-culturally, specifically in terms o f the categories and intensions o f its producers and consumers. W h i l e the emphasis on multiple values is useful to multicultural curriculum, there is ample evidence o f general characteristics o f African art and culture, as well as common sociological themes that reflect all art productions. These considerations merit interest as content in a multicultural art curriculum. To achieve greater social relevance, the study o f African art forms must be contextualized. Comparing the traditional weaving, mask making, sculpture, folklore and folk tales from selected African societies can provide insights into the relationships between the geographic, religious, political and technological context o f cultures and the influence o f context on the art forms they produce and cherish. The principal emphasis in content selection should be placed on similarities among the various African cultures rather than on differences, and on  \u000C155  positive achievements rather than on deficiencies. This does not mean that differences must be ignored; rather differences should be celebrated as, essentially, ways o f expressing common human values. In teaching masks o f Africa, for example, the teacher could discuss African masks as they relate to the masks o f other cultures (i.e., the Northwest Coast First Nations, the Chinese and Kwakuitl). Other important issues that were also taken into account in designing this unit included the following: 1) experiences that are likely to meet the goals o f this project; 2) content that would grab and sustain the attention o f students; 3) what is affordable and feasible; 4) the age group and school grades o f children participating in this study; and 5) input from parents, community members and learners. The activities have been carefully selected so that cultural similarities and themes among the various African ethnic groups are brought to the fore and the target culture o f Black/African-Canadians presented in a positive light. Due to time and structural limitations, many important elements o f traditional African culture could not be included in this unit.  Scope, Suggestions and Materials The lessons outlined here have been organized in sequential fashion leading from simple to complex ideas and activities. The lessons were designed to fit into a two-week period. The original plan was for a much longer period to provide children with a broader background o f Black/African history, art, and the geography o f the continent. Since children's interests could not be sustained with the initial theoretical presentations during the pilot study, practical activities were interspersed with theoretical presentations during the implementation o f the main program. Using participatory research, members o f the African community were involved in the initial planning and decision-making. Parents and the advisory team were consulted for their opinions on the choice o f content through parent's forums organized by the M F C . W h i l e some parents contributed by providing their children with resource materials, others were involved through the provision o f transportation for their children and through actual class visits and participation. T w o members from the African community volunteered their expertise by teaching two o f the lessons involving African  \u000C156  geography and Black/African history. The unit encouraged students to establish connections between the arts o f Africa and those o f other cultures and sub-cultures.  Setting for the A r t and Cultural Workshops The M F C was instrumental with the implementation o f this program. Firstly, it provided the sites for this research by allowing me to conduct my study at the Centre and assisted me in securing a second research site at an east Vancouver School. Secondly, the M F C provided nearly all the equipment, materials, and resources I needed to carry out the project. It advertised the program, provided transportation for participants and arranged for a venue within the Britannia Community Centre. A l l o f the lessons took place in the art studio at the Britannia Community Centre under the M F C ' s auspices. The M F C occupies a space that is not large and equipped enough to accommodate an art program o f this nature. The studio space arranged at Britannia could accommodate the 30 children who participated in this project. The room was narrow, rectangular and well lit. One wall was completely filled with large glass windows while the remaining were decorated with visuals, and occupied by an electric kiln, cabinets and cupboards. The classroom configuration was reorganized several times to suit each lesson. O n the first day o f class, attendance was 21. This number increased to 25 on the second day, reaching 30 by the fourth day (see Table 4.1). Details o f the African A r t and Cultural Curriculum Unit can be accessed from Appendix I.  Profiles of Instructors for the African Art and Cultural Program (AACEP) Before proceeding to the African A r t and Cultural Education Unit, I w i l l introduce the instructors to enable the reader to have a better understanding o f their backgrounds and concerns.  The Researcher was the principal curriculum designer and instructor in five o f the seven activities/lessons that comprised the African A r t and Cultural Education Unit. He is a graduate student in A r t Education, Department o f Curriculum Studies, University o f British Columbia. He is an art teacher and a former lecturer at the College o f Art, University o f Science and Technology in Ghana. While pursuing his graduate studies in Canada, he has had the opportunity to teach a course in art education at University o f  \u000C157 British Columbia, as well as African art and culture at a number o f high schools and art/community centres in Greater Vancouver. Having three sons, he worries about the future o f African-Canadian youth in Canada, as the education systems often lead them to disengage from school with its attendant consequences.  M r . D A K was a volunteer instructor for \" A c t i v i t y Six: \"The History o f Ancient Egypt and N u b i a . \" He was originally from Uganda, but was trained as a historian in Ontario. He is a social activist interested in advancing the course o f Black youth in Canada. He is the current president o f the African Canadian Association o f British Columbia ( A C A B C ) . He is also the editor o f the newsletter, African Drum, which features stories, news items and events o f interest to the African-Canadian community.  M s . C A M was a volunteer instructor for Activity One: \"The Land o f A f r i c a . \" She is a teacher by profession and immigrated to Canada from Uganda. M s C a m has been an active member o f the African Canadian Community in Vancouver and a regular participant o f the African W o m e n ' s Program at the M F C . She has been a coordinator o f an African Youth Program funded by the Ministry o f Multiculturalism and Immigration. She is a member o f Board o f Directors o f the African-Canadian Development and Information Services Association ( A C D I S A ) in Vancouver.  Summary of Description of Art and Cultural Curriculum Implementation Process The African-centred multicultural art curriculum is an interdisciplinary unit grounded in curriculum theory and theories o f art education. The unit is influenced by Africentric philosophy. In the African context, art, theory and practice are inseparable from everyday life. The meaning o f art is conceptual and, therefore, requires a great deal o f contextual knowledge to understand the diverse African cultures. Seven lessons formed the content o f this curriculum unit for Black students and students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Issues o f content selection and implementation, scope, structural and physical limitations are addressed in the curriculum process. Input from members o f the Black/African-Canadian community, parents, students, an art teacher and two M F C ' s cross-cultural facilitators influenced the development o f the curriculum unit, implementation and the data collection process.  \u000C158  CHAPTER SIX PERCEPTIONS OF T H E E D U C A T I O N S Y S T E M This chapter discusses the research subjects' own perceptions o f the education system in British Columbia, Canada, as were evident from their stories during the interviews. The data collection approach uncovered v i v i d information not only about perceptions o f the education system, but also about the community's needs and how they could be addressed in order to provide greater opportunity for success. Research on students' perceptions o f their education can provide a great deal o f insight for critical multicultural educators. A s shown in Figure 6.1, the data obtained from participant observation and interviews are organized under seven major themes that emerged from the literature and during the analysis o f the data. Each theme provides different insight into the Black/African-Canadian community's experience and perception o f the education system, and their children's position within it. Quotes taken from the discussions and interviews have been used extensively to highlight the themes. A s indicated in Appendix III on the Consent Form, all real names o f participants were replaced with pseudonyms. The methodology is geared for producing self-explanatory data. N o theme is exclusive o f other issues. For in the lives o f those who shared their stories, the situation o f the Black/African-Canadian learner is complex. Therefore, the issues and themes outlined here overlap and form a complex tangle. While this section summarizes what people view as the major barriers to Black/African-Canadian participation and achievement in school, most importantly, it also includes their suggestions for improving the education system to serve the needs o f all Canadians, especially Black/African-Canadian learners. It is important to mention that the views expressed in this chapter can only be attributed with certainty to the students, parents and teachers involved in the study. They are not to be taken as the views o f all members o f the Black/African-Canadian community in Vancouver or elsewhere. That being said, however, I must point out that the particular educational problems faced by the African-Canadian students in this study are not unique. Other studies on Black/African-Canadians have shown that similar barriers affect  the  education o f African-Canadian children in Ontario and N o v a Scotia (i.e., B L A C , 1994; Braithwaite, 1989;  \u000C159  Figure 6.1  The diagram below identifies seven major themes which emerged from the analysis of the information, with each theme providing different insights into the Black community's perception of multiculturalism and the education system, and the Black/African-Canadian learner's position within it.  Perceptions of Multiculturalism and the Education System in British Columbia  \u000C160 C A B E , 1992; D e i , Holmes, Mazzuca, Mclsaac &amp; Campbell, 1995; D e i , Mazzuca, Mclsaac &amp; Zine, 1997). A s a result, we can gain useful lessons for other contexts from this study. Some insight obtained from these interviews w i l l prove beneficial to multicultural education and curriculum reform. In order to place participants in a meaningful context o f this discussion, Table 6.1 provides the background information o f Black/African-Canadian parents and M F C cross-cultural facilitators involved in this study. Out o f the eight parents interviewed, two were M F C cross-cultural facilitators and six Black/African-Canadian parents. One o f the parents was a single mother. Overall the parents/MFC facilitators comprised five mothers and three fathers.  Curriculum Deficiency Curriculum refers to the total educational process, including goals, programs, objectives, methods, patterns o f organization o f instruction and o f learning, and materials and resources used. A s Canada becomes more ethnically diverse, many communities are demanding more broad-based curriculum and values that represent ethnic-cultural diversity in Canada. Because the curriculum in most schools is skewed toward a European-Canadian perspective, it excludes the lived realities and perspectives o f many students (Banks, 1993, 1995; Nieto, 1996). Textbooks and other materials reinforce this bias, making the development o f an inclusive curriculum even more difficult. Furthermore, multicultural education, for the most part, has either been ignored or treated superficially. Black/African-Canadians and other visible minorities have questioned the absence o f a curriculum that is culturally relevant or reflective o f their experiences.  Experiences and Perceptions o f Black/African-Canadian Students Black/African-Canadian students unable to find relevance to their own lives in the curriculum find it difficult to connect with the educational experience. In responding to the question o f representation o f Black/Africans in school curriculum and textbooks, Sarah, a 17-year-old grade 11 student from Uganda, made the following comments: SAP: To what extent are Blacks represented in school curricula, textbooks and in the education system in general?  \u000C161  Table 6.1  Background Information of Black/African-Canadian Parents/MFC Cross-Cultural Facilitators* Date for Individual Interviews: June. 1999 - February 2000 No.  Name &amp; Gender  Occupation  Country of Origin  Immigration Date  1  Clara (F)  Teacher  Uganda  1990  2  Eugenia** (F)  Social worker  Uganda  1992  3  Gifty (F)  Adm. Secretary  Kenya  1989  4  Marcia (F)  Foster parent  Ghana  1989  5  Fatia** (F)  Social worker  Canada  Bom in Canada  6  Mark (M)  Teacher  Uganda  1994  7  Sala (M)  Priest  Uganda  1989  8  Tom (M)  Security guard  Sudan  1990  * The M F C serves as an agency for African women's struggle for self-determination and adaptation in their new and adopted society. Among the areas of concern given top priority by the women are: parenting in the Canadian context; knowledge about child development, intergenerational conflict and role dislocation (e.g., as mothers without support of extended family); acquisition of leadership skills; and education with regards to unique social and health concerns of African mothers with children. As a community-based social service provider, the M F C involves the women in periodic evaluation of its programs to ensure that culturally appropriate and up-to-date services are provided to the African-community. ** M F C Cross-Cultural Facilitators  \u000C162  I do not think that Black people are represented in much o f what we learn at school, from curriculum and textbooks to staffing. I think we need Black teachers who could serve as role models and encourage Black kids to learn better. 119 (S. 08) 7  M a r y a m , another 17-year-old student from Sudan, reiterated this view by commenting that: I don't see that knowledge about Blacks and Africans are seriously included in the school curriculum. W e learned about K e n y a and ancient Egyptians from school, but I learned that they were not Blacks. I have learned from the African history class that the Egyptians were Africans who initiated the birth o f civilization. 118 (S. 08) The above quotes encapsulate the overall feeling the students seemed to convey regarding their perception o f schooling and the organization o f the curriculum. The comments demonstrate that Black students are conscious that the curriculum is never neutral but represents what is thought to be important and necessary knowledge by those who are dominant in society. The exclusion o f Black/African content from the curriculum was a concern o f many students who felt that the dominant curriculum was less relevant to their lived experiences and needs. O n the issue o f multicultural education, the students expressed their views on how inclusion and promotion o f Black/African perspectives should be carried out: S A P : What do you think your school needs to do in order to promote multicultural education? Eden, a 15-year-old grade 10 student from Eritrea, demanded some educational and social reform: The school should hire qualified B l a c k teachers, as w e l l as include knowledge about Blacks and Africans in the school curriculum. [It should] represent Blacks in a positive light by learning about their achievements together with their failures. D o not show only pictures o f war, starvation and diseases on T V . 157 (S. 10) Estella, a 13-year-old grade 7 student from Uganda, made an argument for the inclusion o f minority teachers: I think my school should embrace multicultural education by including knowledge about AfricanCanadians and Black History, Chinese, Native Indians and Europeans. It should also hire more  119 (S. 08): S = Black/African-Canadian Students' interview transcript/document; P = Black Parents/MFC Cross-cultural Facilitators' interview transcript/document; T = School Principal/Art Teacher's interview transcript/document; N = The East Vancouver Elementary Students' interview transcript/document. 119 (S. 08): 08 represents question #8 from the interview guide for Black/African-Canadian Students (see Appendix 2 for interview questions). 119 (S. 08): 119 represents the reference # of a text unit in the Black/African-Canadian Students' document (S) or, the file # for a response of an interviewee (Stella) to the interview question #8 (see Chapter Four, subheading \"Data Interpretation from a Critical Multicultural Education Perspective\" for further explanation).  7  \u000C163 Blacks and minority teachers to show that Canada is a multicultural country. Teachers from nonEuropean backgrounds may know their history and culture better than others. Otherwise, Black and minorities would be disadvantaged. 572 (S. 37) These comments from the students intersect with the goals o f multicultural education, which emphasize the inclusion o f diverse cultures not only in curriculum, but also in staffing and hiring practices (Banks, 1995; D e i , 1996; Nieto, 1996). Eden and Estella touched on one o f the critical issues o f multiculturalism that hinges on employment equity. The virtual absence o f Black teachers in British Columbia classrooms was a recurring issue. Eden raised the argument for a balanced and fair representation o f Blacks in school curricula, textbooks and in the hiring o f teachers. He pointed out the need for schools to validate the various experiences and achievements o f Blacks in the curriculum. A g a i n , he stressed the relevance o f cultural education to his life by linking it with his self-esteem. Eden, therefore, raised the need for multicultural education to promote self-knowledge through the study o f students' cultures and histories. Feelings about the negative and unfair representation o f Black/Africans in the school system and in the media were re-echoed by Estella: Sometimes knowledge in textbooks is [biased] against Blacks. I do not see many positive pictures of Blacks, Black authors, Black artists and other achievers in the books we use at school. When 1 read stories or watch a documentary on slavery, starvation, diseases and war in Africa I get discouraged. It scares me and makes me hate going to Africa. However, I believe there are good things happening in Africa that we do not know. 492 (S. 32) Many students felt that schools, in some sense reinforce the negative campaign against Blacks through the use o f textbooks and resources that legitimate the status o f Whites, particularly White males, while maintaining bias and stereotypes against Blacks and other minorities. Estella's discontent with the educational system over the lack o f Black role models, and with the Western news media over the representation o f Africa, was a sentiment that was shared by many o f the students interviewed. Lack o f representation in curriculum and in school life explains why many Black students experience a sense o f invisibility. This, in turn, reinforces the power and privilege o f White students. When asked specifically about whether African art features in their learning experiences in the visual arts at school, students were almost unanimous in pointing out the absence o f African art and cultural activities in their various schools. M a n y o f them claimed that their knowledge o f African art and culture originates from their homes, the various African communities and the M F C . Dave, a 16-year-old  \u000C164 grade 11 student from Uganda, shared his experience in visual arts at school: S A P : Do you have any African art and cultural learning experiences besides those at the M F C ? If yes, what is it, and where did you learn them? Dave: A t school, we do pure western art stuff like drawing, painting, sculpture and art history. W e have not yet done anything specific on African art. 213 (S. 14) L i l l i a n , a 13-year-old grade 7 student from Uganda, responded: N o , I do not remember doing any African art in school or at home. W e sometimes do some First Nation's art and celebrate Potlatch, but we do not have anything specific on Blacks. M y parents, however, teach us African culture through their language, music and food from Uganda. 210 (S. 14) L i l l i a n ' s response reinforced the notion o f exclusion o f Black/African-Canadian perspectives in school curriculum. It also gives an indication that, despite the absence o f Blacks from the visual art curriculum, her school opens up to First Nation's art and is receptive to other forms o f artistic and cultural experience. This is a positive development. Nevertheless, attempts to integrate First Nation's art or other forms o f artistic and cultural experience without the necessary institutional support led to tokenism. This piecemeal approach to transforming the art curriculum was undermined by structural barriers. These set-backs, however, should not be considered as valid reasons for art teachers not to pursue multicultural art education. Eden and Stella shared their experiences in visual art, African art and history in Canada: E d e n : N o . This is the first time I have participated in [an] African art and history workshop in Canada. Apart from the M F C , I have no African art experience. 217 (S. 14) Sarah: N o . I have not previously had the chance to participate in African art and culture in other settings. But I do learn about Africa and Uganda through my parents at home and on T V . It is at the M F C that we directly engage in African art activities. 212 (S. 14) John, a 15-year-old grade 10 student from Uganda, reiterated the general marginalization o f Blacks and Africentric knowledge in the school curriculum. However, he felt that multiculturalism, to some degree, is being practiced in his school: We do not learn much about Black history and African art at school although we learned a bit about Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther K i n g . Illustrations and examples in our textbooks centre mostly on Whites. Perhaps this is because Canada is dominated by Euro-Canadians. There are a couple o f teachers from Asian backgrounds because there are many Asians in Vancouver. 127 (S. 08) Given that the curriculum encompasses the total educational process, many changes would need to occur  \u000C165 in the school environment, besides the curriculum content, in order to achieve true inclusive education. Some o f these suggested changes are discussed later in this chapter.  Perceptions o f Parents/MFC Cross-cultural Facilitators A l l the six parents and the two M F C cross-cultural facilitators interviewed were passionate in expressing their opinions on the school curriculum, the general school organization and their children's place in them. The general feeling was that the school curriculum is Eurocentric, and does not recognize and affirm Black/African-Canadian culture and experience: SAP: What do you think is the status o f non-Western art and culture in the mainstream curriculum? M a r k , an African-Canadian parent who is also a high school teacher in Greater Vancouver Regional District, responded that: School curricula in Canada is Eurocentric because it was designed with Europeans in mind. There is the need for change because o f changing society. Unfortunately, the rate o f change in the demographics has not had a corresponding impact on the curriculum. 191 (P. 22) Marcia, a foster parent, opined that: The art curriculum affirms the life, values and practices o f Western Europeans who form the dominant cultural group in Canada. Multicultural education does not mean anything other than a human relations exercise. Cultural inequalities are not addressed in the curriculum. 195 (P. 22) Gina, a parent and an administrative secretary, responded that: . . . the West has dominated every sphere o f life in the last 400 years or so because o f their power. The marginalization o f non-Western art in the school curriculum and in the world is not any different from what goes on in other areas. Just like Native American or First Nations art, African art is often referred to as crafts or folk art, and it is not accorded the respect it deserves in the curriculum. 192 (P. 22) . . . People outside o f the Black community make decisions about what is most important for students to learn without much consideration o f the needs o f the Black/African-Canadian community or other minorities. What is sad is that Canada is officially a multicultural country but this is not reflected in the curriculum. 03 (P. 01) In response to the question o f the extent to which schools are providing children with the necessary knowledge about their artistic and cultural heritage, Clara, a teacher by profession, was concerned that teachers were ill equipped to deal with the needs o f Black/African-Canadian learners. She revealed that:  \u000C166 . . . my children are not receiving the necessary cultural knowledge necessary for full participation. First, which teachers are educating my children? They are Anglo-Saxons, excuse me to say, old middle class Canadians with the \"right\" accents, values and Canadian ways. The education system has not been progressive enough to accept \"foreigners\" unless they speak with the \"right\" accent and have exceptional skills in mathematics and the sciences. 52 (P. 06) These comments clearly demonstrate the concerns o f the parents about the education system and the curriculum in particular. Mark stressed the need for curriculum reform based on demographic changes in British Columbia and Canada. M a r c i a and G i n a spoke o f the continuous marginalization o f non-Western art in the mainstream art curriculum in spite o f Canada's multicultural education policy. G i n a further lamented on the general lack o f consultation with Blacks and other cultural communities in the educational process and how this could be reconciled with Canada's official multicultural policy. The demand for curriculum inclusion and school reform should be viewed as a social justice issue, and in light o f Canada's multiculturalism and democratic principles. Parents had various shades o f opinion concerning the question o f inclusive education: SAP: What is your opinion about the increasing calls for inclusive education in British C o l u m b i a and other parts o f Canada? M a r k : Depending on one's situation and perception, what we mean by inclusive education may vary. To some, inclusive education is helping children o f different ethnic groups to get along. This does not go far enough to address racism and exclusion in education. Given the history o f cultural exclusion, I think the calls for inclusive education are relevant; however, multicultural education should be all encompassing in content, teaching methodology, staffing and hiring practices. 29 (P. 04) Cephas, an African-Canadian father and priest, felt that: The school system does not provide Black kids with the tools to deal with everyday life situations. Black/African-Canadian youths have to deal with hostility as well as covert discrimination on a day-to-day basis, irrespective o f when they migrated to Canada. . . . I think it is high time the school and the community deal with positive aspects o f African culture and history in order to help children understand their identity and enhance their self-esteem. . . . 13 (P. 02) Eugenia, an M F C Cross-cultural Facilitator, lamented that: . . . The school system has not responded favourably to calls for multicultural education, especially from the point o f view o f African-Canadians. Our children are being lost and assimilated into the popular youth culture. Educationally, they are disorientated and alienated. Our children need to know this, and focus more on their academic future rather than on the too many negative attractions o f pop culture. They need to know their culture and history in order to counteract the negative perceptions about themselves and their heritage. 45 (P. 05) M a r k ' s perception o f multicultural education falls in line with the conception o f multicultural education in  \u000C167 this study. It is all encompassing, inclusive and critical in content, methodology and staffing. Cephas pointed out that cultural literacy is crucial for enabling Black children to deal effectively with everyday life situations. Cultural assimilation was not perceived as an attractive option since Blacks and minorities are often left out economically and politically. Eugenia, who insisted that African-Canadian children should know their history and cultural heritage, also emphasized this point. It would be naive to attribute the failures and successes o f Black students to the curriculum alone; other structural and institutional factors are involved. Nevertheless, the data in this study suggest that school curricula play a leading role in determining the level o f involvement o f Black/African-Canadians.  Perceptions o f School Principal/Art Teacher The role o f teachers in the education process cannot be underestimated. Both the School Principal and the A r t Teacher expressed their views about the education system and the place o f Black learners. O n the question o f curriculum inclusion, both educators held a progressive opinion on the issue. They indicated their support for multicultural education, and suggested the need to broaden the scope o f the current school curriculum to include the contributions o f other cultures represented in Canadian classrooms: S A P : Do you think multicultural education should be fully integrated into school curricula irrespective o f the ethnic makeup o f the school population? P r i n c i p a l : I think multicultural education should be integrated into the entire curriculum. For example, in math lessons, exemplars could be drawn from the various ethnic groups and cultures represented in the schools . . . Multiculturalism is implemented throughout the school year in the curriculum and through activities like food fairs, cultural costume fairs, festivals and in games. 05 (T. 02) Teacher: Y e s , multicultural education needs to be fully integrated in all subject areas and in school organization in order for it to have the needed impact on children and society. I think that is possible, although we have not been able to accomplish that. W e are doing some multiculturalism in our own small way. 06 (T. 02) The attitudes and perceptions o f the educators at the School towards the inclusive curriculum are contrary to the attitudes o f some educators and multicultural education critics discussed in the Review o f Literature. Critics have argued that the inclusion o f cultures and traditions other than those o f the founding fathers may devalue the curriculum or threaten national unity (i.e., Bissoondath, 1994). The views expressed by  \u000C168 the Principal and the A r t Teacher debunked the assimilationist's argument. In responding to the question about the justification for multicultural education, they suggested that an inclusive curriculum could engender healthy inter-group relations: SAP: In what ways can multicultural education be used to improve inter-personal and inter-group relations in school?  Principal: . . . It allows other groups to understand and be aware of the cultural differences in our society. It enhances respect and inter-group harmony. 08 (T. 03)  Principal: I think there is a lot to be gained from multiculturalism. I believe it should be embedded in every subject. If a teacher is not teaching multiculturalism in his/her lesson, then perhaps, the teacher may not understand much about it. It is there in science, math, social studies, stories, music, etc. I think the far better way to teach it is to integrate it as a part o f the curriculum. When it becomes part o f our everyday program, it becomes more effective than when it is forced on students as a separate curriculum area to be taught. 20 (T. 07)  Teacher: Multicultural education can improve relations between people. The more you understand one another the better you get along. Unfortunately, there is something called racism, which I think, happens in every school. But i f you address it in a positive way, you can reduce its effects. Multiculturalism facilitates healthy inter-group relations. B y learning about other people's culture through art, festivals and cultural celebrations, children become familiar with those cultures and develop positive attitudes towards people from these cultures. 09 (T. 03) Conceptualization o f multicultural education at the School is based on the human relations model discussed in Chapter T w o . This approach to multicultural education, while it could foster positive human relations in the School, has a marginal impact in addressing institutional discrimination and racism. A s has been the case in many situations where multicultural education has been implemented, the focus was on the celebration o f cultural festivals, food fairs and holidays rather than on sensitive issues o f culture, race, gender, education and power, and their interactions. O n the question o f how the Ministry o f Education's curriculum guides are applied in multicultural education, the Principal explained that: SAP: H o w does the school curriculum conform to the tenets in the Integrated Resource Package (IRP), the Ministry o f Education's curriculum guides?  Principal: W e l l , I don't know how much knowledge the teachers have o f the IRP. The IRP has a great deal o f multiculturalism in it. But i f a teacher is swayed too far from the IRP, by over indulging in multiculturalism, other curricula contents might suffer. 17 (T. 06)  Teacher: I try to abide by the I R P curriculum [guide], but there is more room for teachers to explore and interpret the I R P . Multicultural education could be implemented in different ways in all subject areas as part o f the transformation process. 18B (T. 06)  \u000C169 The approach to curriculum inclusion described above is not different from what many Black/AfricanCanadian students described in their respective schools. This approach divorces multicultural education from deeper levels o f literacy, and the in-depth meanings o f culture and power. The tokenistic approach to curriculum inclusion engenders further marginalization o f minority cultural knowledge forms by moving them away from curriculum centrality. In spite o f the perceived usefulness o f curriculum inclusion, it is limited by several factors, as the Principal's comments portray. The multiplicity o f students' needs in most schools militates against culturally specific modifications in all cases. Because many classrooms in British Columbia and other parts o f Canada are multicultural, with students from a diversity o f ethnic, social class and linguistic backgrounds, it is difficult, and perhaps unrealistic, to assume that complete culturally compatible instructions can be provided for all children. Nevertheless, teachers who are genuinely interested in infusing multicultural objectives into their disciplines could adopt eclectic approaches. These approaches incorporate transformative political agendas embedded in models such as human relations, cultural pluralism, cultural group studies and social reconstruction. These models were discussed in Chapter One under the conceptions o f multicultural education.  Summary It is clear from the forgoing discussion that curricula in many schools are at odds with the needs o f learners. This mismatch is evident from the narratives o f the Black/African-Canadian students and their parents who perceive the curriculum as less relevant to their lives and lifestyles. Those further from the lives o f Black students and their communities generally make decisions about what is most important for students to learn. These decisions let students know whether the knowledge they or their parents value is accorded prestige within the formal curriculum. Similarly, textbooks, an important component o f the curriculum in most schools, are perceived as reinforcing the dominance o f Euro-Canadian perspectives and sustaining stereotypes o f Blacks and ethnic minorities. The curriculum as a document is hardly subjected to scrutiny by schools. A s a result, the oppressive aspects o f curriculum are left unchallenged to the detriment o f those outside o f the mainstream o f society. Bringing these issues to the limelight is an  \u000C170 essential challenge for multicultural education. School boards, school administrators and teachers must face these curricula issues head on in order to bring about the needed reform.  Institutional Barriers: Racism, Discrimination, Stereotyping and Media Bias Schools are institutions that respond to, and reflect, the larger society (Apple, 1982). Apple asserts that schools and educational institutions do not create the class system as much as reproduce it from one generation to the next, resulting in the process o f cultural reproduction. It is therefore not surprising that institutional and systemic barriers find expression in schools in much the same way that they find their way into society as a whole. Although racism was not a pervasive theme in the narratives o f students, there were moments when students narrated experiences o f discrimination and what they referred to as subtle forms o f racism. In this section, I w i l l be discussing racist incidents and forms o f racism that the students and their parents discussed in the transcripts.  Experiences and Perceptions o f Black/African-Canadian Students When the Black/African-Canadian students discussed their lived experiences in Canada, compared with their home or original countries, they pointed out the advantages and disadvantages o f living in both situations. A l l the 15 students (see Table 4 for students' backgrounds) acknowledged the material and economic benefits o f living in Canada. \"I like Canada\" was the sentiment students expressed most about their social life in Canada: SAP: H o w do you feel about your social and educational experiences in Canada, compared with your original country? Maryam: I think there are more freedoms in Canada than in Saudi Arabia or Sudan from where I arrived in Canada. I have the freedom to play basketball, volleyball, baseball, soccer and other sports. Sometimes, we do stupid things because o f our freedom. If we were in Saudi, many o f us would be in j a i l by now. In spite o f the liberty in Canada, I think it is much more difficult for Black people to succeed in school or in the workplace due to discrimination. 22 (S. 02) Ronald, a 15-year-old grade 10 student from Uganda, had the following to say about Canada: I like my life in Canada because I have everything I need. However, being an African-Canadian male, you can easily get into trouble or even be killed by police or gangsters. Even though life in Uganda is difficult, nobody would victimize you because o f your colour. It is always nice to know that your extended family is there for you - your cousins, grandparents and aunts. Racism is what I hate from school. When some students tease you with racial slurs, the teachers can't stop them.  \u000C171  Sometimes I get into fights with them but some teachers would think you are a troublemaker. 27 (S. 02) E m m a , an 18-year-old grade 12 student from Ghana, also expressed his views on Canada: I like Canada because I have more freedoms and opportunities than in Ghana. . . . But, the education system is hard for new immigrants. What I don't like is the fact that some teachers exhibit racist attitudes toward me. They pass negative comments against me in front o f my class. I put in more effort in certain subjects but do not get the marks I think 1 deserve. . . . 30 (S. 02) Dave: Life in Canada is great. W e have computers and other high-tech facilities at school. I have friends from many countries, although I sometimes face problems at school. People pick on you and tease you all the time because you are Black. I think life in Uganda is also great. People are very nice . . . 2 5 A (S. 02) The above comments from Maryam, Ronald, E m m a and Dave show that they recognized their privileged economic position in Canada compared with their home countries. They also acknowledged that they have more freedoms and rights in Canada. Nevertheless, they were unequivocal in expressing their displeasure with what they believe to be acts o f racism and discrimination in their respective schools. Emma links his unsatisfactory performance in schools with the racist attitude o f some teachers. Three other students, namely Maryam, Hannah and D i x i e , reiterated this issue. When I asked students about their understanding o f \"racism\" and whether or not they experienced racism in their schools, their responses were varied. Nine out o f 15 claimed to have encountered some form o f racism or racist attitudes in their schools: SAP: What do you understand by racism? Have you ever experienced racism in your school? If yes, how does it feel to experience racism at school? Maryam, a 17-year-old grade 11 student responded that: Racism is discrimination against people because they are from a different culture or o f a different skin colour. Y e s , sometimes I feel that there is discrimination in my class. I try my best on my schoolwork only to be awarded average or less than average grades like \" C \" or \" C - . \" Some teachers never give me a good grade no matter the effort I make. This is very discouraging and I am not sure whether I can describe it as racism. I cry because my parents are not happy with my grades. 479 (S. 31) Hannah, a 14-year-old grade 8 student from Sudan, lamented: Some o f my teachers sometimes make me feel that I am stupid. They ignore me in class and/or use discouraging comments about Blacks in the classroom. They give me low marks for my work in English and Math and tell me it is okay because other students have difficulties in English and Math. M y parents get mad at me. They think I am not learning . . . Racism means discrimination against somebody because o f his/her background. When your skin is dark and your face is not smooth, you are considered ugly by your friends. 475 (S. 31)  \u000C172  Dixie, a 14-year-old grade 9 student from Uganda, also gave his comments about discrimination in school: Yes. Some teachers mostly favour girls when it comes to the award o f marks. They give them more chances so as not to hurt their feelings. They take it harder on the boys because their feelings are stronger. Boys can talk back and stand up to teachers. Most teachers do not like that. 531 (S. 34) Emma: Racism is hatred and discrimination against someone because o f his/her culture or skin colour. Yes, I have encountered racism at school. A Chinese boy called me \"nigger\" at school when they wanted to pick a fight with me. A teacher also insulted me because I was involved in an incident with a White girl. Since that incident, I have never felt comfortable in her class. She gave me grade \" C - \" in her subject. I hate the school altogether because o f some teachers' attitudes. 487 (S.31) It is clear from these responses o f the students that they are partly trying to blame their academic failures on their teachers who discourage them by giving them lower grades. Some students felt that, on average, Black students are awarded lower marks than White students for the same quality o f work. This is a very serious perception on the part o f the students and one that has serious implications for the education of Black/African-Canadians. The question is: H o w do we explain the generally low academic achievement of Black children in our school system? Should it be blamed on students' personal deficiencies, or is it because o f structural barriers and structural inequities in school and society? It is my belief that the vast majority o f teachers in Vancouver schools do not consider themselves racists. Therefore, most would be shocked to find out that many B l a c k students impute racist attitudes in the manner they handle their classes, including evaluation o f students. Nevertheless, these feelings among Black students are real and should be addressed in one way or the other. The narratives o f the students concerning their academic evaluation tend to personalize racism, indicating their failure to see it as a systemic or institutional issue. Their experiences must be understood as part o f a long history o f discrimination, exclusion, insensitivity, racism and systemic barriers against Blacks and visible minorities in the school system. The claim by Dixie that some teachers favoured girls over boys in the award o f marks is contradicted by the fact that two out o f the four students who complained about their marks were girls. Besides, all seven girls interviewed claimed to have encountered some form o f racism or discrimination at school. Female students who claimed to have experienced various forms o f discrimination and prejudice among classmates included Gifty, Estella and L i l l i a n . Gifty  \u000C173 is a 14/4-year-old grade 9 student from Uganda: . . . M y experience o f racism was not in my current school, but in kindergarten. I had no friends because I was Black. M y only friend was the teacher. I experienced the same in grade one. In grade two, I had Sam, Victoria and Hannah as my friends. M y Japanese, Chinese and Philippine friends were teased because they looked different. I hated kindergarten and grade one. 477 (S. 31) Estella and L i l l i a n reported that they often encounter rejection and isolation from some o f their classmates, who either refuse to play with them or call them names. The stories o f Gifty, Estella and L i l l i a n , who attend separate schools, show how racial prejudices affect schools and children, even among classmates. It is important to distinguish racism from prejudice. Both racists and prejudiced people make judgements, which, most o f the time, are based on wrong assumptions. Racists carry their judgements one step further, because they have the power to implement their prejudices. When students feel that the school would not protect them against racial harassment and hostility, they either take the law into their own hands, or withdraw in fear, often with devastating consequences. It is worth noting that the same students who complained o f the racist attitudes o f some teachers also had their favourite teachers in their respective schools. In spite o f the negative experiences o f nine Black students in the school system, four o f the students felt that race was not a burning issue in their school experience, although there were isolated incidents o f discrimination. Susie, a 12-year-old grade 7 student o f Sudanese and Saudi Arabian background, pointed out that: . . . There is no racism against me in my school. I have many friends at school from different countries. The principal warned everybody not to call other people names. A l l my friends are nice to me. 481 (S. 31) Dave: Racism means to think you are better than somebody, or to hate other people and their culture. I don't think I have experienced racism from my teachers or friends. Some o f my teachers are really nice. 482 (S. 31) R o n a l d : . . . I have not experienced racism in my school, though, sometime, I feel there is favouritism and discrimination in my class. When there is trouble, the teachers often pick on my friend and me most o f the time. I think it is not fair because sometimes we may not be involved in it. 484 (S. 31) E d e n : . . . N o , I don't remember any racist incident against me at my school. I know some guys do not like me at school but I do not care because I have other playmates and friends. I am happy in my school. 486 (S. 31) Unlike the other nine students who claimed to be victims o f racial stereotypes, Susie, Dave, Ronald and Eden felt they had no experience o f racism or racist attitudes in school. T w o other students, Don, a  131/2-  \u000C174 year-old grade 8 student from Kenya, and Judas, a 14/4- year-old grade 9 student from Sudan, were not sure whether they had experienced racism. Although these views might appear to nullify the notion that racism is pervasive and common among teachers and schools, they do not negate the existence o f institutional forms o f racism. The comments o f Susie, Dave, Ronald and Eden focused on individual racism rather than on institutional racism which is pervasive, given the existing vertical mosaic in Canada. Multicultural educators need to capitalize on the few progressive teachers who are genuinely open to reform in order to move forward their agenda, while, at the same time, striving for institutional support. The news media's role in reinforcing racism and negative stereotypes became a subject o f discussion. When I asked students about their perceptions about the representation o f Blacks in the news media ( T V , Newspapers, Magazines, Radio networks, and the Internet), there was a general feeling that the media often misrepresented Blacks particularly, in North America. Gifty explained that she received much o f her knowledge about Africa from her parents, and through the news media. However, she was unhappy with the negative manner the media represented Blacks and Africans: SAP: What should be done to address the problem o f negative references to Blacks, particularly in pop culture and mass media? Estella thought that Blacks should protest against the news media for targeting one racial group with negative references: Estella: The T V and the media should not show negative pictures about Blacks because they allow people to hate Blacks. They should be educated to get correct information about Blacks and their achievements, otherwise people would continue to show disrespect toward Blacks. 588 (S. 38) Dixie also held a similar sentiment over the issue: I want the T V and new media to stop presenting negative Black images. There are some White people and non-White people who are involved in drugs here in Vancouver. Some are so poor and sick that they even beg in the streets for food and money but we do not see them on the T V all the time. However, negative reports on Blacks come on the T V and in the news all the time. This is unfair. I believe that i f we get a Black president in Canada, things would change. 596 (S. 38) Judas reiterated the notion that the mass media wilfully engage in selective exposure by being overly negative in their reporting on ethnic minorities: Tell them to stop being negative towards Black/Africans. There are some bad things happening in Vancouver such as robbery, drugs and cocaine abuse, but the media do not show these on T V . The schools ought to teach Black history to enable Black children to understand themselves better. 601 (S.38)  \u000C175 The news media representations have profound impact on how ethnic groups are perceived and received in society. The above references by the four students show at least some awareness on the part o f the students o f how stereotypes are manufactured and reinforced in our media-influenced society, and the effects this has on the lives o f Blacks and other visible minorities. In trying to unveil the structures o f oppression in the discourse o f the mass media, we learn that the private media as an institution is driven by ideological, political and economic interests. For economic and political reasons, the media often seek sensationalism at the neglect o f ethical and moral considerations in the dissemination o f information. Misrepresentation o f Blacks, or sensationalizing tragic events from Africa, only tends to reinforce negative stereotypes and racial prejudice. African scholars, opinion leaders, community workers, parents and teachers have a responsibility to educate the media and society to be circumspect in their references to the continent, and show sensitivity toward the plight o f African peoples.  Perceptions o f Parents/MFC Cross-cultural Facilitators Unlike the narratives o f Black youths, racism was a dominant theme in the stories o f the AfricanCanadian parents. A s well-informed adults and active members o f the Black community, the parents had strong sense o f identity and cultural pride. W i t h their backgrounds, they were more conscious and sensitive to acts o f repression, discrimination and racism than their children were. In expressing his concerns over school curricula, textbooks and school organization, M a r k declared that: SAP: D o you have any specific concerns about your children's school art program, textbooks and the general school organization? Mark: Y e s ! I have problem with school textbooks and learning materials that are used in schools. I have the privilege to be among the few African immigrants, i f not the only, to be teaching in the public school in Vancouver. I have observed and experienced racism in the school system. For instance, I found a video in our school library that depicts Blacks as eating dead human bodies for medicinal purpose. In the documentary, the group is not specified by name or geographical origin. I do not think this is appropriate for kids to watch and I have protested. Singling out a cultural or racial group with such a video is detrimental to Black kids. Even in science textbooks the images o f malnourished people are often depicted as Blacks, reinforcing what the Western media has been showing on T V . Healthy people are not likely to be Blacks. If children are fed with such subtle and damaging messages, they grow up to be racists or have prejudicial attitude toward Blacks without any moral justification. It also reduces the self-esteem o f Black kids. 11 (P. 02) School environment plays an important role in the student's motivation to achieve. The use o f racist and outdated materials in the curriculum was a major concern for most parents and students  \u000C176 interviewed. They felt that some o f the materials used in school help to perpetuate racial stereotypes. Such materials, they demanded, should be discarded by the school board and supplemented with up-to-date materials with balanced and positive approaches to race issues. N e w materials must also challenge inequality, injustice and racism. M a r k ' s passion over the issue o f racism in the school system is linked to his lived experiences. A s a high school teacher in the Lower Mainland o f British Columbia, he is privy to the day-to-day organization o f the school. He expressed his frustration with the school board and school administration for their laisse-faire attitude toward school reform and inclusive education. He asserts that there is racism in schools, in textbooks and in the teacher recruitment process. M a r k pointed out that he has had a bitter struggle with the school board and British Columbia Teachers' Federation for a number o f years after obtaining all the necessary accreditation before he gained recognition and approval to practice as a teacher. M a r k claimed that his experience is not unique because many qualified Black/African teachers and visible minorities face similar barriers in trying to enter the teaching profession in British Columbia, and in Canada. Clara expressed similar sentiments over the curriculum and the school system in Vancouver: I have many concerns because I have had the opportunity to volunteer in a private Catholic school and a couple o f Christian schools in Vancouver. I was amazed at the number o f books and resources in their libraries that portrayed Africa as a jungle, disease prone and poverty stricken. There is no positive image whatsoever about Africa, where the African children and their parents call their home. . . . 16A (P. 02) Tom: M y experience as a parent o f five children and interactions with other African-Canadian parents, have revealed that Black kids have been falling behind academically. They mostly obtain an average grade o f \" C \" or below. Almost all the families I encountered have complained about their children's academic performance. W h y have they not been obtaining \" A \" and \" B \" grades? What does it mean? A r e all the Black kids so academically weak? Some o f them I understand were on top o f their classes before they came to Canada. There must be something wrong. 1 therefore suggest that B l a c k families come together to provide extra or alternative education programs that would address these problems and augment whatever is going on in the schools. . . . If the children see teachers from their own ethnic or racial group, they would feel confident, and strive to make it, otherwise they are discouraged. 14 (P. 02)  Fatia ( M F C ) : M y concern is that my children's school is multicultural in terms o f its population, but it does not look so when you walk in the door o f the school. . . . Children from nonmainstream cultures seem to be treated as extras. This is reflected in their academic performance and behaviour at school. They tend to hang around together with little or no inter-group interaction. 17 (P. 02) On the issue o f racism and schooling, all the six parents and two M F C cross-cultural facilitators  \u000C177 had various experiences to share. If there is one issue in which parents show much emotion and anger when discussing their children's school experiences, it is the issue o f racism and its manifestations in the education system. Clara provided a v i v i d description o f her understanding and experience o f racism in Canada: SAP: What is racism? Have your children had any experience o f racism in school? Clara: Racism involves one race or ethnic group putting down the other based on what the people look like. It is a very dangerous thing to declare judgment on one person as unworthy. Racism is about power about subjugation. M y nephews have encountered derogatory words, racial slurs, rejection as well as being told they are stupid. The problem with racism in Canada is that it is very subtle and difficult to prove . . . Therefore, it is a difficult [issue] to address. It is like a snake that bites and covers up the fang while the poison continues to work inside you. So, it becomes difficult to show where the bite is to treat with the black stone. It affects you gradually until it kills you eventually. Teachers send subtle messages to children when they ignore their experiences and cultural backgrounds; and when they ignore children who put up their hands.in the class to answer questions... . 2 5 9 A (P. 29)  Clara's opinion on racism in Canada is blunt and directed toward school and society. She links racism with power and domination, and declares it as a dangerous social phenomenon. This comes out clearly with her use o f the analogy o f the poisonous snake to explain the subtle and covert forms o f racism in Canadian schools and society. She shows how racism as a social \"cancer\" extends from society to school and vice versa. Fatia ( M F C ) expressed the subtle manifestations o f racism in schools with her own experience: . . . It is a very difficult matter because most often, it is difficult to identify those acts as racism. In my case, it was so subtle that I found it difficult to convince the authorities that my son was encountering racism. I have heard people saying they would rather have someone call them a racist name than deny them a job or give them bad grades at school. 269 (P. 30) Based on my conversation with African parents and kids, their academic abilities are underestimated. I have had the opportunity to work with a number o f Black kids at the Centre that I assume are bright students that would do well academically. However, I am often shocked when I see their report cards with C ' s C - and sometimes failures. I actually have not observed these kids in the school environment so, o f course, my assumptions could be subjective. Nevertheless, 1 have been a teacher myself and I can identify a bright student after a long-term interaction. 08 (P. 01)  Three other parents and an M F C Facilitator, Cephas, Gina, T o m and Eugenia described racism and how it affects them and their children: Cephas: It is discrimination based on race, skin colour, ethnicity and cultural peculiarities. W e have institutional or structural racism, which is embedded in social institutions, structures and systems that sustain domination and subordination o f one group over another. Individual racism can take the form o f prejudice against a person or persons due to skin colour or cultural peculiarities. When my kids were teased with racial slurs and the school refused to discipline the  \u000C178 culprits, it was a form o f racism. When my child was told that he could not do math and therefore, should settle for sports, it was a form o f racism. It was a form o f racial profiling when the police repeatedly accosted my child without any basis. When children feel that they cannot seek redress from their teachers or the school would not protect them against racist acts they react with anger and violence, often incurring the displeasure o f their teachers. 256 (P. 29) G i n a : I moved my kids from their former school because o f misunderstanding with the teachers. M y child had complained about some students who cast racial aspersions on her. I tried to discuss the issue with the teachers but they denied anything was happening. For me, racism is hatred and discrimination based on peoples' race and culture. 255 (P. 29) Tom: . . . M y children have been complaining about the way some teachers treat them in school by making them feel they are stupid. They often receive lower grades in certain subjects. . [in which] they believe to have performed well enough. When they talk to their teachers, they are commended for their grades. O n two occasions Maryam and Hannah came home weeping because they were unsatisfied with their grades. 257 (P. 29) E u g e n i a ( M F C ) : Racism is putting one culture down and believing that one race is inferior to another. I cannot strictly say that my children have encountered racism at school. But the way they are discouraged from full participation in academic study leaves me to think that some teachers have hidden agendas to prevent Black kids from achieving their academic goals. When it comes to sports, they are encouraged but in academic work, they are discouraged. 261 (P. 29) These views o f racism demonstrate that the parents are informed on the issues. Cephas held a critical perspective on racism, and distinguished between structural or institutional racism and individual racism. He linked the former with power structures embedded in social institutions and systems, and the latter with person-to-person prejudices and stereotypes. A s a practicing Christian cleric, he was very much aware o f power hierarchies and oppressive structures, and has used the pulpit to preach against racism and racial intolerance on several occasions. Similarly, G i n a , Eugenia and Fatia had cause to complain about schools and/or teachers for treating their children unfairly. The preceding comments indicate that these parents were very much concerned about the academic evaluation and performance o f Black students at school. O n four occasions, T o m and Fatia reiterated this point. The parents challenged the view held by the Math and English teachers that the average performance o f Hannah was satisfactory enough. They felt that it was in sharp contrast to the high aspirations o f many Black learners. It is essential for teachers to view themselves as active socializing agents, capable o f simulating or stifling students' motivation to learn, through the way they handle issues o f reward and punishment, and/or assessment and evaluation. In Chapter T w o , we learned that, teachers' interactions with, and expectations o f their students have tremendous influence on students' performance.  \u000C179 Black/African-Canadian students take cues from subtle and unconscious messages o f teachers about their worth, intelligence, and capability through classroom comments, rewards and punishment, and the award o f marks. M a n y teachers consciously or unconsciously, have low expectations o f students from particular backgrounds. Such teachers are, in the worse scenario, insensitive and racist. Unfortunately, the influence of teacher expectations and the complicity o f the school have compelling implications for Black students. The educational system must recognize the centrality o f teachers and prepare them to practice social justice in their classrooms. Some o f the parents including an M F C Facilitator intimated that racial stereotypes and lower teacher expectations have negatively affected their children's schooling by directing their attention to sports at the detriment o f their academic development: SAP: What are your perceptions o f Black children and the education system in British Columbia? Cephas: There is a general perception that Black kids are good in sports but not in academic work. A s a result, teachers pump this into the heads o f innocent Black kids. They encourage them in sports by giving them good grades in physical education. When it comes to academic work, however, Black kids are discouraged . . . This practice is covertly embedded in the education systems in North America. It takes serious parental intervention to turn things around for their children. 4 (P. 01) M a r c i a : Our children are being misled into thinking that sports is what w i l l make them successful in school and in life. Unfortunately, those who encourage our kids into sports are not Black teachers [who are largely absent in the schools] but mostly White teachers. If you are good at sports and at the end o f the day it does not bring food onto the table or obtain the job you want, what sense does it make? 6 (P. 01) C l a r a : . . . There is also the perception that Africans are heroes in sports and entertainment (Michael Jordan, M a g i c Johnson, Michael Johnson, M i k e Tyson, M i c h a e l Jackson, Janet Jackson etc.). Children get the message that perhaps that is where they can fit. This kind o f perception, which the schools pump into the minds o f Black/African-Canadian children, leaves them with only a few heroes. What about the many successful Black professionals and scholars around the world? I think the schools need to open up and create more opportunities rather than enforce stereotypes that limit minority students' life chances. 16B (P. 02) E u g e n i a ( M F C ) : Personally, my concern is that my children are made to feel that what would lead them to success is sports but not education. This is very unfortunate because I have very strong expectations for my two older boys, but now their aspiration is to play soccer in a country where there are even no professional soccer teams. W e are struggling and working so hard to obtain good education for our children but there are so many obstacles in the education system that prevent our kids from achieving their academic goals. It is a problem. 18 (P. 02) Y o u n g Black males face tremendous peer and societal pressure to submit into a particular mode o f life; in this case, sports. Lower teacher expectations and stereotypes affect young Blacks males to the extent that  \u000C180 they internalize the notion o f success in sports and thereby, affecting their academic success. The problem with these kinds o f stereotypes is that they can blind teachers and schools from recognizing and supporting Black students who may have the aptitude for other forms o f intelligences and abilities as supported by the theory o f multiple intelligence (Gardner, 1983). Conversely, the stereotypes could work against Whites and other students who may possess talents for sports. Most teachers reject the notion that they have different expectations for their students based on race, gender or socio-economic backgrounds. Nevertheless, these parents felt that some teachers are affected by stereotypes that assume that Blacks have not the intelligence to perform at high academic levels. In my conversations with Black/African-Canadian parents and M F C Facilitators, most o f them expressed some concerns about the future o f their children, given their own experiences in Canada: SAP: What is your greatest concern/worry for the Black youths in today's society? Tom: M y concern is that racism may prevent them [Black youths] from achieving their best. M y children on several occasions come from school weeping because they either felt cheated by their teachers in the award o f exam grades or their schoolmates say they are ugly. These experiences, in the long run, have demoralizing effects on children's self-esteem. 230 (P. 26) F a t i a ( M F C ) : M y worries are similar to those o f the many Black parents I have met at the M F C . I am concerned that racism would prevent many Black youths from maximizing their potentials and achieving their aspirations. Many o f them claim to work so hard in school only to be given very discouraging marks. Even those with qualifications, may find it difficult to get the good jobs and promotions because power still resides in the hands o f the dominant class. . . . 233A (P. 26) Similarly, G i n a and Clara expressed their concerns over discrimination in school and society with emotion and passion: G i n a : M y greatest worry is about racial discrimination in this society that could prevent Black/African-Canadians from achieving their life aspirations. Canada has adequate resources to help all kids achieve their goals but, due to racism and class struggles, Black children do not obtain the full benefits o f education. 228 (P. 26) C l a r a : I am hesitant in saying that our children are endangered species. There is very little understanding o f Black children among the present crop o f teachers. When the children arrive here, they are quickly assimilated into Canadian society. They, unlike their parents, lose their roots as they socialize into the school systems. A s second generation Black/African-Canadians, they are also not fully accepted by mainstream Canadians in terms o f socio-political participation. Therefore, they sometimes exhibit acts o f rebellion and reactions o f anger. A s children, they do not know how to deal with their frustration because they lack analytical ability to deal effectively with their anger. I, as an adult, know how to respond to acts o f racism, but when children respond with temper, they are labelled as troublemakers, and become targets for victimization. 233 (P. 26)  \u000C181 While being critical o f the dominant social class agenda o f subordination o f the interest o f Blacks and minorities, I was surprised to learn that five out o f the eight parents, including the M F C Facilitators, also found reasons to criticize Black youths for yielding to the popular youth rap culture, and for contributing toward their own demise. When I inquired about their concerns for their children, and how the children managed cultural dissonance, they shared the following insightful comments: SAP: H o w do Black children, and your children in particular, manage adjustment in their two or more cultural worlds in Canada. F a t i a ( M F C ) : . . . A g a i n , as I indicated earlier, many Black teenagers buy into the Los Angeles Black youth rap culture, which often make them targets for gang violence and police harassment. 233 (P. 26) E u g e n i a ( M F C ) : Our children, especially the teenage boys, are hooked into a lifestyle that is not conducive to successful education. Due to the freedoms in Canada, our children feel they can do whatever they want without focusing on education or listening to their parents. The schools themselves are culprits because our kids do not find schools as supporting their educational pursuits. Their upward mobility is severely diminished. M a n y African youths, after Grade 12, are hooked to underpaid jobs without any long-term success. 9 (P. 01) Clara narrated her experience with her nephews: . . . M y nephews used to be innocent children when they were in elementary school, but now they are so much steeped into the Black brother thing [youth rap culture] to the extent that we are beginning to loose them. They have begun to identify with black images on T V , rap culture, which their peers pressure them to copy. This culture, which identifies them with strange life style, also leads them to be labelled as troublemakers. 79 (P. 08) Tom: Children here take advantage o f the freedoms in this society to misbehave. M y children are taught to call 911 when they are disciplined at home. Some children abuse this protection just as some parents abuse their children. The way we discipline our children at home in Sudan is different from here. Parents have to adjust to the laws o f our new society in parenting our children even i f we do not agree with them. . . . It is said that: \" i f you go to Rome, do what the Romans do.\" 239 (P. 27) Parents noted that there are many attractions in the cities offering immediate gratification or a sense o f excitement, which the schools are failing to match. The criticisms o f their children and Black youths in general, seem to suggest that while the parents attributed some blame to the school system, teachers, and the general society, they expected the students themselves to share some responsibility and blame for their state o f affairs. B y linking the etiologies o f Black/African-Canadian students' underachievement to the school, the community, individual student shortcomings and to the parents themselves, they were expressing the complexity o f the problem that demanding more holistic solutions.  \u000C182  Black/African-Canadian parents need to take the initiative in addressing the problems facing Black youths. This can be accomplished through their active participation in community-based programs such as those offered at the M F C , and by some African cultural associations, which seek to address the needs o f the Black community. Through coordinated effort, the African community can provide useful outlets for children to engage in activities like homework clubs, art clubs, sports clubs, music and dance clubs and voluntary clubs. These activities can help to keep the youths away from negative peer influence. Parallel to the problem o f racial stereotyping is the problem o f selective exposure and racism in the media. L i k e the Black students in this study, majority o f the parents, including the two M F C Facilitators, felt that negative stereotypes in the media are reinforced in the schools and vice versa. Fatia stressed that: SAP: What do you think about representations o f Blacks in the news media? What can be done to address the problem o f negative media representations o f Blacks? F a t i a ( M F C ) : . . . The media emphasize too much o f the negative and ignores the positive because it is the negative that sells. In so doing however, they perpetuate stereotypes and allow racism to flourish. The media could sensationalize good stuff i f they want to. 286 (P. 32) Cephas: . . . The media use selective exposure to w i n people's minds. They largely misrepresent the African continent. 13B (P. 02) Because o f this perception, the parents, like their children, made a number o f suggestions and strategies to deal with the situation: Cephas: W e need to confront the media with rejoinders and protests anytime we feel that our interests are being misrepresented. W e need to develop the culture o f writing in order to counter publications that serve to tarnish our image. W e need to be political in our outlook. W e need to become members o f the main political parties, participate in their activities, attend their meetings and speak our minds on issues. 282 (P. 32) M a r c i a : . . . we need to learn how to engage the media and educate them about their practices that are offensive to the African-Canadian community. 285 (P. 32) E u g e n i a ( M F C ) : . . . the African community need to make noise and let the community know how much we hurt when we see so much o f the negatives in print and mass media. 287 (P. 32) A s 1 have indicated earlier, Africans must take a leading role in educating the media and the general society on issues pertaining to Blacks and African peoples including the 54 different African nations and diverse cultures. Africa must be presented in terms o f its rich natural resources; its potential for economic development; and its contributions to world's economy, art, culture and history, past and present.  \u000C183 Perceptions o f the A r t Teacher/Principal Discussions with the School Principal and the A r t Teacher yielded useful insight on their views on race, ethnicity and schooling. They held different opinions on how racism influenced the experiences o f students in their school: SAP: What are some o f the most common concerns o f parents o f ethnic minorities over the operations o f the school and its impact on their children's participation in school?  Principal: I think we are doing well in terms o f dealing with the concerns o f parents. Just recently, we had a speaker who does multiculturalism and anti-racism in the neighbourhood at our Parent Advisory Committee meeting. She was trying to invite parents to j o i n her group to focus on multicultural and anti-racism issues in the community. One o f the parents responded that they were very satisfied with the multicultural programs the teachers offered here and the way children behaved during and after school. 11 (T. 04)  Teacher: Racism has been the most common concern o f both schools and parents. Every school is trying to address this problem to achieve zero tolerance for discrimination and racial hatred. But occasionally, we encounter incidents o f racism in our school. A s a member o f the First Nations o f Canada with rich cultural and artistic backgrounds, I try to incorporate multicultural art education within the limits o f the prescribed curriculum and the Integrated Resource Package (IRP) for visual arts. 12 (T. 04) SAP: D o you think that race and ethnicity are influential factors in the education o f children in your school?  Principal: N o , I don't think race, ethnicity, gender, social class, etc. are influential [factors] in schooling. W e provide all our students with equal opportunity to excel. I believe that equality also prevails in employment because it is based on merit. 26 (T. 09)  Teacher: Certainly, children's social economics and racial status influence their participation in education. This happens because o f how mainstream society has set things up. W e all know, for instance, that those in the bottom o f the social-economic ladder in Canada are the Native Indians and other ethnic minorities. Racism is all over in Canadian schools and in society, just as spousal abuse, substance abuse. Nobody wants to talk about it, yet it has a negative influence on children's participation and attainment in schooling. 27 (T. 09) SAP: H o w are teachers prepared to deal with racial incidents i f they should occur at your school?  Principal: W e have had a number o f training [sessions] for teachers and all staff to deal with all racial issues. W e talk to parents and the children when there is an incident. The biggest racial incident that occurred quite recently was between a Chinese and Vietnamese boy. The Vietnamese said to the Chinese boy: \"I hate you Black people\". When the parents were invited, the father o f this Vietnamese student repeated the same phrase . . . A g a i n , a Portuguese boy calls a Chinese boy chimp. When the parent was brought in, he restated the same racial slur in front o f me. Some o f these groups bring to school deep-rooted rivalry that originates from their home countries in A s i a . Anytime there is a racial incident in school, we have to go back to the children's parents and home. Children by nature do not see much difference between themselves; it is the parents, who inject their own beliefs and stereotypes into their children. W e have no tolerance for racism and we try to make our students and parents aware o f our policies. 53 (T. 18)  \u000C184  Teacher: W e do have \"Second Step,\" a program on empathy where visuals are shown to educate mainstream teaching staff about how to treat other people. It is important that right at the beginning o f every school year steps are taken to address the school about racial tolerance. Students must be aware that there is zero tolerance to racism: Personally, I encourage racial tolerance by helping students to understand other people's culture through multicultural art education. 54 (T. 18) The A r t Teacher felt that the racial sensitivity program at the School was useful for addressing racism and ethnic conflict. Nevertheless, she felt that the best way to deal with diversity is to try to assist every student to learn and to validate their experiences within the context o f the School. The Principal was confident that the School had adequately prepared its teachers and the administration to deal with racial issues. She, however, felt that racism is largely a social problem that should be dealt with by the various ethnic communities rather than dominate the agenda o f the School. This feeling, surprisingly, contradicted the efforts the School has been making through multiculturalism to reach out to the community. It is true that some parents, due to ideological, historical, economic and cultural factors, have internalized malignant racist attitudes that are passed on to their children. Nevertheless, to view the problem as somewhat divorced from the School is problematic, since schools are integral part o f society. H o w issues o f ethnicity, race and schooling are perceived and conceptualized may have different implications for multicultural education. If a school administration sees racism as an issue, it may dominate the agenda o f that school. On the other hand, i f racism is not viewed as a problem, it would become less o f a priority for that school.  Summary Programs in anti-racism and multicultural education would not achieve the goal o f eliminating institutional and cultural barriers i f teachers and schools are not abreast with the issues or, deny the school's responsibility to deal with racism. There should be a concerted effort to make school boards, public school administrators and teachers aware o f students' and parents' perceptions and attitudes toward race and racism in the education system. The data revealed that many Black/African-Canadians feel that they have had to deal with covert and overt racist attitudes among teachers, classmates and school administration. This situation must be addressed i f Black/African-Canadian learners are to participate fully in the education process. Schools are governed by a great number o f structures which often are contrary to the needs o f  \u000C185  minority students, to the values o f their communities, and even to the expressed purpose o f schooling in providing equal educational opportunity for all students. The impact o f racism and structural factors in schools shows that they often have a negative influence on the learning and achievement o f Black students and learners from ethnic minority background. In effect, structural barriers within schools reflect and maintain the status quo, and the stratification o f society. Therefore, multicultural education should not be divorced from societal power structures and systems. It should challenge all educators to make the schools a force for social justice and change in society. The school experience for the majority o f Black students could be much more rewarding i f the curriculum was attuned to their own lived experiences.  Multicultural Education and Africentric Knowledge Education has often been viewed as a major vehicle for transmitting a society's heritage and the accumulated knowledge o f the past. But in the case o f British Columbia and the rest o f Canada, Black/African-Canadian learners do not appear to be part o f that heritage. Black history, art and culture are not part o f the core school curriculum and teaching materials despite their long presence in Canada. This omission is one o f the major barriers to Black/African-Canadian achievement, as the education system fails to provide cultural education for Black learners. The lack o f multicultural context in the curriculum was one o f the major themes in the discussions with parents. The following statement by Cephas gives a v i v i d picture o f the situation: . . . The school ignores the cultural background o f non-mainstream students. If young people placed in a new environment are not taught their history, art and culture there would be cultural assimilation. Currently, many Black kids face serious identity crises. Because they do not have an identity, they strive to create their own identity and are destroyed in the process. I think it is high time the school and the community dealt with positive aspects o f African culture and history in order to help children understand their identity and enhance their self-esteem.... 13 (P. 02) There is no affirmation o f Black/African-Canadians within the school system, from textbooks and teaching materials to teacher representation. M a n y teachers have little or no knowledge o f Black/African history, art, culture and literature. They therefore deny Black children the opportunity to gain not only selfknowledge and a sense o f pride in their history and cultural heritage, but also the coping skills to deal with prejudice and racism.  \u000C186  Perceptions o f Black/African-Canadian Students A l l the 15 students interviewed spoke o f a lack o f curriculum devoted to their history, literature, art, culture and lived experiences. Their views on multicultural education ranged from a superficial to a deeper level o f understanding:  S A P : When you hear the term \"multicultural education,\" what does it mean to you? L i l l i a n : Multicultural education involves the celebration o f Black History Month, Chinese N e w Year, Halloween, First Nations Potlatch and Multicultural Potluck Nights at the school. 69 (S. 05) Dave: It involves the teaching and learning o f the history, art, and culture o f the various ethnic groups represented in Canada; not just Euro-Canadian stuff. 73 (S. 05) E d e n : In multicultural education kids from various countries come together and try to learn different things about different countries. 77 (S. 05) Judas: In multicultural education, we learn things about Sudan, Africa, China, A s i a and many other cultures at school. 80 (S. 05) D o n : Multicultural education helps kids to understand their own cultural heritage and appreciate the cultures o f others. 76 (S. 05) Although these definitions seem less sophisticated in terms o f addressing issues o f power, inequalities and racism, they demonstrate some level o f awareness among students o f cultural diversity in school and society, and the need for diversity to be affirmed and celebrated in school. When I asked the students about the status o f multicultural education in their school's visual arts, social studies and other subjects, Gifty, Estella, and Dixie thought that it was being implemented in social studies class. They claimed that they studied the various world religions, celebrated some North American cultural festivals and multicultural potluck nights every year, but nothing on Africa or Blacks: Other students expressed similar sentiments: S A P : Is multicultural education implemented in your school? H a n n a h : Y e s ! In social studies, we learned a bit about Africa - Nigeria and South Africa. In Grade 6, we had a lesson on Egypt, the First Nations o f Canada and the Chinese. 82 (S. 06) Susie: N o t much. W e only learnt about Europe and North America, and we celebrated Chinese N e w Year and the Halloween. 88 (S. 06) Dave: Y e s , we learn some multicultural stuff in social studies and art, but I do not think we have learned anything meaningful about Africa from school. I have learned many things about Africa from T V and magazines. 89 (S. 06)  \u000C187  John: We studied the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and the Roman Empire in Grade 9. W e also learned about Dr. Martin Luther K i n g Junior and Nelson Mandela during the Black History month. I think we need to learn more about Africa. 95 (S. 06) Despite the general feeling among the students interviewed that multicultural education is offered in their various schools, most o f them complained about the paucity o f Black/African art, history, literature and cultural knowledge in the mainstream curriculum. They expressed their views about how African art, culture, history and literature could be useful to them: S A P : In what way is your knowledge o f African art, history and culture useful to you? Estella: I am an African-Canadian, so I need to learn the culture o f both Canada and Africa. I need my home language so I would not get lost when I visit Uganda. I enjoy the African food, music and art so much. 364 (S. 24) Estella in this case, explained the need to be socialized into Canadian cultures as well as her African subculture in order to live her African-Canadian identity. She also recognized the need to acquire some values and language in order to communicate effectively as a Canadian with a Ugandan heritage. M a r y a m : It allows me to understand my roots and remember my heritage. Remembering my roots is important for self-identity and self-esteem. 367 (S. 24) Susie: Knowledge about Africa is very important to me because it is my roots. Everybody has a cultural root. I am proud to be a Sudanese and an African. I need to learn more about my home culture. 370 (S. 24) Dave: Some people say bad things about Africa. It is important for me to know the truth about Africa by studying and visiting Africa myself. M y parents w i l l send us to Africa so I want to learn more about Uganda. 370 (S. 24) A n important lesson that can be drawn from the preceding statements is that these Black/AfricanCanadian students want multicultural education to become an integral part o f their school subjects and experiences at school. The general view among the students was that the schools should integrate multiculturalism into all areas o f the curriculum including science, math, social studies, history and technology. The schools, they suggested, should expose all students to the achievements o f Black people from ancient times to the present in all spheres o f life instead o f focusing on negative or narrow aspects o f Black history or, on only selective areas like sports and entertainment. They also stressed the need for schools to hire more qualified Blacks as teachers; the need to respect all students and treat them fairly irrespective o f their backgrounds; and the need to ensure that Blacks and non-Europeans are well  \u000C188 represented in school curriculum, textbooks, instructional materials and by the media. Some o f the students were o f the opinion that most teachers did not know enough about Blacks and their history to be able to teach effectively. They suggested that teachers should be encouraged to acquire some knowledge about groups represented in their school to be able to teach them. The issue o f ethnicity and background o f instructors generated an interesting discussion among students. Twelve students, out o f 15 interviewed, indicated that they prefer an African instructor for African art, history or culture. They argued that while an African instructor may have practical experience o f what they teach, other teachers may teach without that advantage. S A P : Does it make any difference who teaches African history, art and culture to you? L i l l i a n : Y e s . I think an African would know more about his/her culture. Our teachers do not know anything about African art, history and culture that [explains] why they don't teach them in our school. 414 (S. 27) S a r a h : Y e s , an African tutor would know more about the culture by way o f studying it and living the culture. A n African tutor would also serve as a role model to me since we do not have African teachers in our schools. 416 (S. 27) Dave: Y e s . I want somebody who knows the art and practices the culture. A n African would probably relate to Black students better than White or other teachers. I also think that a Chinese would be better when it comes to teaching Chinese culture. 418 (S. 27) D o n : Y e s , because Black tutors would understand Black culture and history as well as students. Black instructors would understand Black boys better. I do not care who teaches me Math or science but I prefer a Black tutor for African culture. 421 (S. 27) While the 12 students stressed the benefits o f having an instructor from similar ethnic or racial background three others, namely Dixie, Eden and John were not much concerned about the ethnicity o f their African cultural instructors, as long as they were knowledgeable: D i x i e : N o , because they use textbooks to teach. If they can study and teach from the books, that would be okay with m e . . . . 4 1 9 A (S. 27) E d e n : N o . If they have read the culture and understand African art, they can teach. Some Africans may not be knowledgeable about their own culture to be able to teach. I want someone who has adequate knowledge and practice o f the culture. A n African teacher, [however], could also serve as a role model. 422 (S. 27) J o h n : I prefer an instructor who knows the culture, history by practice whether s/he is Black or White. White people who have lived in Africa for a long time can teach African culture just as Africans themselves. 424 (S. 27)  \u000C189 It is clear that not all the students in this study were concerned about the ethnic background o f an African cultural instructor. It is also evident that the majority o f them felt that they could benefit from, and be validated by, the presence o f instructors who have a similar ethnic background and experience as theirs. H o w can we explain this phenomenon? The key to understanding the importance these students place on ethnicity o f instructors may lie with the treatment o f Blacks and minorities in school and society. The presence o f teachers from minority groups seems to provide minority students with a sense o f hope,  v  belonging and a belief that they would be respected for their intellectual capacities while being given a fair chance to succeed. Most importantly, not only would minority students relate to the experiences o f instructors and other students who have a similar ethnic background, but they can also enrich mainstream students by bringing in new and alternative perspectives. A s pointed out by Asante (1998), the experiential relationship is critical to the continued intellectual growth o f minority students. A r t education needs more minority role models to encourage the participation o f more minority students in visual art programs.  Perceptions o f Parents/MFC Cross-cultural Facilitators The issue o f exclusion o f Black/African-Canadian cultural perspectives from the curriculum came up repeatedly in every individual interview and group discussions with parents and the two M F C crosscultural facilitators. Most o f the parents felt that nothing had been done to incorporate Black history, literature into the classrooms o f British Columbia schools. It is clear that there is still resistance by many White educators to considering race, ethnicity and culture as factors associated with the schooling process. Cephas and Clara made the following connection between Black children's disengagement from school and the process o f assimilation: SAP: Can you think o f any reason why some Blacks and visible minority children \"drop out\" o f school? Cephas: Black children, especially those who migrate to Canada start school with a disadvantage. Some children start school with a cultural mindset and learning styles embedded in their home culture. Unfortunately, they are compelled to discard their languages, cultures, learning styles, accent in order to participate in their new culture. For some kids, there is so much pressure coming upon them and trying to squeeze them into a particular mode. W e need to be sympathetic with such children, struggling to fit into a culture that is alien to them. They are crying for help and trying out everything. The school . . . aggravates the situation by alienating them and discouraging their full academic participation. But i f we as parents can give the necessary support right from the  \u000C190 beginning, it is amazing what could happen. 76 (P. 09) Clara linked the problem o f Black students' disengagement from school with cultural dissonance, racism and isolation: Children o f Black/African immigrants generally have difficulties in adjusting to the new and sometimes hostile school culture. Sometimes things they study at school have little relevance to their cultural backgrounds. U n l i k e Africa where there is much social support from the extended family, Black kids have inadequate support systems in Canada, both in school and at home. Some guardians are single and working parents with no time for parenting. Local counsellors may not adequately understand the African child. A l l these, coupled with racism, make some children \"drop-out\" o f school. 79 (P. 09) Cephas and Clara made revealing observation that confirm the assertion that cultural discontinuity or cultural marginalization in school is detrimental to Black students intellectual and emotional development. The ideological dissonance between cultures hinders teachers' ability to recognize, promote and generate activities and events, which may affect, Black learners positively. This situation created frustration for parents who felt the school was abdicating its responsibility to include Blacks in the education process: M a r c i a : I do not think the educational system really want to implement multicultural education fully. It only responds partially to satisfy various cultural groups. If they wanted to, multicultural education would have made a lot o f impact by now. However, there is some resistance from some teachers and schools to maintain the status quo. 42 (P. 05) Tom: I do not know exactly what goes on in the school. However, I believe what they do about multicultural education is insignificant. I do inquire about what they study at school, but my children never talk about learning anything about Africa. The only aspects o f Africa they had learned have been ancient Egypt, the cradle o f civilization. 50 (P. 06) C l a r a : There have been some efforts on the part o f some schools and teachers, but I do not think that is satisfactory. M u c h o f these attempts have been superficial and do not fully embrace Multicultural education. 43 (P. 05) C l a r a : I do not think the schools are implementing multiculturalism. They are only implementing marginal aspects o f other cultures. When multiculturalism is mentioned in schools, they think about food, clothes, cultural festivals and dances. That is not my culture. M y culture is who I am, how I do things. Accepting my different accent, views, skills, qualifications and values as valid is what matters to me. Because you can come and eat my food and walk away without accepting me. The school touches on the fringes o f multiculturalism. I do not know much about my own traditional dance, so how does that represent me? 34 (P. 04) Generally, parents pointed out that the education system has not responded satisfactorily to multicultural education, despite Canada's policy on multiculturalism. A common assertion was that a strong sense o f identity and pride in one's own cultural heritage could not only instill positive values and booster self-esteem but also serve as a tool for dealing with prejudice and racism. Michael explained that  \u000C191  cultural beliefs and values are expressed in art forms, stories and folktales, history, language, religion, music, food and clothing. Children need to acquire all these through education from school and home. T o m also asserted that his children are Sudanese first and Canadians second, therefore it was expedient for the children to understand their Sudanese/African identity in order to become true African-Canadians. Because most African children do not have any extended family relatives apart from their parents living in Canada, Clara pointed out that practical knowledge o f their home culture through African art, language programs, drama, stories, history, festivals and direct home (Africa) visits, could be useful in providing first hand experience to fill the gaps in their lives. Clara shared the experience o f a Ugandan family whose recalcitrant son became transformed through a short visit to Uganda. According to Clara, the boy's encounter with the realities o f Uganda, including the economic struggles many o f his Ugandan peers had to go through, softened his heart. Since his return to Canada the boy no longer takes things for granted and has adopted a positive outlook to life. Clara also advised African parents to take a cue from the First Nations o f Canada who have nurtured a generation o f culturally conscious people that would maintain their cultural traditions for many years to come. Besides what African-Canadians expect to gain from the promise o f multicultural education, the parents felt that the entire school system and students stand to gain from inclusive education. In multicultural education, all students acquire knowledge and skills in cultural literacy, critical thinking, reflection and social action. M a r k pointed out that Black students bring to the visual art classroom a variety o f new experiences and perspectives to be shared. B y so doing students learn to view events and situations from a variety o f perspectives, rather than from a single perspective. African cultures are rich in concepts, art forms, imagery, family values, moral values and spirituality, which could be shared or combined with other cultural traditions to create a multi-centric curriculum. T o m also felt that the inclusion o f Black/African-Canadian culture enables the school and students to have a balanced view o f art and the world by experiencing many cultures simultaneously in a single environment. O n the other hand, Clara noted that, by virtue o f their cultural backgrounds, Black children present some needs outside o f the mainstream. This could be a dilemma for mainstream teachers who are not familiar with Black/African  \u000C192  historical and cultural landscape. The parents also expressed their views on visual arts and multicultural education. A majority o f the parents felt that i f the richness o f African cultures were to be revealed, a positive inclusion o f African art in multicultural art education would be essential. However, African art appears to have had little or no room in the Euro-centric curriculum: SAP: W h y do you think non-Western art forms are continually marginalized in the mainstream curriculum? G i n a : W e l l , the West has dominated every sphere o f life because o f their power. The marginalization o f African art and culture in the West is not any different from what goes on in other areas. Just like Native American or First Nations art, African art is often referred to as crafts or folk art, and it is not accorded the respect it deserves. 192 (P. 22) Cephas: African art is not judged based on its context but from the perspectives o f Western art. This has a historical dimension to it. Due to slavery and colonization, African cultures were devalued, destroyed and relegated to lower status. It is not surprising that African art and culture is still marginalized in mainstream art curriculum and in society. 193 (P. 22) C l a r a : Non-Western art forms are not seen as art. They are seen as crafts or folk-art. I believe it is for Africans themselves to appreciate and project their own art instead o f expecting Europeans to cherish African art. W e have to define our own art instead o f letting Europeans define our art. I like the cultural [renaissance] that is going on within the community o f First Nations o f Canada. They are reclaiming their art and culture from the hands o f \"foreigners.\" We can do the same. 196 (P. 22) E u g e n i a ( M F C ) : [This is] because they do not value non-Western cultures, their art and way o f life. They [Euro-Westerners] feel it has no benefit for them. It is up to Africans to work hard to appreciate . . . our art and culture instead o f allowing the West to define African art for us. . . . 198 (P.22) The above views by parents reiterate the argument in the literature that the foundation o f art history and art education is replete with Euro-centrism. Criticisms o f the Eurocentric curriculum in visual art education have led to the birth o f new and alternative approaches to art education. These include Multicultural A r t Education ( M A E ) , Multicultural Discipline-based A r t Education ( M D A E ) and postmodern approaches such as Feminist A r t Education and Africentric A r t Education. Mark, Eugenia and Fatia expressed some doubt concerning the school systems readiness to embrace multiculturalism. A s they noted, most o f the Canadian teaching force with their backgrounds, training, experiences and values shaped by Euro-centric perspectives are ideologically unprepared for curriculum integration o f multicultural perspectives, a terrain which they believe could undermine  \u000C193 Canadian unity or limit Euro-Canadian privilege. SAP: What do you think teachers need to do in order to promote multicultural education, and encourage leaning among minority students? M a r k : It is not likely that the present teaching staff who have no insight o f African art and culture could impart multicultural knowledge unto their students . . . 4 7 A (P. 06) E u g e n i a ( M F C ) : The mainstream teachers need to unlearn their received knowledge. They need to change their attitudes toward minority children. Maybe multicultural education can bring about this change, I don't know. Parents also must be involved in order for the teachers to know how serious they are with their children. 99 (P. 11) F a t i a ( M F C ) : . . . Although in some schools, there are genuine efforts by some teachers to infuse multicultural objectives. It takes a lot o f commitment and knowledge on the part o f teachers and schools to go forward. Maybe the school that my sons attend, which I think does a poor j o b in multicultural education, has influenced my perception. I feel some schools may be doing a serious job. 4 4 B (P. 05)  It can be deduced from the above responses that many o f the Black parents felt that adequate cultural education has not been, and is still not available through public schools to Blacks and visible minorities. Parents in diverse ways expressed dissatisfaction with a teacher preparation process that produced teachers who lacked cross-cultural training or multicultural literacy, and are therefore i l l equipped to teach multicultural classes. T w o o f the parents, Cephas and Clara however, felt that some teachers are doing their best with what they know. They felt that such teachers, together with Black students were victims o f an inadequate system. Generally, they suggested that teacher education programs must be improved to include multicultural education and anti-racism education. For those teachers already in the system, they needed to be provided with increased opportunities for in-service training with community cooperation and support from the multicultural education units o f school boards. There are positive signs that many school boards have adapted race relation policies, and have engaged in training teachers in race relations and cross-cultural understanding. A typical example is the \"Second Step\" program in empathy and racial sensitivity for teachers at the east Vancouver School, my site for this study. Another area that was o f interest to parents was in the recruitment o f students for teacher training. A l l the parents insisted that the recruitment level o f teachers should be looked into to ensure that Blacks are also recruited for training as teachers. Black teachers in the schools could not only serve as role models for Black students but also could serve to check racism in their respective contexts.  \u000C194  S A P : If you have the power to change something in the education system, what would that be and why? F a t i a ( M F C ) : I believe the r e c r u i t m e n t . . . o f learners to teacher education and the universities should be looked into. 1 do not think the mainstream would accept quotas or affirmative action, which get them screaming . . . 286A (P. 32) C l a r a : I would want to change the hiring policy o f the school system. I would inject multiculturalism into the education system, from teacher education to hiring to curriculum content and pedagogy. Some Europeans have a phobia for anything different; that legacy has to change. 293 ( P . 3 3 ) M a r k : 1 would change the recruitment practices that discriminate against visible minorities. I would include multicultural content and text in school curricula, and ensure that racism is completely eliminated from our schools. 289 (P. 33) There was a strong conviction among the parents that teachers would be better equipped to respond to the needs o f Black students i f they were better trained and sensitized to the systemic discrimination, racism, and the diversity o f cultures in B C and the rest o f Canada. Therefore, teacher education and professional development programs should be revamped to improve teacher-readiness and strategies for multicultural education.  Perceptions o f the A r t Teacher/Principal Although there were some areas where the opinions o f the School Principal and the Art Teacher diverged, they converged on some issues. One o f the areas where they differed in their opinions was on the issue o f racism in the School. W h i l e the Teacher felt that racism was alive in the School, the Principal felt otherwise. However, on the issue o f multiculturalism in the school, they shared slightly similar views. The Principal felt that her school was a rare example o f an institution that had made tremendous strides in the implementation o f multicultural education. In responding to the question on the status o f multicultural education in her school, the Principal explained that: S A P : What is the status o f multicultural education in your school? P r i n c i p a l : W e have 29 different nationalities; groups and languages represented in our school, so we are almost by default multicultural in our population make up and school organization. 02 (T. 01) P r i n c i p a l : . . . Some o f the things we do here in some classes do focus on the various cultural festivals, holidays and religious ceremonies o f various groups. This allows other groups to  \u000C195  understand and be aware o f the cultural differences in our society. It enhances respect and intergroup harmony. 08 (T. 03) The A r t Teacher also felt the School was open to multiculturalism: I think the teachers are quite liberal here. A t every stage, the curriculum states that each grade should learn about different countries, customs and cultures. 03 (T. 01) Although the School is making some strides in the implementation o f multicultural education, much needs to be accomplished in order to go beyond the emphasis on cultural festivals, food fairs and holidays. What I am suggesting here is that multicultural education without a critical perspective may not affect, in any substantive way, the life chances o f students who have been mis-educated and marginalized in the curriculum.  Summary Black African-Canadian students and parents are generally critical when discussing their views on the school system in Canada, particularly the belief that not all knowledge systems, experiences and cultural groups are represented in classroom instructions is evident. Parents articulated their concerns that there are gaps in curriculum content that need to be fdled. When Blacks and minorities are included in the mainstream curriculum, their contributions are not presented with enough sophistication and centrality to assure Black learners and parents that their cultural experiences, art and histories are respected. It is important for educators to consider how Black/African Canadian students and parents from their various locations confront issues o f marginalization within mainstream schools. This is not to suggest that their views should be adopted uncritically as i f they hold the keys to all the problems o f school. Rather, I suggest that as a group most affected by school policies and practices, their insight can be crucial for developing meaningful, liberating, and engaging education i f they are sought through a critical and problem-solving approach (Friere, 1970).  \u000C196  Lack of Role Models The absence o f Black and minority teachers, guidance counsellors and administrators in the school system was a major concern o f Black/African-Canadians. This concern has been expressed in many research studies that have examined student's perspectives o f the education system (i.e., B L A C 1994; Brathwaite, 1989; Canadian Alliance o f Black Educators, 1992; D e i , Mazzuca, Mclsaac, &amp; Zine 1997). Problems o f representation, whether in terms o f absence o f knowledge about Blacks or absence o f role models, are closely intertwined with the process o f B l a c k students disengagement in school. Black/African-Canadians perceive the Black teacher as an important role model who could help students to connect and identify with the school. The School Principal and the A r t Teacher did not express any opinions because the issue was not raised during our discussion.  Perceptions o f Back/African-Canadian Students M a n y o f the Black students interviewed felt that Black teachers and Black school administrators are important role models because they may share a worldview or social perspective they could identify with. In reality however, virtually all the students interviewed were in classrooms that were managed mainly by White teachers. Since many o f them have not had the opportunity to be taught by Black teachers, it was not surprising that some o f their best teachers as well as their worst teachers were not Black teachers. The students emphasized the importance o f supportive teachers and welcoming classroom climate to their academic growth. Black and minority teachers' presence in schools sends an important message o f inclusiveness in the school; recognition o f the abilities o f all peoples; and an opportunity to learn about varied social realities. D e i (1996) pointed out that this message is essential in a school climate in which the issues o f race and representation in education are germane. On the question o f Black representation in school administration and teaching, and its impact on Black students, the prevailing response was that Black educators were virtually absent from schools in British Columbia. Hannah noted that: SAP: To what extent are Black/Africans represented in your school textbooks, curricula, and as teachers and administrators? Hannah: Blacks are not represented adequately in our school textbooks or in what we learn at  \u000C197 school. There is no African-Canadian teacher in my school. Besides, only a few teachers are nonEuropeans. What we learn in social studies and other subjects are mainly about white culture. W e have not studied African art either. 114 (S. 08) L i l l i a n also expressed her opinion as follows: . . . I think it would be cool to have some Black teachers in my school. They can motivate us to learn because they may understand me better. They could be my role models 117B (S. 08) Dixie: N o t much. But we learned about Martin Luther K i n g and M a l c o l m X during the Black History Month. W e learned about how they lived; how they tried to change the world into a better place by speaking against discrimination. I learned Dr. K i n g ' s speech, \"I have a dream . . .\" W e also learned about M a r k Jordan, M a g i c Johnson and successful Black sportsmen. I wish our school would teach more about Black/African history and achievements. 122 (S. 08) Don: The only Blacks in my school are the few Black students. W e do not have Black teachers, administrators or principals. Maybe it is because there are fewer Blacks in Vancouver compared with Toronto. 124 (S. 08) There is adequate evidence to conclude that these Black students desire to have Black teachers in their classrooms. They question why all or most o f the teachers in charge o f the schools are from EuroCanadian backgrounds, without any coming from their communities; and why the curriculum provides them little cue about themselves and their history. In effect, Black students want Black role models in their classrooms. The consequences o f a lack o f role models are numerous: while some get discouraged from learning, others make a conscious decision to disengage in what they see as less relevant materials delivered in less attractive contexts. For multicultural education to have a positive impact on Black youths, it is important that children are made aware o f the contributions o f members o f their race or group to the arts, sciences and political life in North America. It is important to inject pride in children about the ongoing accomplishments o f Black people - their hard work, self-sacrifice, resilience, integrity, fortitude and abilities in the midst o f hostile environment. This could be achieved i f Blacks are fairly represented in education and other fields in society.  Perceptions o f Parents Students' motivation to learn is stimulated through modeling, instruction and socialization by parents and teachers. The best teachers teach by examples. B l a c k parents realized the positive aspects o f having proper role models for their children. Using role models as a teaching tool is about teaching by employing examples o f successful individuals in their specialized fields, be it teaching or art making. In  \u000C198  the case o f Black students, the parents felt that they lacked proper role models in the education system including teachers, administrators and textbook contents. A s a teacher in Greater Vancouver area, M a r k was in a unique position as an insider to understand the issues affecting Black students in the province. From within, he summed up his evaluation o f the school system in relation to its role in providing role models for students: S A P : H o w do you feel about the under-representation o f Blacks and other visible minorities as teachers and school administrators?  Mark: Black children do not have the opportunity to explore their full potentials. . . . Most kids are disadvantaged; they feel isolated, and had no role models in the school system. Cultural sensitivity is missing in the schools . . . 02 (P. 01) Cephas expounded on the issues and its implications for the Black community: It is quite disheartening for children not to see people from their racial or ethnic background represented in their schools. It sends a bad message to our kids that we cannot become teachers and school administrators. It leaves our children with no role models, and denies them o f the opportunity to learn about their history and cultural heritage. A s little children, teachers have tremendous influence on their minds; as a result they need people they can relate with. This problem needs to be addressed i f we want our children to benefit fully from their education. 274 (P.31) T o m also expressed his disappointment over the lack o f role models in the education system for Black children: I feel bad that Blacks are underrepresented in the teaching profession in Canada. W e need Blacks as teachers, school administrators to serve as role models for our children. 275 (P. 31) These pronouncements about the absence o f positive Black images in the school curriculum, contribute to a lack o f cultural identity and motivation. Clara identified the hiring and recruitment practices in the public sector, teaching field, as well as teacher education programs as areas that need to be reviewed to ensure balance and employment equity. She pointed out that schools are places where images are portrayed in the beginning formation o f children, therefore, children should see people o f their kind as teachers, principals and administrators in order to boost their morale. It was also felt among parents that the absence o f role models in other sectors o f society and professions tend to limit Black learners' educational and career aspirations. Some parents felt that often, the role models presented are considered out o f reach or unrealistic to the Black learner: Tom: I believe the educational system must provide role models for Black children in order to  \u000C199  encourage them to work hard. Most o f the time, the only names they hear from school are Dr. Martin Luther K i n g and Black sports heroes, as i f we have no other great Black heroes in art, science and other professions. For about 10 years now the United Nations Secretary Generals have come from Africa, namely Egypt and Ghana. Children need to know this, and the work they are doing. 05 (P. 01) C l a r a : . . . There is also the perception that Africans are heroes in sports and entertainment. . . Children get the message that perhaps that is where they can fit. This kind o f perception, which the schools pump into the minds o f Black/African-Canadian children, leaves them with only a few heroes. . . . 16 (P. 02) Role models should not necessarily be superstars, nor inspired towards power or wealth. They could be ordinary people who are caring, honest, and courageous or those who selflessly sacrificed their time and energies to help others. M a n y Black people who have good education are usually frustrated in the job market. They simply cannot obtain the appropriate jobs because o f racial discrimination in Canada. Some professionals who are Canadian citizens have to move to the United States and other parts o f the world to seek employment opportunities or accept lower paid jobs, which are unrelated directly to their training. This situation does not only leave Black youths in Canada with fewer role models to emulate but also with no motivation to strive to enter universities and undertake professional training. This is because they perceive that job opportunities are limited by racial discrimination. Without proper role models in their own communities and schools, some youths tend to the popular youth culture where they are exposed to all sorts o f wrong models and social attractions. Out o f the eight parents interviewed, seven o f them strongly indicated that parents' involvement in their children's education was crucial because they serve as the first role models for their children. This feeling was clearly portrayed by Clara: SAP: What are some o f your lived experiences that you think may make a significant impact on your children's education? C l a r a : Parents are the most influential people on the lives o f their children. If parents become interested in education, or involved in continuous education, the children are likely to be interested in education. If parents enjoy reading, or read to their children regularly, their children would emulate their example. If parents take children to the library regularly, they would be interested in reading. . . 125 (P. 14) M a r k : What happens to parents may affect children in one way or the other. If parents lack employment and feel isolated, it eventually may affect their children. Parents are the first role models for their children. If a parent likes reading, children may pick up that habit. The African family is doing two or three jobs without much time to spare. 120 (P. 14)  \u000C200 Cephas: A s I indicated earlier, my children's education is very important to us despite our inability to invest much o f our time in their schooling. I am currently completing my doctorate in Christian studies. M y wife has a degree in religion. I believe our children watch us daily as we struggle through our own academic pursuits. The best support we can give our children is to set practical examples. They are more effective than the things we speak about. 122 (P. 14) The parents demonstrated awareness o f their responsibilities as active socialization agents and role models who could make a difference in the lives o f their children. Children's home environment shapes the initial constellation o f attitudes they develop towards learning. When parents nurture their children's natural curiosity about the world by welcoming their questions, encouraging exploration and introducing them to resources that can enlarge their world, they are giving their children the message that learning is worthwhile, fun and satisfying.  Summary African-Canadians and other minority children need to feel accepted by their teachers, school authorities and feel a sense o f pride in their ethnic cultures and contributions to the positive development of Canada and the world. Minority groups need people from their cultural groups with whom to talk and share feelings. Black students have had few Black role models from both their communities and the school system and have consequently affected their sense o f self-esteem. Role models in the hands o f a skilled teacher could influence learner's self-image. There is no doubt that some Euro-Canadian teachers serve as very good role models to Blacks and minorities but it is also necessary for Black/African-Canadian children to have positive Black role models to inspire them to succeed.  Teacher Preparation, Recruitment and Pedagogical Strategies Teachers are human beings who bring their cultural perspectives to the classroom. They also bring their prejudices, stereotypes and misconceptions. The entire school curriculum is fdtered through the hearts and minds o f the teacher whose values and perspectives mediate and interact with what they teach and affect the ways the messages are communicated and perceived by their students (Banks, 1995). This makes the quality o f school learning dependent upon the quality o f teachers. The main issues surrounding recruitment and hiring o f teachers is the failure o f the school systems  \u000C201 in Canada to recruit qualified Black and minority teachers and the failure o f teacher education programs to attract visible minorities for training. The situation has ensured that Euro-Canadians interests, cultural assumptions and racial status quo are maintained. A recent study conducted in Ontario by Solomon and Rezai-Rashti (2001) explored teacher candidates' racial identities and the way these impact the process o f learning to teach. The findings o f the study indicated that candidates possessed limited knowledge and interpersonal skills for working with diversity. Although a few demonstrated awareness o f the impact o f racial difference in schools, many candidates, mostly Whites, preferred to remain \"raceless\" and \"colourb l i n d \" and denied the presence o f \"White privilege\" in Canada. While cross-race partnerships provided the opportunity for candidates o f different racial backgrounds to share perspectives and experiences in a positive interdependent manner, personal and institutional racism limited this learning opportunity. In order to prepare teachers for the growing ethno-cultural diversity in our schools, teacher education programs w i l l not only require a better screening process for pre-service teachers but also a more comprehensive anti-racism curriculum in teacher education. The growing diversity in metropolitan areas o f Canada is hardly reflected in the present teaching ranks. The British Columbia Teachers' Federation has conducted an extensive study on the demographics o f public school educators in British Columbia. In the study, Who Are the.Teachers of British Columbia, Anne Schaefer (1999) provided a detailed demographic picture o f public school teachers in British Columbia with statistical data on gender, age, qualification, experience, earnings, recruitment, certification, hiring and employment patterns. She, however, failed to consider the cultural and ethnic makeup o f teachers although she acknowledged the changing enrolment patterns in British Columbia's classrooms. This oversight is disturbing because it leaves out pertinent information that could advance the debate for inclusiveness and equity in teacher preparation programs in the province. While little is known statistically about the cultural/ethnic makeup o f teachers in British Columbia, anecdotal information points to a dearth o f teachers from visible minority backgrounds (Schaefer, 1999). In the United States, Bernard Y o u n g (1999) observed that despite evidence o f increasing diversity in student population, prospects for increased representation o f people o f colour in the teaching force remain poor. This observation was clearly spelt out by a parent: Marcia: I think it is part o f the mainstream's policy o f assimilation to ensure that children are  \u000C202  socialized into \"Canadian\" or Eurocentric values. There is a belief among members o f the mainstream that multiculturalism may affect the dominance o f the European powers. Hence, there is a hidden agenda to ensure that the teaching profession remains predominantly Eurocentric in all its forms. 276 (P. 31) With the absence o f a systematic training in multicultural knowledge or subject matter, parents doubted whether teachers, school administrators and staff could contribute meaningfully towards Black/African-Canadian academic and cultural excellence.  Perceptions o f Black African-Canadian Students Many Black students view teachers as the most central figures in their academic lives. They therefore expect teachers and schools to meet their special needs. Unfortunately, many students are alienated and discouraged by the same agencies they look up to for support. L i k e their parents, Black students protested against under-representation o f Blacks as teachers in teacher education programs. When students were asked what they would change in their respective schools i f they had the capacity to do so, the dominant target was the cultural composition o f teachers and school curricula. 11 . students, out o f the 15 interviewed, insisted that they would change the curriculum and the hiring practices o f the school board to ensure cultural balance: S A P : If you have the power to change something in your school, what would that be?  Gifty: . . . I would create a bigger library with variety o f books, including African history and literature. I would include more teachers from other cultural backgrounds, and ensure that there is respect for all students. 686 (S. 44) S a r a h : I may change some teachers, because they are grumpy. They do not respect their students. They would discourage you by giving you poor grades in your work. Some teachers are good, particularly my P E [Physical Education] teacher. She is easy going. 689 (S. 44) Dave: If I had the power to change something, I would train some teachers again to enable them to understand [the needs of] Black students and work to help solve their problems. Some teachers just ignore you, i f you do not understand what they are teaching. 691 (S. 44) R o n a l d : What I would change would include teachers in Home Economics and P.E. because I do not like them. They are too mean to us. The Home Economics teacher yells too much. 693 (S. 44) J o h n : I would ask teachers to understand the needs o f Black children, and not to ignore Blacks or discourage them. I would buy more books on African-Canadian and Black studies to allow people to read about Blacks. 696 (S. 44) The importance Black children place on the ethnicity o f their teachers is evident from the positive  \u000C203 image they cast for Black teachers. Black teachers' presence in schools is viewed as an affirmation o f Black student's cultural identity and capacity. Despite this perception among Black students, school boards and the education system, through teacher preparation and staffing policies, have denied Black students o f role models they need to motivate themselves and their communities. O n the contrary, they see stereotypes o f Black people in service roles being reinforced, as the few Black employees in the school setting tend to be in support jobs rather than in senior teaching positions. The issue o f teacher pedagogy was not specifically discussed with the students. However, it could be inferred from their responses to other questions that many o f them found the standard pedagogical approaches used in various classrooms less appealing. Pedagogy does not simply mean the techniques or strategies that teachers adopt to make learning more interesting, although these are important aspects. It also refers to how teachers perceive the nature o f learning and what they do to create conditions that motivate students to learn and become critical thinkers. Students provided various reasons why they favoured some teacher(s) over others: SAP: W h o is your favourite teacher and why? G i f t y : M r . W . , the M u s i c teacher is my favourite. He knows music very well. He is nice, caring and j o v i a l . Most teachers avoid you but M r . W . would approach you and ask about your progress at school and home. He is very funny and makes us laugh all the time. W e also watch videos during his class or receive guest musicians. 164 (S. 11) L i l l i a n : I like my Math teacher because he takes time to explain things to you i f you do not understand something. He is very nice and patient. He treats his students well. 165 (S. 11) M a r y a m : I like my sports teacher because she encourages me to do my best in basketball, volleyball and soccer. I play for the school team and get better grade in the Physical Education course. 166 (S. 11) D i x i e : M y favourite is M s . L . She makes learning fun. She is not too hash on her students. She answers all kinds o f questions. She understands students and encourages us. She is like a friend. Y o u can share your problems with her. 170 (S. 11) R o n a l d : M y best teacher is my English teacher. She is very young and understands how her students feel. She tells us that she had similar experience when she was a student and, [therefore], sympathizes with those who have problems in her class. She helps me when I have trouble doing my assignments. I don't feel happy with my Math and Home Economics teachers. They are too bossy and discourage me from their subjects. 171 (S. 11) E m m a : The sports teacher, M r . M . is my favourite because he likes m e . . . . Since he comes from a developing country, he understands me better than other teachers do. He does not only encourage me to play soccer for the school team but also to work hard in other subjects. He sometimes pays  \u000C204 for the cost o f sports fees I incur in school or for participating in tournaments. I always obtain grade \" A \" in his class. 174 (S. 11) In describing their favourite teachers, the students used specific statements and descriptions that depicted traits o f a good teacher. Teachers who are commended by students are those: 1) who know their subjects; 2) who are nice, caring and with good sense o f humour; 3) who employ other teaching sources like videos and audio-visuals, computers, guest speakers/musicians, and posters; 4) who encourage student participation and motivate students to succeed; 5) who are patient, respectful o f all students and welcome all sorts o f questions from students; 6) who are approachable and are like friends; 7) who can empathize with students and be fair in their evaluation o f students; 8) and who demonstrate interests in students beyond the classroom and school. It is important for multicultural educators to expand their repertoire o f teaching skills and methods in order to reach out to all students and particularly those whose voices are marginalized within the curriculum. For some students, the school serves as an important place where they hope to receive attention and support missing in their lives. Therefore, teachers who took a personal interest in the students were highly regarded. Generally, teachers who had positive perceptions, high expectations, respect and commitment to assist all students to succeed were described as favourites. In relation to the African A r t and Cultural Education Program ( A A C E P ) , students largely expressed satisfaction with the learning environment that encouraged group work, cooperative learning, caring and respect, role-playing, cross-age tutoring and the use o f visual resources. This variety o f pedagogical strategies that the students found rewarding challenge teachers who are interested in transformative education to re-think what and how they teach, and to constantly interrogate their decisions.  Perceptions o f Parents/MFC Cross-Cultural Facilitators Mark: It is not likely that the present teaching staff who have no insight in African art and culture could impart such multicultural knowledge unto their students. Until we have inclusive, staffing, administration and teacher education that emphasizes multiculturalism, our children would continue to be denied o f their cultural heritage. Multiculturalism should come from top down and not only from bottom up. 47 (P.06) The above comment, part o f which has been quoted earlier, accurately encapsulates the perceptions o f five parents and an M F C Facilitator on education policies regarding teacher backgrounds  \u000C205 and recruitment process. The contrast between the demographic profile o f the typical classroom teacher or teacher education student, who is White and middle class and the public school classroom demographics in British Columbia, presents a challenge to the education system. Fatia, G i n a and Cephas felt that most teachers and school administrators lacked the necessary training and backgrounds to implement any meaningful multicultural education. They suggested that teachers needed assistance to discharge their responsibilities with regard to multicultural education. They should be re-oriented in their training to acquaint them o f the needs o f all students. Furthermore, they demanded that teacher education programs should open up and encourage more Blacks and minorities to enrol for training. M a n y studies in North A m e r i c a including those by Black/African scholars have recommended that multicultural content and training be added to the curriculum for teacher preparation (i.e., Banks, 1994; D e i , 1996; Grant, 1989; B . Young, 1999). Bernard Y o u n g (1999) for instance, recommends deliberate and aggressive efforts, not only to increase the numbers o f students o f colour recruited into the teaching profession, but also to include cultural knowledge and alternative theories o f social change. The suggestions by these parents reinforced this point. This also implies that visual arts pre-service teacher educators need to examine their own programs to determine the level o f inclusion and how well they are currently delivering such competencies. N o one has a stronger, more direct interest in children's education than parents. Black parents do recognize this fact. Yet, for a variety o f reasons, many Black parents, like Black/African-Canadian children are alienated from the school system. Some do not make enough time to assist their children due to economic circumstances. Others are not sufficiently informed or self-confident to be effective guides and advocates outside the home. One parent shared her experience and difficulties o f managing her children as a working mother, sole provider and a parent. Teachers and schools need to strengthen relations and involvement o f parents in the education o f their children through parent advisory committees, parent/teacher interactions, parent volunteers and community-based multicultural programs. Such a coordinated approach incorporates a comprehensive set o f teaching and learning strategies that mutually reinforce each other in order to enhance the achievement o f students.  \u000C206 Perceptions o f Art Teacher/Principal The issue o f under-representation o f non-mainstream cultures in teaching and school administration came up in my interviews with the two educators at the east Vancouver School. Although the Principal felt that the school was \"multicultural,\" by virtue o f its multi-ethnic student population, the teacher population did not reflect the diversity o f student population: S A P : H o w do you feel about the under-representation o f Blacks and other visible minorities as teachers, school administrators and policy makers in British Columbia? Principal: I think we have to look at the under-representation o f minorities in the teaching field from various points o f view. For me, yes they are under-capacitated in these roles, but let's face it; the percentage o f Blacks and minorities may be quite few, which reflects the composition o f teachers. I believe recruitment should be based on merit rather than affirmative action with quotas. 44 (T. 15) The A r t Teacher expressed her view on the under-representation o f minorities in the teaching field. She was o f the view that: The implementation o f employment equity has been very slow in the teaching field as well as other sectors o f society. Until the last 10 years all the teachers here were Caucasians. It is a slow moving process but it is alive and moving in our school. I am looking up to the time when the teaching staff could reflect the cultural composition o f the students. 45 (T. 15) SAP: What other practical steps should be taken to make schools more inclusive? Principal: W e can encourage minorities but the standards must be maintained. We should not lower the standards to let minorities in. N o way! 46 (T. 16) Teacher: Teachers education programs should recruit qualified minorities for training and subsequent hiring. Parents must be encouraged to participate in their children's education. W e should learn all the important religious days and festivals o f the peoples in Canada - Sikhs, First Nations, etc. 48 (T. 16) While the Principal suggested that teacher recruitment, preparation and staffing should be based on merit, the Teacher was o f the view that conscious effort should be made to recruit qualified minorities for training and subsequent hiring. The notion o f basing teacher recruitment and staffing on meritocracy is problematic. In order to understand its implications, we need to examine its embedded contradictions. First, it leaves the question o f who sets the standards, and who benefits from them unanswered. Second, it assumes that there exists an equal playing field for all individuals and cultural groups represented in Canada. Unfortunately, there is widespread evidence o f the existence o f the \"vertical mosaic\" (the argument that ethnic/racial affiliation determines social class, and that visible minorities tend to be at the  \u000C207 lower ranks regardless o f their educational training and qualifications) behind the rhetoric o f meritocracy, employment equity and educational equity. Thus, it is imperative to take into accounts the structural inequities in society and their effects on visible minorities in dealing with teacher recruitment and staffing. On the question o f how well prepared teachers were in dealing with the challenges o f diversity, the Principal and Teacher described a number o f programs and strategies that were in place in their school: S A P : H o w are teachers prepared to deal with racial incidents at school? P r i n c i p a l : W e have had a number o f in-service training for teachers and all staff to deal with all racial issues. W e talk to parents and any children who become involved in racial incidents in our school. . . . 53 (T. 18) Teacher: W e do have \"Second Step\" program on empathy where visuals are shown to educate the mainstream teaching staff about how to treat other people. It is important that right at the beginning o f every school year steps are taken to address the school about racial tolerance. Students must be aware that there is zero tolerance for racism. Personally, I encourage racial tolerance by helping students to understand each other's culture through multicultural education. 54 (T. 18) It is welcoming to learn that multicultural policies in place at the school respond to some o f the concerns o f parents and students in this study. Generally, parents were o f the view that teachers needed retraining in multicultural education and racial sensitivity to be able to reach out to minorities in their schools. The need to re-orient the attitudes o f teachers has led to the belief that reform in teacher education and professional development program offers the best hope o f significant change in the schools' attitude towards multicultural education. Because most teacher education programs still function within a framework that is exclusively Euro-centric, few teachers are prepared to face cultural diversity in their classrooms. The result is that many teachers try to treat all students in the same way, irrespective o f their differences, thereby, reinforcing the unchallenged assumption that \"equal means the same.\" Both the Teacher and Principal saw pedagogy as an important factor that influenced the level o f engagement or interest o f their students. Each o f them had her philosophy o f teaching. The Principal believed that: . . . I think the far better way to teach it is to integrate [multicultural education] as a part o f the curriculum. When it becomes part o f our everyday program, it becomes more effective than when it is forced on students as a separate curriculum area to be taught. 20 (T. 07) Teacher: M y philosophy is embedded in my culture where children are regarded as sacred. When you treat children as sacred and show love, care and respect toward their culture, then it is likely  \u000C208 they would grow up to become sacred, loving and respectful to others. It is not easy when teaching 29 kids because one k i d may upset the entire class, but we have to look at the good in the child. I am interested, as a teacher, in developing the whole personality including the emotions and cognition. 21 (T. 07) The School Principal felt that the various cultures that the children bring into their classrooms should serve as a starting point for teachers to investigate and discuss multicultural issues. The Teacher also felt that an effective multicultural pedagogy should motivate children; inject a sense o f pride in students; infuse multicultural content in the curriculum; involve students in decision making including Individualized Education Plans (IEP); and involve parents in decisions on children.  Summary A s \"frontline\" workers in the education o f children, teachers play a crucial role in the education process. Black/African-Canadian parents and students, therefore, expect that their views should be taken into consideration in teacher preparation and recruitment process. I f the needs o f the diverse student population are to be met, the participants expected that present and future teachers should demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and acquire the knowledge and skills to adapt their educational practices to their students' needs. Black parents and students demanded a fair representation o f Black teachers to motivate Black children to learn and act as role models. While teachers must play a central role in meeting the special needs o f children, it is unrealistic to expect that teachers can have the time and energy to assume the duties and responsibilities o f social workers. A more holistic approach would reach beyond the school to involve other professionals and the child's family. If the responsibilities o f the school, family and community are properly coordinated, they could go a long way to augment what goes on in the classroom.  Parental Involvements and Community Participation Black children, especially those who recently migrated to Canada start school with many disadvantages. . . . For some kids, there is so much pressure coming upon them and trying to squeeze them into a particular mode . . . that is so hostile, and alien to them. They are crying for help and tying out everything . . . But i f we as parents can give the necessary support right from the beginning, it is amazing what could happen. (Cephas, Parent) While schools play the most direct role in the educational experiences o f students, other  \u000C209  stakeholders (i.e., families and communities) also have responsibilities and roles to play in the education o f students. Research is quite clear on the effectiveness o f parents/school/community partnerships in education. In a study by Clark (1983), students performed better in programs with strong parental and community involvement than in identical programs with less parental and community involvement. Yet, for a variety o f reasons many Black parents are alienated from the school system.  Perceptions o f Black/African-Canadian Students The Black/African-Canadian students discussed the importance o f the support, encouragement and understanding o f their parents and others to their education. While most o f the students interviewed said that their parents demonstrated some level o f interest in their education, especially in the area o f cultural education and the learning o f family values, others claimed their parents have not adequately been involved in their schooling: SAP: What cultural activities do you and your parents engage in outside o f school? J o h n : M y parents have been a source o f encouragement to me because they themselves have been active members o f the African community. I attended the [Simon Fraser University] S F U African youths camp and participated in the African A r t and Cultural Workshops. I found the art projects and the African folktales to be enjoyable activities. 190 (S. 12) H a n n a h : M y parents attend programs at the M F C including picnics and other meetings. They also attend Sudanese cultural meetings and encourage us to participate. A t home, we learn our Sudanese family values. 193 (S. 13) John and Hannah's comments indicate how active some parents have been in mentoring their children to develop strong sense o f identity. The African-Canadian Association o f British Columbia ( A C A B C ) , with support from the M F C , organized the African Youth Camp in the summer o f 1999, at the Simon Fraser University. It was a-week-long program which took the youths away from their homes to a secluded environment, where they engaged in many activities that improved upon their social, sports and academic skills. Through participation in games, sports, drama and entertainments, they were able to develop friendships and enhanced their self-esteem. John and some students referred to the 1999 African Youth Camp in our discussions because they know that I was a facilitator at that Camp. They might have assumed that the A A C E P was a continuation o f the Youth Camp, since both events were held a week apart and partly sponsored by the M F C .  \u000C210 Other students who indicated that their parents have been involved in the activities o f the African community including the Multicultural Family Centre were L i l l i a n , Stella, Eden, E m m a and Susie. These students also indicated that their parents encouraged them to participate in the activities o f the M F C and other African related cultural organizations. Stella, for example declared that: M y parents participate in African activities through the M F C , and their association with the Ugandan community. M y mother also works with the African-Canadian Association o f British Columbia ( A C A B C ) . I also attend the African youths tutoring program with my parents' support. 197(S.13) It became clear from our discussions that most parents o f the students interviewed have been active members o f their cultural communities, and have ensured that their children also benefited from participation in their cultural environment: SAP: H o w and where do you learn about your cultural heritage, and Black in general? Dave: M y parents strongly believe in their cultural heritage and they teach us to understand and remember our African roots. W e speak both English and our Ugandan language at home. W e eat a lot o f Ugandan meals, listen to Ugandan music and participate in many African cultural programs. 1 am happy that my parents w i l l be sending us to Uganda to connect with my extended family next summer. 25 (S. 02) H a n n a h : M y parents share a lot o f their Sudanese cultural values with me at home. I can speak my native language with my parents. I now know and understand a lot o f the Sudanese culture. They collect Sudanese art. 207 (S. 14) D o n : M y M o m usually shares with me events that are happening in Kenya, including information on my extended family. I also read news about Africa through the Internet, on T V , and through my participation in African cultural activities. 246 (S. 16) Although Black students and parents who responded to this questionnaire, have strong feelings about how the inclusion o f their cultural experiences in the school curriculum would enrich their education, public schools can only provide a part o f what is needed for their education. The most important and successful cultural and historical education would depend on the independent efforts o f the Black community. The parents seem to understand and support this notion through their participation in the M F C and their national cultural associations. Perhaps o f greater importance to students is the participation o f their parents in their school through Parent Advisory Committee ( P A C ) meetings, parent-teacher conferences, volunteering, advocacy and support in doing homework. Ten students, out o f the 15 who participated in the interviews, described  \u000C211 the level o f involvement o f their parents as satisfactory: SAP: Is there any strong line o f communication between your parents and schoolteachers? Dave, for instance, intimated that: Dave: M y Dad shows a lot o f interest in my education. He communicates with my school and teachers all the time. He sometimes visits my school or sends letters and notes to my teachers. A l s o , he attends Parent Advisory Meetings with my M o m . 610 (S. 39) H a n n a h : M y parents sometimes come to my school when my teachers invite them. However, I don't think they talk to my teachers about me. M y M o m is very busy, she is working and my Dad is looking for a job. When they are not happy about my report card my Dad talks to my teachers during parent advisory committee meetings. M y M o m does not understand many o f the things I study at school. 603 (S. 39) L i l l i a n : Y e s , my parents visit my school and talk to my teachers and counsellor about my performance at school. They attend some meetings at my school. Sometimes when my brother has a problem at school they go to talk to the vice principal and teacher. 606 (S. 39) E m m a : Y e s , sometimes my Dad talks to the counsellor. He visits my school and talks to the vice principal and teachers about my progress. A l s o , when I get into trouble he comes to the school to discuss it with the vice principal and counsellor. 615 (S. 39) For the 10 students, they felt that their parents were involved in their schooling, even though they expected them to improve on their levels o f participation. O n the other hand, the remaining five students did not hesitate in expressing their dissatisfaction with their parents' levels o f involvement in their education. Judas and Gifty reported that their parents had less communication with their teachers. They have neither the time nor energy to help with learning at home. Judas: N o , my teachers send messages to my parents through letters and report cards. Sometimes my Dad attends the P A C meetings and parent teacher conferences, but not all the time because he works in the evenings. M y D a d has never spoken with my school counsellor. 617 (S. 39) G i f t y : N o t really. They hardly attend parent [ P A C ] meetings because o f the time factor. They have attended parent teacher conferences about twice, but I do not think they really visit my school often. They are interested in my education but they are very busy. 1 wish they had much more time to help me in my homework. 605 (S. 39) Maryam and Susie explained that their mothers have not been very much involved because they could not speak English fluently. They expected their fathers to become more involved even though they had busy work schedules. Some parents feel inadequate in assisting their children with their students because they may have little formal education. Although this was not the case for most o f the parents o f students interviewed, Maryam and Susie suggested that language deficiency was an obstacle for their mother's full participation in their education. Socio-economic status and minimal parent education should not  \u000C212  necessarily limit students from achieving as C l a r k ' s (1983) research has shown. In C l a r k ' s study, parental limitations were offset by alternative learning environments such as bilingual programs, community-based programs and homework centres which were available to Black parents and their children. Improving home-school partnerships could produce important benefits for students, teachers and parents. It can enable teachers to understand the social conditions o f their students in order to offer appropriate assistance. Black students felt that their community could also play an active role in ensuring their success in school and society. For instance, it was suggested that the M F C could expand its weekly tutoring programs by involving more tutors who could assist students in their homework and, at the same time, serve as role models: Estella: They should hire more teachers for the tutoring program. They need to hire at least one person who w i l l be paid to organize regular programs for African-Canadian youths. Volunteers are not always reliable. 459 (S. 30) L i l l i a n : I want the M F C to expand the tutoring program to include sports, and summer camp programs. This would attract more Black youths. They should teach Swahili and other African languages. 462 (S. 30) Don: The M F C should set up African music and dance clubs and encourage the youths to learn about their culture through music and dance. There are a lot o f Africans around who could help with the music and dance instructions. 469 (S. 30) S a r a h : W e need an African community centre where we can meet and do all sorts o f things. The M F C need to include Black cultural studies in the weekly youth programs. They should hire more tutors. 464 (S. 30) The students offered many insightful comments that demanded the attention not only o f school authorities but people in government. Such suggestions were directed at eliminating racism, hiring more Blacks and minorities as teachers, ensuring job equity, implementing multicultural education, constructing an African Canadian community centre, and involving the Black community in decision making.  Perceptions o f Parent/MFC Cross-cultural Facilitators In the interviews, I heard from the Black parents and the M F C Facilitators that they have always viewed education as important and a critical tool for breaking the cycle o f poverty and racial discrimination in society. They acknowledged that they have responsibilities to play in the education o f their children:  \u000C213  SAP: What is your level o f involvement in your children's education? Cephas: W e are very much interested in our children's education. For our own selfish reasons, we guide and impart our values onto our children. . . . If parents do not get involved in their children's education, they would be destroyed psychologically and emotionally. I am personally unsatisfied with my level o f involvement in my children's education. I need to spend a lot more time with them in spite o f my tight work schedule. U n l i k e Africa where parents have time to instruct their children as they work in the garden and on the land, parents in Canada get up early and go to work while children go to school. B y evening time, everyone is tired and there is less time to spend with children. 85 (P. 10) M a r k : In a limited way I ensure that my children do their homework and become punctual at school. However, with regard to the content o f education, I have no input in curriculum. I think it would be difficult for an individual parent to influence the school curriculum, which is often from top down. Schools should attend to the needs o f children since parents don't have the time and training to handle some o f the technical issues affecting the child's development. 83 (P. 10) F a t i a ( M F C ) : I am involved in my children's education by ensuring that they do their homework and attend school regularly. M y girl is already mature, self-motivated and performing quite well at school, but my boy is no fan o f homework. The teenage thing seems to be worrying him. I have also been attending P A C meetings when I have time. I spoke to the school during an incident that involved my son. Getting involved as a parent is important because you would serve as the first role model for your child. 89 (P. 10) Cephas, Mark and Fatia described how they discharged their responsibilities as parents by guiding their children and ensuring that they fulfilled their commitments to the school in the areas o f school attendance, participation and home learning. Fatia commented that parents through their active involvement could motivate their children to learn as well as serve as role models. The parents also acknowledged the difficulties involve in the participation o f their children's education. Cephas spoke o f the constraint on parental time, negative teacher attitudes and unsupportive school environment. M a r k also spoke o f the inability o f individual parents to influence the school curriculum. He called for a united front o f Black parents and communities to channel grievances to the school boards. G i n a declared that she has been very proactive in the education o f her children. She made a decision to move her children from their school to a different one when she could not persuade the school authorities and teachers to address peculiar problems pertaining to her children. Another area where parents demonstrated their support for their children's education was through their expectations for their children. Education is highly valued and sought after by Black parents regardless o f their socio-economic background. This is demonstrated through parent's expectations o f their children's educational future:  \u000C214  SAP: What are your expectations about your children's future in Canada? M a r k : 1 expect them to perform their best in school and achieve their goals. I want them to be competent individuals, be responsible to their community and to themselves. [Miss G] wants to become a doctor, but she is not sure which type o f specialization . . . [Miss E ] , 1 think, may become an artist. There are a lot o f opportunities and advantages for our children in attending school in Canada, yet they do not always have positive experience o f the education systems. 218 (P.25) G i n a : I want my children to have good education up to the university level and get good jobs in future. I try to tell my son about existing discrimination in Canada, especially in the employment market. I make him aware that, as a Black person, he should be prepared to work twice as hard as others in order to succeed in this society. But he does not seem to understand me. He thinks he is the same as his White counterparts and should be treated the same in school and in society. But that is not the reality. 219 (P. 25) M a r c i a : M y expectations are that our children should become productive and capable citizens, and be in places o f responsibility. I tell my children that as Blacks, they should work extra hard and go to the grassroots and get involved in community and voluntary work. B y the time they are at the College level, they would have a network o f friends and knowledge in many fields. Their social interactions would enable them to relate with all kinds o f people. 222 (P. 25) F a t i a ( M F C ) : Educationally, I expect that my children would all attend university. The more education they acquire, the better choices they would have in life. 224 (P. 25) Eugenia explained how her initial lack o f involvement has negatively affected her children's educational progress, and how she is trying to redress the problem. Seven o f the parents including Eugenia, an M F C Facilitator, reported the existence o f some levels o f cultural conflict that have negatively effected their children's participation in school. Children get confused when they receive conflicting messages from the school and home. For instance, Eugenia ( M F C ) observed that: . . . there is a conflict between the home culture and the school culture. Parents may encourage their children to aim high for academic laurels, but once they are in schools, teachers inject different ideas into their minds. When it comes to academic work they are systematically discouraged through various means, but the school is ready to encourage them in sports by letting them play in their school teams. 243 (P. 27) Some behavioural problems emanate from such conflicting messages. One way by which such conflicts could be addressed is to encourage communication and partnership between parents and the school. Parents o f Black students should have their inputs listened to and respected by the school. Teachers need to be sensitized to the importance o f parental involvement. A t the school board level, this should include both staff in-service and pre-service teacher education programs.  \u000C215  Some parents were o f the view that the African Canadian community must take the initiative in addressing the problems o f B l a c k students. They suggested that through community-based programs such as the M F C , A C A B C and the various African national associations, the community could support homework clubs and provide volunteer tutors. They should send a message to the children and Black youths that education is a priority for the community. These views coincide with Bernard Y o u n g ' s (1999) position that African communities need to reflect on their past in order to gain some useful insight and strength to confront their future rather than rely on the promises o f multiculturalism and democracy that are trapped under current institutional structures in North American society: Cephas, a parent, intimated that the African community in Vancouver needs to repair the damage they have done to themselves in the past in order to advance their own interests rather than relinquish their responsibilities to organizations and agencies that do understand the needs and values o f the Black community. He also stressed the need for a partnership between the school and the community: . . . I think it is high time the school and the community dealt with positive aspects o f African culture and history in order to help children understand their identity and enhance their selfesteem. . . . 13B (P. 02)  Mark: Some programs from the communities could be integrated into the school curriculum. There should be communication between the schools, teachers, communities and families. 1 believe there should be some encouragement from the Ministry o f Education for some community-oriented programs to be integrated into the school curriculum. 101 (P. 12) Stella, a grade 11 student and T o m , a parent, reiterated the need for an African Canadian community centre in Vancouver where all kinds o f activities and events could be organized for the interest of the Black community. A community centre could serve as a rallying point for the Black community to address issues pertaining to their community.  Perceptions o f Teacher/Principal L i k e the Black/African-Canadian students and parents, the Principal and A r t Teacher found parental involvement as an important and positive element in students' educational success. They shared this view when I asked about their view on school, home and community partnerships: SAP: In what ways can the school, family and community coordinate their efforts to enhance the achievements o f Black students.  \u000C216  P r i n c i p a l : W e have an open door policy where parents and other stakeholders are welcomed to the School to participate in some aspects o f school activities. W e have a vibrant Parent Advisory Committee ( P A C ) , which we must sustain. 50 (T. 17) Teacher: Depending upon the type o f children you are dealing with, the parents have to be involved at a certain level i f the children are to benefit fully from their education. The family, the community and the school are all stakeholders in education and agents o f socialization. They have to work hand in hand to enable learners to get the full benefits o f education. 51 (T. 17) That the School has an open door policy cannot be questioned. I experienced this through the warm reception and cooperation I received from the Principal and teachers during my negotiations for access to the School as a research site. The Principal and the A r t Teacher indicated that managing children with such diverse cultural backgrounds require continuous collaboration with parents and the ethnic communities from where these children originated.  Summary Black parents acknowledge that they have important roles and responsibilities in the education o f their children. The data indicated that schools have not yet reached out into the resources o f the local communities to assist parents to overcome some o f the structural barriers and constraints to meaningful partnerships. Schools have to become open places where parents can feel welcome and valued. Educators must develop a model o f parent education and advocacy, which empower both the parent and the student. The main objective should be to develop parent confidence in providing home education support to their children and to talk with teachers and administrators about academic issues.  G e n d e r Issues Throughout the study and analysis, I have given only superficial treatment to gender considerations because I focused on overwhelming number o f issues relating to Black/African-Canadian educational experiences and multicultural education. It is not my intention, however, to underplay the significance o f gender in multicultural education and on Black/African-Canadian educational experience. In fact, gender interacts with other cultural identities to influence children's education. In our discussions, the parents felt that the socialization process o f Black males and females in  \u000C217  Canada should be re-assessed. M a n y Black/African-Canadians grew up in environments dominated by males. They were socialized to believe that boys and girls were destined to fulfd distinctively different roles in society - boys as future leaders, husbands, breadwinners, politicians, modern sector workers and soldiers; girls as future wives, mothers, petty traders and domestic workers (Adu-Poku, 2001). Although attitudes are changing towards gender in African societies, many immigrants still arrive in Canada with cultural mindsets, which conflict with the host culture. Due to structural inequalities and the dynamics o f race-relations in Canada, many Black males grow up to feel powerless with diminished self-esteem. Some often try to regain a sense o f power by rejecting mainstream values, rules, norms and buying into the popular youth culture and peer pressure. In the interviews, a parent explained that some B l a c k youths display negative attitudes at school and at home as a reaction to the feeling o f powerlessness and social rejection. Parents stressed the need for role models for Black children. They pointed out that boys needed the caring interaction o f a male to develop appropriate gender behaviours. O n the other hand, girls needed opportunities to verbally interact with caring males in order to develop interactional skills that can be transferred to teen and adult relationships. When students were asked whether their experience at school would be different i f they were o f a different gender, the overwhelming response was in the affirmative. Both male and female students felt that teachers were more sensitive to girls than boys, and that boys tend to get into trouble at school, especially Black males. Boys, rather than girls, have the tendency to interact freely with both genders. S A P : Do you think your experience at school would be different i f you were a male or a female? H a n n a h : Y e s , my friends are mostly girls but Black boys tend to have more friends from both genders, especially White girls. They are more active in sports than girls . . . 524 (S. 34) Gifty: Maybe, I may have more friends. This is because there are many White girls in the school who like Black boys. I do not know why. 525 (S. 34) S a r a h : . . . The only difference is that the boys tend to have more friends at school. They also get into trouble easily, unlike girls. I am not sure i f there would be any difference or not. 528 (S. 34) R o n a l d : M y friends are mostly girls - Euro-Canadians, Asian-Canadians and a Scottish. They like me and I interact with them easily. M a n y Euro-Canadian girls tend to like Black boys who are only a few in Vancouver. 59 (S. 04) Inter-racial bonding between White students and students o f colour, challenges racist stereotypes and  \u000C218  discourses against interracial relationships. It demonstrates that people are not born racist, but they acquire racist attitudes and tendencies through socialization. M a n y o f the students spoke o f differential treatment o f boys and girls at school: D i x i e : Y e s , some teachers mostly favour girls in our school because they give them more chances so as not to hurt their feeling. They take it harder on the boys because their feelings are stronger. Males can talk back to teaches, stand up to them, and most teachers do not like that. 531 (S. 34) R o n a l d : Y e s , i f I were a girl, I think teachers would be a little more gentle and sensitive toward me. I may not encounter many troubles at school. 536 (S. 34) J o h n : Probably yes. Boys tend to get into more trouble than girls do. Teachers are less harsh on girls than on boys who are often seen as troublemakers. 536 (S. 34) Students are acutely aware when some o f their classmates are treated differently or provided more opportunities and encouragement than others. I f B l a c k students, particularly males, are to excel in school, they must have an environment that nurtures their individual potentials. When students are treated with indifference, they are likely to become indifferent to themselves and to school. Y o u n g Black males are often constructed as aggressive, intimidating and violent. M e d i a images reinforce these stereotypes. A s a results many Black males students are labelled as potential troublemakers as they progress through high school. Black girls are not seen as threats or troublemakers; however, they encounter other kinds o f racial name-calling and discrimination at school. The parents and the two M F C cross-cultural facilitators generally felt that Black boys are unfairly treated at school. They corroborated the views o f the students that gender influences schooling, and that Black boys were misdirected to focus on sports: SAP: D o you think your child's experience at school would be different i f s/he was a male/female? M a r k : Gender? Obviously gender matters in educational participation in British Columbia. Females struggle in academics, especially in math and science. Blacks boys tend to struggle with trust o f society. Meeting a group o f 10 teenage boys together would be labelled a gang, especially i f they were from minority ethnic cultures. Their intentions would not matter. It would be less different for girls, maybe. 6 5 A (P. 08) Cephas: Y e s . Gender, class and race affect children's experience in school. Black teenage males are often labelled as troublemakers even before they get into trouble. Their White counterparts are not labelled as such; they are giving the benefit o f the doubt. Black girls may walk away with that but they are not insulated against racism and discrimination in society. Black teenage boys endure the most o f this hostility, which affect them in their schooling. 6 7 A (P. 08)  \u000C219  M a r c i a : Our girls tend to have less trouble in school than our boys. That may be because the girls are less prone to react harshly to act o f intimidation and racism against them. The boys tend to be tough and resistant to racially motivated bullying. They incur the displeasure o f their teachers in course o f their resistance. White students have more acceptability than Blacks or visible minority students because o f the predominantly White teacher population. 6 9 A (P. 08) C l a r a : I do not think gender matters when they are children, but as they grow older, boys have more difficult times than girls, especially minority kids. Boys are already associated with violence and guns. I have heard about gangs o f Chinese and Vietnamese youths but I have not heard o f a gang o f black children in Vancouver. Nevertheless, Black boys are labelled as troublemakers. Probable images are taken from the media and from the United States. It is a pure racial bias to prejudge young Black males as troublemakers, criminals and drug pushers when there is no evidence o f crime. 7 0 A (P. 08) F a t i a ( M F C ) : In the early grades, the school system is designed more for girls than boys. Girls can sit quietly and work but little boys do not like to sit quietly; they learn differently. A s they progress to the higher levels, boys tend to do well in math and science. 7 1 A (P. 08) E u g e n i a ( M F C ) : M a n y mothers say that their girls are more focused than their boys who tend to play a lot. 7 2 A (P. 08) Y o u n g Black males encounter enormous pressure in schools because they are stereotyped around issues o f behaviour, intellectual abilities, sports and athletic abilities. They internalize notions that Blacks are violent, sports heroes and intellectually incapable, making it difficult for them to transcend these negative stereotypes: Cephas: . . . the attitude o f the police toward Black youths is a concern. Due to stereotypes, Black males have become targets o f police harassment. The police have accosted my friend's son three times for standing at a particular place for a long time, and for running along a pavement in the night. In each o f these incidents, they had imputed acts o f criminal intention. M y children too have had a similar encounter with the police before. 229 (P. 26) E u g e n i a ( M F C ) : M y worries are that my boys are not focused on higher achievable goals. They are brainwashed to focus on sports and other less important things. Parents may encourage their children to aim high for academic laurels but once they are in schools, teachers inject different ideas into their m i n d s . . . . M y boys have been trapped into the youth popular culture, which often get them into trouble with the police. 234 (P. 26) Another area that gender was played up was in the context o f students' aspirations. With the exception o f Gifty and Susie, all the girls interviewed had aspirations for professions that are traditionally female. The aspirations for the seven girls included: three nurses, two teachers, one paediatrician and one lawyer. O n the other hand, the boys generally opted for traditionally male-dominated careers. Out o f the eight Black students interviewed, three wanted to become engineers, two sportsmen, one pilot and two undecided. While half o f the boys aspired for sports or were undecided, all the girls had decided on what  \u000C220 they wanted to do in future. This situation confirmed the assertion by some parents that their daughters were more focused in school than their sons. There were gender differences in terms o f what students perceived to be their greatest concern in growing up in Vancouver. W h i l e the girls generally worried about how they could achieve their life aspirations in the midst o f structural inequalities in school and society, the dominant concern o f the boys was about youth violence and police harassment. The perspectives o f the School Principal and the A r t Teacher on gender, like race and ethnicity, were shaped by accounts o f their own lives, their goals for multicultural education and their views o f teaching and learning. The School Principal perceived gender as a non-influential factor in the education o f children in her school because, she believed, the School provided equal access and opportunity for all students to excel, irrespective o f the gender, race or cultural backgrounds. The A r t Teacher, however, was o f the opinion that the socio-cultural and economic locations o f children influence their schooling experience. The Principal was largely concerned about equal access and opportunity. In other words, her philosophy on teaching was to treat all students \"the same,\" even as she acknowledged the differences in students' backgrounds and abilities. Critical multicultural education, however, empowers educators to focus not merely on educational access, but on educational outcomes. This is important because educational access is mitigated by gender, racial and social disparities to affect outcomes. Therefore, it becomes difficult to separate school from the politics o f social identification. The A r t Teacher, on the other hand, was concerned about how individual students could be motivated to succeed because o f her view that gender and cultural differences influence learning. Gender equity should be viewed as valuing and respecting differences amongst boys and girls, and as challenging male domination. There are possibilities for pedagogical transformation when teachers become conscious of gender issues and begin to question the assumptions o f everyday life in schools.  Summary Gender intersects with racial, ethnic and other constituted identities to influence children's educational experience. Black learners, especially males, are often stereotyped around issues o f behaviour, relationships, intellectual abilities, sports and athletics. The social construction o f young Black males as  \u000C221  trouble makers, sports heroes and having weak intellectual abilities have negative implications for their education as they internalize those subtle messages from their teachers, the media and society. The response to sexism in schools often reflects the dominant discourse o f value neutrality. Issues o f gender bias are left unquestioned and the school's contribution to their perpetuation is ignored. Nevertheless, the social positions that students bring into the classroom locate them within a socio-cultural and economic hierarchy, which is accompanied by multiple forms o f privilege or deprivation in their educational experiences.  \u000C222  CHAPTER SEVEN REACTIONS TO THE AFRICAN ART A N D C U L T U R A L EDUCATION  PROGRAM  In this chapter, I examine the reactions o f participants to the implementation o f the African A r t and Cultural Education Program ( A A C E P ) , with special reference to the responses from the Black/African-Canadian students and students from an east Vancouver School. In the attempt to present an African-centred approach to multicultural education, I have described extensively in the previous chapter, participants' perceptions o f the education system and its impact on students, particularly Black/AfricanCanadians. Black/African-Canadians share the view that adequate cultural education has not been available through the public school system to B l a c k learners. The implementation o f the African A r t and Cultural Education Program ( A A C E P ) therefore, was an attempt not only to draw attention to this omission but also to demonstrate in practical ways how to address the problem. The chapter is organized into two sections. Section one explores four issues drawn from the responses o f Black/African-Canadian Students to the A A C E P : 1) Review o f students' knowledge from the African A r t and Cultural Education Program; 2) V i e w s about program facilitators and their teaching strategies; 3) Exploring cross-cultural characteristics o f art; and 4) Effects o f participating in the various aspects o f the A A C E P . Section two deals with the reactions and responses o f students at the east Vancouver School to the A A C E P .  Responses of Black/African-Canadian Students to the African Art Cultural Education Program The A A C E P provided knowledge and information about Black/African-Canadians and their heritage as reflected in visual art, history, oral literature and geography. The program sought to foster understanding o f African art and cultural awareness among Blacks and students from diverse cultural backgrounds, thereby, promoting healthy inter-group relations. Students participated by working individually, in small groups and as a class. Discussions o f ideas, historical information and art projects formed a critical part o f the program. Each lesson was preceded with a brief discussion o f what students already knew about the topic. Previous research indicates that a culturally relevant curriculum could provide effective means o f inducing positive attitudinal change among students, particularly those from  \u000C223 ethnic minority backgrounds (Ladson-Billings, 1994; K i n g , 1991; Nieto, 1999). Visual arts education has been found to provide a good basis for the development o f programs focused on the development o f positive inter-group attitudes (Andrews, 1984; D i B l a s i o &amp; Park, 1983; Boughton, 1986). Findings from this investigation suggest that comparable results can be achieved with respect to students' attitudes towards cultural diversity and inter-group relations. W h i l e no empirical assessment o f cultural/ethnic attitudes took place, the excitement, pride and satisfaction displayed by students, parents and teachers toward the A A C E P made a positive impact on participants.  Review o f Students' Knowledge from the African A r t and Cultural Education Program ( A A C E P ) In order to investigate the impact o f the A A C E P on Black/African-Canadian students, it was necessary to examine how much students could remember from each o f the seven lessons in the curriculum unit. Although the group interview was conducted during the course o f the presentation o f the program, the individual interviews began three months following the completion o f the program, and continued for another six months. There was the risk o f some students forgetting details o f what was presented during the workshops at the M F C , after allowing so much time to elapse. Part o f the intention o f the face-to-face individual interviews was to test students' memories and verify the extent to which the program influenced their lives. In this section, I w i l l present, in their own words, a brief summary o f what was shared from a sample o f students. A s shown in Table 4.1, all the students who were interviewed attended all seven lessons with the exception o f L i l l i a n who missed one lesson. They spoke generally about what they remembered from various lessons o f the curriculum unit: SAP: Describe the various aspects o f the workshops that you remember? Estella: I took part in all activities o f the art and cultural workshops. I remember that Africa is a continent with 54 independent countries. It has a rich history that includes ancient Egyptian and Nubian empires and the kingdoms o f Western Sudan. I also remember the ananse stories, the kente weaving, mask making and the printmaking projects (She left for her room and returned with her printed T-shirts). 269 (S. 18) M a r y a m : I participated in all the African workshops. I learned that ancient Egypt and N u b i a were African civilizations that had advanced technology, powerful kings like the Pharaohs. They created many beautiful art objects including, mummies, pyramids and sculptures. I remember the ananse  \u000C224 stories that you shared with us. In the past, Africans educated their children through stories and folktales but now children are being educated at school and at home with T V and movies. I also learned how to weave kente from Ghana. 272 (S. 18) S a r a h : I attended all lessons, but was more interested in the storytelling and kente weaving. I learned that African stories and folktales contain useful messages that are important for the safety of children and society. I know that kente is the cloth for kings and queens o f West Africa. 1 do also remember that Egypt and N u b i a are the birthplace o f civilization. W e also learned how to print adinkra graphic symbols on T-shirts. 273 (S. 18) D o n : I remember that we studied the 54 independent African countries and their capital cities from the wall map. I learned that Africa has a lot o f resources including minerals, forests and Sahara Desert. I also took part in the mask making project, kente weaving and story telling. W e learned that ancient Egypt and N u b i a were African civilizations that influenced the world through science and technology, art and the pyramids. African artists created great art works like the European artists such as Michelangelo, and Picasso. 278 (S. 18) Judas: 1 participated in a l l activities. I remember that Africa is made up o f 54 countries with big cities and villages. I learned about the history o f ancient empires o f the N i l e Valley and Sudan. W e had African mask making, Ghanaian kente weaving and adinkra printmaking projects. 282 (S. 18) The above statements demonstrate how much students could recollect from the A A C E P . Although a significant number o f students could not remember all the details o f what was done, many o f them could recollect specific details about some aspects o f the program long after it was completed and spoke favourably o f it. This is worth noting because many o f the Black children had very limited knowledge o f African art, history and culture before the program. This became evident when I brainstormed with students prior to the beginning o f the session to determine what they already knew about each o f the lessons o f the curriculum unit. It is ironic that while a few students could name some well-known Western artists, none o f them was able to mention the name o f any renowned Black/African artist. Students were asked specifically about what they learned from African Oral Tradition and history: S A P : What lessons have you learned from African Oral Tradition presented at the A A C E P ? G i f t y : Oral Tradition was a means by which Africans and other traditional cultures educated their children in the past. In many o f the ananse stories from Ghana, the lesson in it was that patience and perseverance were virtues to pursue. Ananse always ended up a victorious hero. He was hopeful and never gave up trying. The stories also teach us not to be greedy and lazy but to be brave, obedient, hardworking. 286 (S. 19) L i l l i a n : Children in the olden days learned their culture and history through stories told them by their families but now, we like to watch T V and movies to educate and entertain ourselves after school. . . . 2 8 7 A (S. 19) Dave: I learned that before Africans could read and write, they taught their children through stories and visual arts. M a n y other societies also taught their children by words o f mouth before  \u000C225 they could read and write their history. Ancient Egypt and N u b i a were great African empires along the River N i l e . They made art; built huge sculptures, and pyramids on the desert. They developed the hieroglyphics, numbers, the calendar and many school subjects. 291 (S. 19) D i x i e : I know from the ananse stories that it is wrong to be greedy and vindictive. We should not be so big headed. W e should be proud and humble at the same time. The history made me aware that Egypt and N u b i a were African empires that initiated the birth o f civilization. The ancient Egyptian Nubian Pharaohs ruled as gods and created dynasties. They built pyramids and temples to bury the Pharaohs. I learned that Africans are great achievers. 292 (S. 19) E d e n : The African Oral Tradition enabled me to understand how Africans taught their children in the past. Other cultures like the First Nations in Canada did the same. African history is over 5000 years old. It began with ancient N u b i a and Egypt, and continued with the empires o f Ghana, M a l i and Songhai to the slave trade, European rule and African rule. 295 (S. 19) From the foregoing statements, there is indication that students understood that Oral Tradition was not peculiar to Africa alone but to other traditional cultures in the past before people could read and write. Thus the emphasis on cross-cultural similarities was highlighted. Infusing a sense o f ethnic pride was one of the goals o f the interdisciplinary curriculum unit. The students were able to recollect that their history spans about 500 years from ancient Egypt and N u b i a to the kingdoms o f Western Sudan, the slave trade, colonial rule until today. This was an important outcome o f the program. Students were also encouraged to openly express their views about the program in order to assist with its evaluation. Students are people most affected by school policies and programs, but they tend to be the least consulted about them. Critical pedagogy, however, insists on the inclusion o f students' voices in multicultural education: SAP: What did you find to be most rewarding/interesting or less rewarding/interesting to you in the A A C E P ? Estella: The kente weaving project was the most interesting activity to me. I was able to make beautiful patterns by combining different strips o f coloured paper. It was even more beautiful when we assembled our works to form one big piece o f cloth. It resembled the real kente cloth [see Figure 7.1 for a sample o f kente by a student]. 317 (S. 21) G i f t y : I found all the lessons to be useful. Y o u r program and the African youths camp at the Simon Fraser University occupied us during the summer school break. The map study enabled me to figure out all the countries in Africa, about 54 o f them, and their various cities and art forms. I enjoyed the stories and the weaving. The story about Western Sudanese empires was boring and too long for a single day. The story o f ancient Egyptian and Nubian empires was a little bit interesting. 318 (S. 21) M a r y a m : The story telling lesson was interesting. They were funny and provided useful lessons to everybody. I like activities with less talking but I really enjoyed the ananse stories from you and my friends. The historical stuff was boring to me. I could not relate it to myself, and it was not as fun  \u000CS a m p l e of T w o - S t r i p Kente W o v e n by a Student  \u000C227  as the other activities. Overall, I enjoyed the hands-on activities. 320 (S. 21) E m m a : I found the printmaking with adinkra symbols useful. I was able to design a complete Tshirt from it. The mask-making project was also fun. The geography and history gave me information about Africa that I did not know. The visual arts projects were o f course more enjoyable than the history lessons. 327 (S. 21) Dave: The lesson on adinkra printmaking project was awesome. I wore my T-shirt for a number o f weeks and I was proud o f it. I told my friends that I made it myself and they wanted to come but we had finished by then. I enjoyed the mask-making project and the funny ananse stories. I told three o f your stories to m y friends and they thought they were cool. 1 liked everything. 323 (S. 21) It is useful for students, as direct beneficiaries, to share their views about a program that seeks to address their needs. Despite the overwhelming reception and satisfaction with the A A C E P , a few students complained that the presentation o f the history lessons were boring and too long. Although I had anticipated this, and through the pilot study made adjustments by interspersing the practical art activities with the historical presentations, the strategy was not fully successful in sustaining the interests o f all the students in the history lessons. What can be deduced from this is that teachers should not assume that students w i l l automatically show interest in African cultural studies or multiculturalism simply because it affirms their cultural backgrounds. What is crucial is how compelling the pedagogy o f a particular instructor should be in multicultural education. In spite o f this, the general tone o f the students toward the program was positive. Given the \"deculturalization\" that has generally characterized the schooling o f Black/African-Canadians in Canada, the response to the A A C E P that affirms their cultural backgrounds is understandable. Students can teach educators enormously important lessons about unquestioned pedagogical practices when their views are sought about their education. A s a confirmation o f what students shared about the program at the group interview, students discussed the new things they learned from participating in the program. SAP: What new things have you learned about Africa? E d e n : Africans communicate through artworks, stories and cultural festivals. Symbols in adinkra and kente cloths have meanings. I learned that there are some common functions o f art in all societies. I now know that in the past, Africans recorded their history through Oral Tradition. 358 (S.23) D i x i e : I learned some ananse stories, studied the map o f Africa and designed my T-shirt with adinkra graphic symbols. I know that Africa is a continent with rich mineral resources, but many people are poor. Africa was the source o f the slave trade in America. It has a history that includes ancient Egypt, Nubia, Ghana, M a l i and Songhai. 355 (S. 23)  \u000C228 Don: Before the program, I did not know that Africa is a continent o f 54 countries, with many modern cities. Africa is rich in mineral resources and culture. Africa has kings who are custodians o f culture. Africa has many art forms, beliefs, tribes and over 1000 languages. W e were informed that not all events in Africa are reported. The newspapers and T V news often choose to report mainly the negative events. 357 (S. 23) The responses from five other students, Hannah, Maryam, John, Emma and Sarah, highlighted many aspects o f the geography o f Africa they learned at the A A C E P . They described Africa as the second largest continent after A s i a with 54 independent countries and a population o f about 750 million. It has diverse ethnic groups with over 1000 different languages. The students spoke o f Africa's rich mineral and other resources, vegetation, topography and geographical size in comparison with the United States and the rest o f the world. Africa is about four times the size o f the United States. The three largest countries in Africa, Sudan, Algeria and the Democratic Republic o f Congo, put together is about the size o f the United States. Furthermore, they shared their knowledge o f Africa in terms o f its rich art forms which span from the ancient Egyptians and Nubians until today. N o t only did the students speak o f the positive things happening in the continent, but they spoke about the c i v i l wars and poverty also. From the responses o f the students throughout this section, one can conclude that the African A r t and Cultural Curriculum Unit had an impact on students. The expressive and eloquent responses from these students indicate that they are conscious o f the socio-political realities o f the Black/AfricanCanadian learner and the context o f education. Students accept much o f what is presented in the media and what is taught in school as factual knowledge. If it is found in a textbook, it acquires even more authenticity. Y e t as Banks (1995) reminds us, \"Hegemonic knowledge that promotes the interests o f the powerful elite groups often obscures its value premises by masquerading as totally objective\" (p. 15). Maryam, Susie and Don appear to be aware o f this when they indicated that the news media, knowledge from school and textbooks do not always provide accurate and balanced representation o f Africa and Black people in the diaspora. While the A A C E P focused on the positive aspects o f Africa and Black people, students were made aware o f the economic realities in the continent and the circumstances that have created widespread poverty, disease and hunger. Multicultural educators need to encourage students not only to acquire knowledge from many perspectives but also to be critical o f the sources o f knowledge in order to challenge hegemonic knowledge in all its forms.  \u000C229 V i e w s about Program Facilitators and their Teaching Strategies In this section, I w i l l analyze students' views about the backgrounds and instructional strategies o f facilitators o f the A A C E P , as part o f the attempt to explore the impact o f the program on its participants. A s already indicated, all three facilitators including myself had some teaching experience. In fact, Carol and I are professionally trained teachers. Dan and Carol, currently acting as community activists, volunteered to participate in the A A C E P due to their prior interest in multiculturalism. Thus, as facilitators, we were motivated to have the unit succeed. Aware o f the socio-political realities o f Black/African-Canadians, we approached this project with passion and dedication. The pedagogy was to employ African cultural concepts as a bridge to the dominant culture, and to empower students to think critically and to work for transformation in their own lives. The community workshop environment was different from a school classroom setting; Africentric and multicultural education perspectives influenced the curriculum and instructional strategies. The pedagogy was tailored to meet the Black community's need for a culturally compatible education component. Different techniques and methods were employed to manage the art studio setting. Classes were held outdoors or indoors depending on the nature o f the lesson. The architecture o f the classroom reflected student autonomy rather than instructor hegemony. Seats were organized in different configurations - in rows, in single or multi-circular mode, and rectangular mode - to fit different activities. For example, i f students were to share their stories with one another, they sat in circles in order to see one another. Although each lesson was planned for two and half hours, actual class time was event-oriented rather than clock-oriented. It was clear that simply imparting facts to students would not promote intercultural understanding. Therefore, role-playing was important in all aspects o f the program. Instructors were dressed in traditional clothes to demonstrate their pride in African culture. Students were required to consult with their parents or members o f their community to learn some folktales, which were shared with the entire class. Emphasis was on group-centred learning. Most schools favour a highly competitive and individualistic instructional mode, which tends to favour children from the dominant cultural group, particularly males (Nieto, 1996). In the community based Africentric model, the facilitators combined different styles with emphasis on a more cooperative mode. Hierarchical student-teacher relations gave  \u000C230 way to dialogue between student and instructor, and between student and student. The Africentric model stresses group unity, collaboration and community. These ideals were reflected in students' comments about the pedagogy o f the A A C E P : S A P : H o w do you feel about the instructional strategies o f the A A C E P ? Don: . . . The lessons were fun. I enjoyed the group work, group discussions and the outdoor storytelling. It was different from what we do at my school. W e listened to African music, watched African videos and printed African designs on our T-shirts. . . . The instructors were good; they were like parents to me. 263 (S. 17) S a r a h : . . . We worked together like one family during the African cultural program. Everybody's culture was respected. The instructors were all Africans; two o f them were Ugandans. 1 understood them and I believe they understood me as a Ugandan. They made us feel proud. 258B (S. 17) Judas: . . . I felt very happy with the instructors, perhaps because they were also from Africa. The stories, the history and the art activities made me proud o f Africa. 266B (S. 17) Don, Stella and Judas felt motivated and proud that their cultural identities were affirmed at the cultural workshops. They emphasized aspects o f the instructor's pedagogy they found compelling. The groupcentred collaborative approach being referred to here enabled students not only to learn the subject matter from each other, but also real life knowledge o f themselves and others which they were exposed to, as they applied the lesson at hand. The context and subject matter demanded an approach that encouraged interaction among students in and outside the classroom. Through inter-personal and group interactions, students acquired respect for, and bonded with, each other. The group-centred approach also developed the skills o f listening, negotiating and compromising. Students were encouraged to develop attitudes and skills that were important for transformative education. In general, the students found the A A C E P to be naturally meaningful to their lives. Students expressed views about cultural education and the backgrounds o f instructors. Out o f the 15 students interviewed, 12 o f them, including all the girls said they preferred a person o f African descent to teach African history, because o f their background and potential to serve as role models. Three students, however, felt the ethnicity o f an African studies instructor was not an issue as long as they were knowledgeable in the subject. Hannah argued that a non-African could teach African art, history and culture, but might not possess the practical experience o f living the culture: S A P : Does the background o f an instructor for African art and cultural education make a  \u000C231 difference to you? Hannah: Y e s , I believe an African instructor would know more about African art and culture because s/he practices i t . . . A l s o , an African makes you feel like you belong to one family. Y o u get more interested and can ask more questions. I enjoyed the summer program because all the instructors had knowledge o f African culture and encouraged us. They served as role models to me. 41 I B (S. 27) Estella also pointed out that she could better relate with instructors from her own ethnic or racial group than those from other groups. She felt that the instructors' strategies to the A A C E P were encouraging and positive about Africa. L i l l i a n commented that her public school teachers were ignorant about African art and history, and this could explain why they are unwilling to make them part o f classroom discussions. Sarah and Dave also affirmed the view that Black instructors would be more effective in teaching African studies. Sarah also felt that: Yes, an African tutor would probably know more about the culture by way o f studying it and living the culture. A n African tutor would also serve as role model to me since I don't have any African-Canadian teachers in my school. The teachers at the workshop served as role models for our community. 416 (S. 27) Shared cultural background or shared norms and experience can have positive influences on classroom interactions. Black/African-Canadian students held the view that Black students could benefit more in classrooms with teachers o f the same background as their students. Nieto (1999) points out that when students share a common cultural background with teachers, they are often on the \"same wavelength\" simply because they have an insider's understanding o f cultural meanings. This situation could facilitate classroom interactions and thereby influence students in positive ways. The presence o f facilitators who looked like them, and who were competent, caring and responsible and with university degrees was very assuring to most o f the children. They felt confident to talk and share their feelings freely. Including students' voices in multicultural education is a central tenet o f critical multicultural pedagogy. This process enables teachers to question the content, form and pedagogy o f their subjects o f study. On the other hand, Dixie, Eden and John were o f the opinion that what matters to them was the knowledge o f the instructor: Their argument strikes at the heart o f racial essentialism. What they are saying essentially is that one does not need to inhabit a Black or African-Canadian body to have the knowledge and experience that makes her/him an Africentric scholar or teacher. This is certainly true  \u000C232 because through practical experience and academic study involving the use o f textbooks, anybody could acquire the knowledge needed to teach African cultural studies. However, a number o f questions need to be examined in relation to African cultural studies: W h o are the authors o f the textbooks on African art and cultural studies? W h o decides which textbooks to use in social studies, for example? H o w authentic and balanced are the contents o f the textbooks? What motivation or particular contribution could a nonAfrican instructor bring to the Africentric art and cultural discourse? These questions are legitimate in view o f the evidence o f Eurocentrism and continuous marginalization o f the lives and experiences o f people o f colour in school textbooks, curricula and participation (DePillars, 1990; Grant, 1992; Nieto, 1996; Parry, 1974; Pieterse, 1992). Thus, it is important to place the question o f the background o f an African art and cultural instructor in proper historical and socio-political perspective in order to understand why the greater majority o f Black students in this study opted for an African instructor. A s a disenfranchised group, these students may be demonstrating their solidarity with Black instructors for a common quest for emancipation from a system which, historically, has colluded with the status quo in maintaining Euro-Canadian hegemony in education. Some mainstream Canadian teachers are reluctant to embrace multicultural education because they perceive it as undermining Eurocentrism in the curriculum, and the unity o f the nation (Solomon &amp; Levine-Rasky, 1994). The instructors for the A A C E P , on the other hand, perceived multicultural education as a positive educational ideology offering possibilities and hope for transformation in the lives o f Black/African-Canadian learners. A s a result, they were able to discuss with students issues that have been untouched in the public school setting, but which had profound effects on students' lives. A critical multicultural perspective demands that schools become sites o f freedom to encourage students to learn even more about controversial issues.  Exploring Cross-cultural Characteristics o f A r t One o f the goals o f the African A r t and Cultural Curriculum Unit was to create an awareness o f the similarities and differences between cultures through activities in African art and cultural studies. Instructional programs that focus on cultural similarities have proven to be successful in promoting  \u000C233 positive inter-group attitudes (Cipywnyk, 1987). In the presentation o f this unit, an attempt was made to highlight some cross-cultural similarities between African culture and the cultural practices o f other ethnic groups. M c F e e (1986) states that in a l l cultures art is used to objectify, by making beliefs and superstitions more sensuously tangible, so that they can be seen and felt. She points out that, across cultures, art enhances celebration and ritual in human events. Chalmers (1980) also presents a case \"for the study o f art as cultural artefacts and the cultural anthropologist as a model for both art teachers and art students\"(p. 6). He argues that dealing with the \" w h y \" o f art and the \"comparative study o f the arts, o f response to the arts, and the production o f art forms which matter, can help us understand each other\" (p. 9). Clothing and story-telling were important components o f the curriculum unit because o f the vital role the study o f dress and personal adornment can play in cultural learning, as well as the importance o f stories to the well-being and survival o f all people. Adornment is a universal concept and therefore it provides a basis for comparison between groups. Based upon the African art and cultural activities, students learned to identify some cross-cultural similarities and characteristics in visual arts and culture: SAP: G i v e examples o f the characteristics o f African art and culture that are common to EuroCanadian and other cultures. Sarah: M a n y people including East Indians, Chinese, Africans, Europeans, Canadians and Native Indians practice cloth weaving. Clothing is used to beautify and protect people against the effects of the weather in all countries. It can tell a lot about a person's social status. Kente and adinkra cloths from West Africa used to be worn by those from the royal family, but African-Americans, Caribbeans and many people now use it in homes and churches. Africans use masks in cultural celebrations. 305 (S. 20) Hannah: M a n y groups in Canada also practice all the African art activities we learned. In Ghana men usually weave kente and make adinkra cloths while women make pottery, but in Canada, women from Euro-Canadian, First Nations and other ethnic backgrounds mainly practice quilting. This is just the opposite. Africans communicate in many forms. The First Nations, West Indians and Chinese people also communicate through their own cultural symbols on their totem poles, textiles and cultural objects respectively. 300 (S. 20) Stella and Hannah identified cloth weaving and mask making activities as common human activities. They spoke o f the functions that clothing, masks and other art forms play in many societies. For students to be able to make these cross-cultural connections in art required a skilful and purposeful guidance. This is because, as pointed out by N e i l Bissoondath (1993), \"Differences are easy to find. It's the similarities you really have to dig for\" (quoted in Chalmers, 1996, p 2). For a deeper understanding o f the place o f African  \u000C234 art in multicultural art education, art educators need to look beyond the aesthetics o f art and focus more on the cross-cultural functions o f art, which have the potential to uncover the common elements and characteristics o f different ethnic and cultural groups. Maryam and John emphasized the importance o f art as a vehicle for transmitting cultural heritage, for cultural celebrations and aesthetic enhancement in a l l societies: M a r y a m : Africans can pass on their culture through art, just like Canadians, Europeans, Americans, Chinese and Japanese. In every country, art objects are kept in museums to allow people to get to know their past. In Africa, palaces and shrines are decorated with wall paintings, engraved patterns and symbols. In Canada, the United States and other countries, people visit the museums to learn about their art. Wealthy people and celebrities decorate themselves with rich art objects, clothing and jewellery. Church buildings and government buildings are also decorated with art objects. Africans produce drums and other musical instruments for entertainment; Canadians also use electronics instruments and games for entertainment. 304 (S. 20) John: In every country people tell stories and write fairly tales to educate and entertain their children. In Africa, people celebrated puberty with art objects and festivals. In Canada, when people turn 18 years and become adults, they can celebrate with their school graduation ceremonies, parties, a new car or by moving from their parents' home to start a new life. Africans celebrates festivals, funerals, rites o f passage, Christmas and Easter. In Canada we celebrate Halloween, Easter, Christmas, Chinese N e w Year and Thanksgiving. 313 (S. 20) Gifty, however, explained that every culture has a way o f passing on its heritage. Canadians pass on their heritage mainly through written literature, text and art works in the museums. Africans used to pass on their heritage through oral literature, art objects and cultural practices. She emphasized the interdependence o f cultural groups by referring to the influence o f Egyptian and Nubian civilizations and the Christian festival o f Christmas to the rest o f the world. Judas, Don and Ronald also compared some cultural practices from different ethnic groups and argued that similar art and cultural activities take place in all societies. The major themes from their responses include the assertion that the use o f masks is a universal phenomenon. Masks are associated with religious and spiritual beliefs yet they entertain people in all societies. They are used to teach social values and for cultural celebrations like puberty initiation in Africa, Halloween and Potlatch in Canada and the United States, and N e w Year in China. Again, they indicated that while Africans produce wood, stone and ivory sculptures for decorative and religious functions, the Pacific Northwest First Nations o f Canada are associated with totem poles, just as Europeans, Americans, Japanese, Russians and Chinese make large statues and monuments to commemorate their heroes and events. Finally, they compared kente weaving, embroidery and basketry in  \u000C235 Africa with quilting, embroidery and basketry from North America, Australia, A s i a , Europe and South America. A s noted by John Judas, D o n and Ronald, the celebration o f cultural festivals is universal, and has widespread appeal among children. Teachers could enrich students' knowledge by leading them to generate deeper information about different cultural festivals. For instance, Thanksgiving in North A m e r i c a has similar characteristics with the Festival o f Harvest among Africans, South Americans and Native Indians. Halloween in North A m e r i c a conveys a theme o f superstition that is also embedded in many ethnic festivals in Africa, South America, India and China. A cross-cultural approach to the study o f the social functions o f art has many implications for curriculum in multicultural art education. In this study, students were made aware o f the similarities in the cross-cultural functions o f art and cultural practices. They were able to understand the inter-connectedness and closeness o f various ethnic and cultural practices even as they acknowledge their differences. They understood that perceived cultural differences essentially constitute differential manifestations o f similar human values. This approach had positive transformative effects on students' attitudes toward their own ethnic cultures and other cultural groups. This is particularly important for children living in Vancouver where many inner city schools are multicultural in terms o f population. It is essential to multicultural art education that while we celebrate diversity in developing instructional programs, attention should also be focused on cross-cultural similarities, which have the potential o f achieving positive inter-group attitudes among students o f diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds.  Specific Effects o f Participating in the Various Aspects o f A A C E P Perceptions o f the A A C E P were useful for investigating the extent to which the program affected students' attitudes toward African art and culture, as well as inter-group relations. Although views from students were diverse, there was a consensus that the program afforded students an opportunity to gain knowledge about their cultural heritage that has been virtually absent from the public school curricula. Emma, Ronald, Maryam, Estella and Hannah emphasized that the program was a rare opportunity for them to engage in hands-on art activities and knowledge that affirmed their cultural heritage.  \u000C236 SAP: H o w did your participation in the African art and cultural workshop influence your life?  Emma: . . . I participated in the art workshops and acquired some knowledge about Ghana, Sudan, Nigeria and the rest o f Africa that is not available from my school. For example, I now know that the size o f Africa is about four times bigger than the United States. Three Nations o f Africa Sudan, Algeria and Democratic Republic o f Congo ( D R C ) combined, equal the size o f the U . S . A . Africa provides the world with gold, diamond, petroleum, timber and many other important minerals. The program changed my views on Africa: that it is not made up o f only sick and poor people. 265 (S. 17) Ronald explained that it was his first experience in African art and cultural education o f this scope. He felt that his cultural awareness was enhanced because o f his participation in the program: . . . It is important for me as an African to know my history and culture. I cannot only be an African through my skin colour but through the knowledge o f my history and culture. 262 (S. 17) Maryam declared that she established new and lasting friendships and acquired positive knowledge about her cultural heritage. Estella acknowledged that the knowledge o f African art and history was important to her because it was not part o f her school curriculum. However, she criticized gender bias in Ghanaian kente weaving and stated that: \"I don't understand why only men and boys can weave kente cloth in Ghana. It is unfair to women and girls\" 253 (S. 17). Hannah also felt that the program increased her cultural awareness. She expressed her desire for the workshop to become a regular feature at the M F C : . . . It made me aware o f my culture although I grew up partly in Saudi Arabia. . . . It is important for me to learn my culture and celebrate my heritage. It would help in my adult life when I have to face all kinds o f responsibilities. I can teach my own children about Africa. I think the program should continue. 252 (S. 17) Many Black youths, because o f assimilation into Canadian culture have been deprived o f their parents' cultural heritages. While most African-Canadian parents, like members o f other ethnic groups, want to maintain their cultural values, the school, as a socializing agent, is predisposed toward the dominant cultural values and practices. This often deprives children from non-mainstream cultures o f other cultural values, skills, and knowledge, history, language and learning styles in the academic environment. For the participating students, it is noteworthy that they continued to express interest and commitment to Africentric knowledge, values and norms, long after the program had ended. Statements like: \"I cannot only be an African through my skin colour but through the knowledge o f my history and culture,\" \"the A A C E P changed my views o f Africa: that it is not made up o f only sick and poor people,\" \"I was proud o f the achievements o f ancient African empires and the Egyptian and Nubian civilizations\" and \"I don't  \u000C237 understand why only men and boys could weave kente cloth in Ghana. It is not fair to women,\" coming from Black-African-Canadian students are compelling testimonies o f the power o f a curriculum approach that contests hegemonic knowledge. A critical multicultural education demands that all knowledge, not only from the dominant culture, be scrutinized in order to achieve emancipatory, non-hegemonic curricula. Susie, Dave and Judas expressed how the program has helped them to acquire positive views about Africa and Blacks. One objective o f the unit plan was to redress some misconceptions about Africa and its peoples, and to celebrate the positive aspects o f the continent. There were many indications from the responses o f the students that this objective was met: Susie: I am proud to be a Sudanese and an African. The art and cultural education workshop made me proud o f my culture. Everyone has a culture, and my culture is very important to me. 369 (S. 2 4  )  Dave: Some people say bad things about Africa and Blacks most o f the time. The art and cultural workshops helped me to learn many positive things about Africa that I didn't know before. I am happy that my Dad registered me for the program. I am excited that my parents w i l l send us to Uganda for a visit next summer. I would learn more things about Uganda. 370 (S. 24) Judas: The program helped me to learn some things about Sudan and Africa. It helped to know that information from books and the news on T V sometimes wrongly represent Africa. I learned that my descendants were kings and queens from Egypt, Nubia, Ghana, M a l i and Songhai. I enjoyed the workshops because the teachers were very nice. They encouraged us to feel proud. 266 (S. 17) Most o f the students felt that they benefited from the A A C E P by way o f deepening their c  friendships with participants, some o f whom already knew each other. They expressed satisfaction that they could occupy themselves with something useful and enjoyable during the summer school break. One objective o f this study was to use the A A C E P to encourage healthy inter-personal and inter-group relationships among participants. There were indications that this objective was met among the participants. S A P : D i d you make any friends at the A A C E P ? A r e you still in touch? E d e n : I had friends at the workshop already. They invited me to the program. They are still my very good friends. I feel safe with them. M y friends at school are also nice, but they are not interested in African art and culture. 438 (S. 28) Susie: I didn't make any new friends. I already had friends within the group. W e visit each other's home for sleepovers. During the summer, my friends and I discussed the lessons every night. 433 (S. 28)  \u000C238 D i x i e : It was fun. I met many o f my friends and we learned many new things about Africa. I wish that we had a similar program every summer break to keep us occupied. There is nothing to do during weekends and school holidays except hanging out with friends and watching T V and videos. It was a good thing to see many African youths all over Vancouver coming together to learn about their culture. 260 (S. 17) Dave: I made one friend at the workshop. I knew some o f the people who came to the workshop, but we became much more closer after the workshop. Some o f my friends at school are mean. They tease you and pick up fights with you. The guys at the workshop and the S . F . U . camp were very nice. 259 (S. 17) One o f the problems o f Black youths is boredom, as rightly described by Dixie. Often there are no pograms to keep them positively occupied after school or during school holidays. The M F C ' s weekly tutoring program is not a regular feature for youths. Their programs are geared more toward women (mothers) and children than on Black youths. Without any programs and activities, some Black teenagers are tempted to experiment with sex, alcohol, smoking and drugs. Others hang around pubs, malls and along street corners at night where they are seen as threats, and are harassed by security guards and police. Unfortunately, there are facilities available at the various community centres where Black youths could be mobilized to utilize them, but the African community is so scattered and its members so much occupied with many activities that it becomes difficult to organize the youths for meaningful cultural activities. The students therefore, saw the program as filling a gap in their lived experience. It should be noted that, since the completion o f this study, the M F C has began a regular program for Black youths. The A A C E P was not meant to impart knowledge as a one-way-street to students, but to empower them to get involved in their own learning. A l Hrytsak opines that the best way to learn is to teach someone else. According to Hrytsak, we learn 10 percent from what we read, 20 percent from what we hear, 30 percent from what we see, 50 percent from what we see and hear, 70 percent from what we discuss with others, 80 percent o f what we experience and 90 percent i f we are able to teach what we learn. The best way to study is to teach it to someone else.  8  Students, who are empowered to develop positive cultural identity through interactions with their teachers and peers, experience a sense o f control over their own lives. They develop confidence and pride in themselves and the motivation to succeed. When students were quizzed about whether they had plans to  A l Hrytsak, Director, School of Cooperative Education Programs, Manitoba, Canada. In Black Learners Advisory Committee (1994). BLAC report on education: Redressing inequality - Empowering Black learners (Vol. 3): Participatory Action Research (p. 50). Halifax: Nova Scotia. 8  \u000C239 share their African art and cultural learning experience with their parents and peers, eight out o f 15 indicated that they had either already shared their experience or were planning to do so: SAP: W o u l d you like to share your African art and cultural experience with your parents and friends? Estella: I have already discussed the workshop with my friends and parents. They were very interested. M y friends expressed their desire to j o i n me next time for the ananse stories. They also shared their culture with me. 380 (S. 25)  Emma: Y e s , because not all o f them are aware o f African art and culture. M y friends only know Africa from what they hear and see from T V . 391 (S .25) Dave: I would be glad to teach my friends the truth about Africa. Some o f them are misinformed. I think art teachers need to learn about African art in order to teach multicultural art. 386 (S. 25) D o n : Y e s , sharing my culture would enable me to ask them about their own culture. I can compare the various cultures and see what is common or different. In this way, I would understand various cultures. 389 (S. 25) Four students, Gifty, Susie, Dixie and Judas were not sure i f their non-African friends would be receptive to discussions o f African art and history since their friendships centre on activities other than learning about culture. M a r y a m , Ronald and Eden however, expressed the feeling o f inadequacy to teach other children about their culture:  M a r y a m : N o , I do think I know enough to be able to teach African art and culture. Besides, they won't listen to me. They are rude. They are only interested in youth pop culture, not ethnic culture. They wanted to discuss movies, video games, sports and the likes. 383 (S. 25) E d e n : N o , I can't remember all the things we learned. M y friends would not be interested to learn about African art and cultures. They are more interested in video games and sports. 390 (S. 25) Dave: I don't think they would be interested. I tried sometime ago, but they changed the subject. They think Africa is a great place to go and see animals. 388 (S. 25) Schools are not usually organized to encourage students' involvement. A majority o f the Black students who participated in this study indicated that they wanted active, rather than passive, learning environments. They demonstrated this through their work in small group discussions and their motivation for hands-on art activities rather than theory. This message should not be lost on teachers and schools. The Black/African-Canadian students were not the only ones who expressed reactions to the program. Many parents including the two M F C cross-cultural facilitators also reacted positively towards the program.  \u000C240 SAP: What did you like or dislike about the A A C E P offered at the M F C ? Eugenia, a mother and an M F C Facilitator indicated that: 1 liked the entire program. The children were very excited and wanted more. It incited their feelings. There was nothing about this program that I did not like. 180 (P. 20) Fatia, also a mother and M F C Cross-Cultural facilitator pointed out that she liked the concept o f exposing children to their heritage through art, history and oral literature. She concluded that the program was successful in achieving its goals and therefore expressed her wish that it could be sustained. M a r c i a also spoke favourably about the program:  . . . During the workshops, I kept asking my children about their views on the program. They were positive about what was happening in each o f the activities. 177B (P. 20) Clara also expressed similar sentiments about the program: I think this is the sort o f thing that should be going on in the schools rather than the celebration o f food, clothing and dancing. Schools could hire qualified cultural experts from various communities to provide cultural education i f they are not equipped with qualified staff. 178 (P. 20) T o m praised the organizers o f the program and suggested that it should be maintained. I am proud o f what you and the M F C accomplished through the program. Our children lack role models and cultural education in their schools. Therefore your program was very useful in addressing some o f those needs. 1 could tell from the enthusiasm that my children displayed toward the program that they enjoyed the program. I hope you can continue with such programs quite often. 176 (P. 20)  M a r k declared that what was important to him about the program was that: The children liked it. It connected them to their home countries and Africa. They talked about it most o f the time. I think it should become a regular program for the youths in every summer. 173 (P. 20) T w o other parents, G i n a and Cephas thought that the program was a good beginning and a good effort to redirect Black children to their roots. L i k e the parents, the students expressed an overwhelming desire to have the art and cultural program continue in future. The statement by M a r y a m captures the general view of the students regarding the future o f the program: Yes, I think the A A C E P was a very good program, which should be continued so that we would understand our culture better. For some o f us, it is through the M F C that we are getting positive endorsement o f A f r i c a and learning about African art, history and Black-African contribution to the society and the world. 399 (S. 26)  \u000C241 Though the students endorsed the program, they suggested that it should be held during summer school break when they are at home. Some preferred that the program be integrated into the African youths summer camps where they can combine cultural education with sporting activities and games. From the stories o f the Black students, it was evident that their group's culture, history and individual lived experience became a source o f their motivation and pride, but those were missing from the school curriculum. Multicultural art education can foster pride in students i f their artistic and cultural heritage are treated with respect. It is evident however, that the school alone cannot achieve academic success for Black learners. What is needed is a committed and purposeful activity both within and outside the classroom by educators, parents and the community. It must be emphasized here that cultural identity is dynamic and always in transition. Therefore, the multicultural curriculum and pedagogy need to be transformative instead o f focusing on superficial elements, or on cultural titbits and celebrations in schools.  Summary For young Black/African-Canadians, the African A r t Cultural Education Program was a process o f reflection, learning, intervention and development o f cultural self-awareness. Their willingness to learn about their own cultural reality was demonstrated through the excitement, enthusiasm and satisfaction displayed towards the African history, oral literature, art and cultural activities. It was a process o f restoring the missing link - African history, art, culture and individual experiences missing from the school curricula. The community-based multicultural art education model encouraged collaboration, friendships and enabled students to learn from each other. The emphasis on a cross-cultural study o f the social functions o f art enabled students to understand the inter-connectedness and similarities o f diverse ethnic and cultural practices. The approach had a positive transformative effect on students' attitudes toward their own culture and other cultures. In addition, family-like ties were developed with the facilitators. The Black/African-Canadian students who participated in the workshops enjoyed the African art and cultural learning experiences. It served as a positive agent for implementing multicultural art education. It was not an end in itself, but a means for guiding students to understanding who and what they are, where they have been, and where they are going.  \u000C242  Responses of Students from an East Vancouver Elementary School to the AACEP The idea o f expanding the study to include students from a public school was important for encouraging understanding o f African art and culture among diverse group o f students. Expanding the scope o f the study also encouraged the inclusion o f students' voices in multicultural education, and for the promotion o f healthy inter-personal, inter-ethnic and inter-group relations among the students and the instructor. Critical pedagogy recognizes the fundamentally political nature o f education and the need for inclusion o f students' voices in multicultural education. The basic premise upon which the A A C E P was developed was that positive attitudes towards Black/African-Canadians and other ethnic groups could be induced through multicultural art education that focuses on cross-cultural similarities. Due to scheduling restrictions from the east Vancouver School, I could implement only three out o f the seven lessons that had been planned after providing a brief geographical background o f African countries to the students. In an effort to generate as much interest as possible and make the greatest impact within the limited exposure, hands-on art activities, including kente weaving, adinkra printmaking and storytelling with focus on ananse folktales were presented to the grade seven visual art class at the east Vancouver School. Twenty-nine grade seven students made up o f 15 girls and 14 boys participated in the lessons and a group interview at the School. The average age o f the class was 12 years. In addition to Canada, the children traced their cultural roots from 13 different countries namely: Hong K o n g , Taiwan, Malaysia, Canada, China, Vietnam, Finland, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Philippines, Thailand and Uganda (see Table 7.1). The group interview examined students' reaction to the abridged version o f the A A C E P . Responses from the students raised questions about the fit between traditional ethnic/racial stereotypes and student's lived experiences in Vancouver, Canada. Generally, students felt that it was a positive experience to be part o f a class with backgrounds from 13 different countries. SAP: What do you think about having students from many cultural backgrounds in one class?  Evelyn (Hong Kong): Y o u learn more about different cultures and different people from your friends at school. 90 ( N . 04)  \u000C243  Table 7.1  Background Information of Students from an East Vancouver Public Elementary School No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29  Name &amp; Gender Belinda (F) Chang (F) Diane (F) Evelyn (F) Jennifer (F) Lydia (F) Mary (F) Nancy (F) Patricia (F) Ronnie (F) Rose (F) Ruth (F) Samata (F) Sara (F) Solidad (F) Bob (M) Danny (M) Dave (M) Fella (M) Fred (M) Jason (M) Joe (M) John (M) Lee (M) Nii (M) NiiS. (M) Rajiv (M) Singham (M) Thomas (M)  Age (Years) &amp; Grade 12, Grade 7 12 / , Grade 7 12, Grade 7 13, Grade 7 12, Grade 7 12 / , Grade 7 12, Grade 7 12, Grade 7 13, Grade 7 12 / , Grade 7 12, Grade 7 12, Grade 7 1  2  1  2  1  2  12/2, Grade 7 1  12, Grade 7 12, Grade 7 12, Grade 7 12 / , Grade 7 12, Grade 7 13, Grade 7 12, Grade 7 12 / , Grade 7 12, Grade 7 12, Grade 7 13, Grade 7 12 / , Grade 7 12, Grade 7 12, Grade 7 12 / , Grade 7 12, Grade 7 1  2  1  2  1  2  1  2  Country of Origin Finland China Canada Hong Kong China China Canada China Taiwan India Vietnam Taiwan Uganda Vietnam Philippines Vietnam Fiji China Vietnam Thailand Canada Vietnam Malaysia Hong Kong Hong Kong China India Cambodia Hong Kong  \u000C244 Belinda (Finland): It's great. Y o u can learn new stuff from your friends' home countries. Y o u can share your family's experience with your friends. 109 (N- 04)  Fred (Thailand): It's cool. It's like you get to know so many countries without actually travelling there. Everyone has a different culture, language and food. 115 ( N . 04) Lydia (China): It shows that people from different cultures can live together in peace. 101 (N. 04) Ronnie (India): I think it is good. I have many friends from many countries. It helps me to learn to know my friends and to accept them and respect their culture. 112 ( N . 04) Singham (Cambodia): I think Canada is a nation o f immigrants. Everybody came from somewhere. 110 ( N . 04)  Jason (Euro-Canadian): There are so many people from different countries in our school. 1 think we are multicultural. 95 ( N . 04) The above responses and the ethnic composition o f the students confirmed the School Principal's assertion that the School was, by default, multicultural. W h i l e the children share positive views about the diversity of the School's population, teachers and the school administration viewed diversity as a challenge that demanded serious attention. The multiplicity o f colours, languages, backgrounds and learning styles, places tremendous demands on teachers to impart appropriate social values to students in order to improve their self-esteem and to develop positive attitudes towards various groups. Unfortunately, the background preparation o f many teachers is inadequate to deal with multicultural issues. Without adequate teacher preparation and institutional support, multicultural education could result in superficial changes that may not have significant influence in the life chances o f students, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds. This became evident through my interviews with students and teachers from the School. Although the students acknowledged that some aspects o f multicultural education were being implemented, it became increasingly evident that it was a piecemeal effort by individual teachers: SAP: Is multicultural education being implemented in visual arts and other school subjects? H o w ? Nii (Hong Kong): Y e s , we learned about Japan in social studies. W e learned about their culture, religion and work. 178 ( N . 07)  John (Malaysia): W e learned about some o f the groups in Canada such as Euro-Canadians, IndoCanadians, Chinese-Canadians and the First Nations in social studies and visual arts. 181 ( N . 07) Bob (Vietnam): Y e s , we have studied about some groups that live in Canada. W e learned about the Europeans, Americans and the Japanese in social studies. In visual arts, we produced masks and drawings o f totem poles by the Haida and Inuit. W e celebrated multicultural festivals and potluck, Halloween, Christmas and Chinese N e w Year. 194 (N.07)  \u000C245  S a m a t a (Uganda): Y e s , in grade six visual arts class, we made masks, drawings and pictures o f totem poles from the First Nations and some Chinese art projects. W e don't do \"multicultural\" in other subjects. 203 ( N . 07) Solidad (Philippines): Yes, we celebrate Halloween, Christmas and Chinese N e w Year and the First Nations' potlatch. W e also have the multicultural day when all the parents come to our school for potluck dinner. 201 ( N . 07) Joe (Vietnam): Y e s , but not much. W e don't learn anything about Vietnam, Africa and India. W e learn a bit about other groups only in visual arts and social studies. 193 ( N 07) There is no doubt that this School, like many other schools in Vancouver, is making some effort in multicultural education, as is evident from the students' statements above and statements from the School Principal and A r t Teacher. Due to its receptiveness toward multiculturalism, the school had already entered into a partnership with the M F C to introduce a program focused on Africa before I requested to conduct my study. Thus, it was due to the progressive and open door policy o f the School, coupled with its commitment to multiculturalism that enabled the administration to grant me access to the School to conduct this research. Despite their sincere intentions, numerous factors mitigate against the curriculum mainstreaming o f diverse cultural traditions. Apart from the lack o f institutional support and inadequate teacher preparation, multicultural education continues to be trapped under the liberal, pluralistic or human relations perspective. Under this conceptualization, multicultural education seeks mainly to foster cultural understanding and positive inter-personal and inter-group relations among students o f diverse backgrounds. However, institutional discrimination and real conflicts between groups are glossed over in lieu o f supporting the \"Everybody is O K \" ideology (Sleeter, 1992). M y concerns about the multicultural education approach at the School involved in this study should not be misconstrued as teacher bashing. Teachers are equally trapped in Eurocentric structures and institutional processes within which they operate. A s Weiler (1988) points out: \"schools are not isolated from the dynamics o f the wider society; quite the contrary, they magnify the contradictions and tensions o f a society so marked by inequality and oppression\" (p. 148). On the issue o f inter-racial relationships, students indicated how they interact, or would interact, with their Black/African-Canadian friends. Eight o f the students made known that they already have Black/African-Canadian friends from school and home:  \u000C246 S A P : D o you have African-Canadian friends? What would you expect to do with them? J a s o n (Euro-Canadian): Y e s , I have two African- Canadian friends from Ghana and Kenya. W e play basketball soccer and video games together. 240 (N.09) N i i (China): I know some African-Canadians but they are not my friends because we don't live close to each other. If they become my friends, I w i l l play soccer, basketball and do sports with them. 247 ( N . 09) B e l i n d a (Finland): N o , but i f I have African-Canadian friends, I would respect them. We would talk about our families and friends together. 254 ( N . 09) Dave (China): I play with some African-Canadians from time to time at home but they are not my close friends. W e would learn something about each other i f we become close friends. 245 ( N . 09) Samata (Uganda): Y e s I have Black friends in Toronto and Vancouver. W e play together, talk on the phone, communicate by e-mail and letters, and explore the internet together. 261 (N.09) R a j i v (India): Yes, I have two African-Canadian friends at school and two at home. W e play Nintendo games, watch movies and play soccer together. 258 ( N . 09) Children seldom harbour deep-rooted racial or ethnic prejudice against each other, unless they have acquired the trait from adults. A s children grow, they acquire racial and ethnic attitudes from parents, families and society. The innate desire for children, irrespective o f cultural backgrounds, to socialize with their peers may be hindered by cultural norms, values and racial/ethnic stereotypes that are constructed to serve the interest o f some parents and groups in society. From a human relations perspective, multicultural educators could capitalize on the children's innate desire to socialize in order to foster positive interpersonal and inter-ethnic relations at school. In the context o f the focus-group interview, the students described their favourite projects in the A A C E P . Out o f the 29 participants, 13 students, representing 4 5 % found the kente-weav\\ng  project to be  much more rewarding than other aspects o f the program. This was followed by the adinkra T-shirt printing project that was the favourite o f 10 students representing 34%. S i x students, representing 2 1 % o f the class, endorsed the story telling lessons. The above statistics demonstrate that this public School students, like their African-Canadian counterparts were receptive to hands-on art activities. It is also clear from the above that students were more interested in practical projects that could generate products for display and for home. Students were introduced to the African Oral Tradition. Through ananse stories they learned some  \u000C247 moral message from African tales. In virtually all the stories, the characters that disobeyed, wandered, lied or engaged in evil deeds learned a hard lesson from the consequences o f their actions. Conversely, the characters that did well were rewarded accordingly. The students cited examples o f ananse stories that were parallel to stories from their home countries: Solidad (Philippines): . . . the story o f \"ananse and the whipping cord\" is similar to a story my mother told me from the Philippines. In her story a little boy lost all the privileges he enjoyed in life because he was greedy and disobeyed the spirit who provided him with everything. 636 ( N . 22)  -  Rose, a Vietnamese-Canadian, hinted that she learned a story from her parents that was very similar to \" H o w ananse won a kingdom with a grain o f corn.\" Other students also spoke about fairies, monsters, U F O s and witches as characters in the stories that helped them to appreciate fantasy, and develop their imagination and artistic creativity. The ability o f students to identify similarities between ananse folktales o f West Africa and tales from their own cultural heritage was essential. Students had to look beyond the confines o f Africa onto their own cultural heritage to dig out similarities to the African Oral Tradition. In doing so they became aware o f the similarities in cultural values among ethnic and cultural groups o f the world. In describing their other African art and cultural experiences beside the A A C E P , 14 students, representing 48% o f the class claimed to have little or no such experience. Therefore, this group could only speak o f their experience from the A A C E P . O n the other hand, 15 students, representing 52% o f the class, spoke about experience outside the A A C E P . These students spoke o f things like: \"watching animals from African jungles on T V , \" \"listening to Black/African music and watching African dance shows,\" \"watching African soccer and African-American sport stars on T V , \" \"watching videos and playing games with my Black friends,\" and \"seeing African villages and poor and sick children on T V . \" There is little doubt that the views expressed by these children have been shaped by stereotypes perpetuated in the media. For example, one student from Taiwan, pointed out that while she was fascinated by movies and documentaries on African w i l d animals like snakes, monkeys, elephants, tigers and lions, she was scared about going to Africa for fear o f being eaten up by these animals. Another student, Fred, from Thailand also indicated that he enjoyed watching African soccer and African-American sports stars on T V . He went  \u000C248 on to say that \" B l a c k guys do better than any other group in sport,\" thus confirming the perception o f Blacks as sports heroes. Although to be labelled a sport hero may seem satisfying, these stereotypes distort people's ability to see things in their proper perspective and create the tendency to think and act in rigid and discriminatory terms. In an effort to draw attention to cross-cultural similarities, students were asked to determine the links between African art and culture and the cultural artifacts from North A m e r i c a and other societies: S A P : Provide examples o f African art and cultural activities that are common to other cultures. M a r y , a First Nations student, found some connection in the abstraction and cultural symbolism in African carvings and masks: I saw some African woodcarvings in a shop in Vancouver, some o f their symbols look like those, found on totem poles by the First Nations. 647 ( N . 23) Solidad and Rose provided examples o f stories from the Philippines and Vietnam respectively that resemble some ananse folktales from West Africa and the Caribbean. Rajiv also drew attention to India where, among the Hindus, Sikhs and other groups, clothing and adornment could determine people's social and religious status just like kente and adinkra cloths from Ghana. In her contribution, Diane made mention o f the celebration o f Canadian festivals like the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas o f which other countries also celebrate or have their own versions (e.g. Chinese N e w Year). L y d i a and Ronnie supported Diane's example and confirmed that the Chinese and Indians have their own national, cultural and religious festivals like Canadians and people from other countries. Students also discussed what they have learned about Africa that they did not know before: S A P : What new things have you learned about Africa from the A A C E P ? D a n n y (Fiji): I learned that the African continent has 54 independent countries with many b i g cities like Vancouver and small towns and villages. 720 ( N . 25) L e e (Hong Kong): I did not know that Africa has so many countries. I learned that Ghanaians could produce beautiful cloths like kente for special occasions. 698 ( N . 25) S i n g h a m (Cambodia): I learned that there are 54 countries in Africa. Africa is not made up o f only Blacks; there are Whites and people from other countries living in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt and other African countries. People i n Ghana and Togo also produce kente and adinkra cloths. 719 ( N . 25) R o n n i e (India): I know that Africans used to educate their children through stories and folktales. They produce beautiful art objects such as masks, kente and adinkra cloths. 721 ( N . 25)  \u000C249  L y d i a (Chinese): Africans educated their children through stories, oral history and apprenticeships in kente weaving and adinkra printmaking. Many Africans celebrate Christmas, Easter and the N e w Year just like Canadians do. 6-4 ( N . 06) B y recounting and memorizing what they have learned about Africa, students were encouraged not only to juxtapose the new knowledge with their received knowledge but also to interrogate them in order to determine the fit between them. Thus, the issue o f misconceptions and unbalanced representation o f the continent was brought to the forefront o f our discussions. In doing so, students were encouraged to develop positive views and attitudes towards Africa and Black people. On the issue o f the background o f instructors in African studies, the overwhelming response was that an African would be the best instructor in African art and culture by virtue o f living the culture. The African-Canadian participants in the study also shared this view. Despite this general feeling and their support for inclusive curriculum and instruction, the students were divided over the suggestion o f recruiting qualified African-Canadian instructors to teach a number o f subjects in their schools. Out o f the 29 students interviewed, 14 representing 48% felt that it was a good idea. Eight students, representing 28% took a neutral position on the issue. Seven students representing 24% o f the class did not subscribe to the suggestion. T w o students from the latter group felt that some African-Canadian teachers may have accents that would make it difficult to understand them. O n further probing to find out whether my own accent posed a problem for them, they all responded in the negative. Although I least expected the issue o f instructor accent to be raised in a class with such a diverse ethnic population, I understood that most o f the children have been assimilated into mainstream culture, and might have identified with some mainstream views regarding people with English as their second language. It is evident from the responses that the presence o f the Investigator and the focus-group environment did little to suppress students' ability to speak on this issue. Even though a significant number o f students could not endorse the idea o f hiring more Black/African-Canadians as teachers, the majority felt it was a great idea, thus lending support to the demands o f the Back community for fair representation o f other cultural groups in the teaching field. For those that were unsure, some o f them expressed their wish for schools to hire teachers from their own ethnic or cultural groups instead. When I rephrased the question to include the recruitment o f teachers  \u000C250  from all ethnic backgrounds, the response was overwhelming support for the inclusion o f teachers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The desire by some students to have teachers from their own ethnic backgrounds in their schools, while it could be a genuine demand for an inclusive staffing, raises some disturbing issues. The demand for the representation o f various ethnic groups in the teaching field is an indication o f the nation's failure to achieve our multicultural goals as outlined in Canada's Multiculturalism Policy. The challenge for us as a society is to work toward inclusive teacher preparation and hiring, and a truly comprehensive and multicultural perspective that works for all o f our students, while at the same time respondingto the special educational needs o f some o f our students. Given the history o f education in British Columbia and Canada, an all-inclusive teacher population might not be easy to attain until teacher education is re-conceptualized towards diversity. When students were asked i f they would like to travel to Africa, 27 children responded in the affirmative. Their reasons were diverse: S A P : Would you like to travel to Africa? W h i c h country and why? T h o m a s (Hong Kong): Y e s , I want to see the animal safari in K e n y a . 378 ( N . 14) S a r a (Vietnam): Y e s , I would meet new people and make more friends from Africa. 395 ( N . 14) B e l i n d a (Finland): I would like to see the way o f life o f people in West Africa and South Africa. 399 ( N . 14) F r e d (Thailand): I want to visit their towns and cities and see how they build their houses and what they eat. 405 ( N . 14) R a j i v (India): I would like to see the animal safari, the jungle, snakes, elephant and wild animals in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. 403 ( N . 14) Jennifer (China): I would like to visit my African friend's country in Nigeria, eat their food and go shopping. 389 ( N . 14) R o n n i e (India): It would be fun to visit their schools . . . and learn about African people. 402 ( N . 14) S a m a t a (Uganda): I want to go to Uganda and meet my extended family. I would also like to travel to other African countries and check out things I have seen and heard from T V . 406 ( N . 14) The above sample o f responses demonstrates how enthusiastic students were in expressing their intentions to travel to Africa. The implication is that when children are exposed to positive information about a group o f people, they respond positively toward the group and vice-versa. The excitement with which the  \u000C251  children responded to the program attested to the fact that, despite the existence o f negative stereotypes about Blacks in our society, children were still interested in learning about, and connecting to, the continent through art and culture. T w o students with dissenting opinions were misinformed when they believed that they would be hurt by w i l d animals or would contract diseases i f they travel to Africa. Students also made suggestions about what their schools could do to promote multiculturalism. S A P : What suggestions can you give to your school in order to promote multicultural education? Lee: (Hong Kong): W e should celebrate more multicultural festivals. 466 ( N . 17) Jason (First Nation): Teachers should learn more about the First Nations and other cultures in order to teach multicultural education. 472 ( N . 17) R o n n i e (India): Invite guest speakers, artists and cultural workers to share their experience with us. 489 (N- 17) D a n n y (Fiji): Hire more teachers form other ethnic groups and include books from other cultures in the school library. 488 ( N . 17) Rose (Vietnam): The teachers should talk to students about the importance o f multicultural education and teach it in every class. 481 (N- 17) Diane (Euro-Canadian): The school should include different cultures in social studies, visual arts, science, math and other subjects. It should celebrate multicultural festivals by inviting parents to school. 474 ( N . 17) S i n g h a m (Cambodia): Teachers should respect all their students and their cultures and encourage students to respect one another. 487 (N- 17) The sample o f suggestions above uncover a number o f important themes: the need to promote multiculturalism by diversifying curricula to serve the needs o f all children; the need to honour and respect students' cultures and identities; and the need to celebrate diversity through cultural festivals. A critical multicultural lens should, however, be applied to unveil oppressive structures concealed within the existing curricula and multicultural education discourse. It is through a critical multicultural education that we can hope to bring about changes in teacher education, curriculum and pedagogy, representations in textbooks and opportunities that would lead to positive educational outcomes. Considering the age, grade level o f students and the nature o f school curriculum, this is understandable. Nevertheless, without a critical perspective, multicultural education could remain a token response to liberal education demands, rather than a much-needed transformative change.  \u000C252  Summary The exploration o f cultures and cross-cultural similarities as related in visual arts can assist in the development o f more healthy ethnic attitudes than are generally found presently. The ethnic composition o f the class and school challenged the students and teachers alike to question ethnic stereotypes and racial boundaries in the classroom. Students' interactions were extended beyond the limits o f ethnicity and nation groupings. Through multicultural art education, students had the opportunity to explore sensitive issues o f race, ethnicity, gender, power, identity, privilege, difference, culture and inequality, which have been absent from their public schools, but which have relevance to their educational outcomes, especially for those from minority backgrounds. B y digging for cross-cultural similarities between African art and culture, and other cultural traditions, the students became acutely aware o f the inter-connectedness o f cultures and common human values. A t the same time, they improved their knowledge base o f Africa and began to raise questions about attitudes toward Blacks and other ethnic minorities.  \u000C253  CHAPTER EIGHT CONCLUSIONS: IMPLICATIONS A N D RECOMMENDATIONS FOR M U L T I C U L T U R A L ART EDUCATION This chapter provides an overview o f the study and suggests implications for art education and multicultural education curriculum and pedagogy. Conclusions and implications are drawn from three major perspectives: 1) the challenges o f inclusive education; 2) the African-centred art and cultural education program; and 3) a community-based approach to multicultural education. It also addresses several methods, and possible directions, for including Black/African-Canadian perspectives in multicultural art education and general education.  Overview This study describes the development and implementation o f an African-centred art and cultural education program as an alternative art education curriculum and pedagogy. It was developed in response to the lived experiences o f Black/African-Canadians and research data that revealed systemic exclusion o f their artistic and cultural perspectives from school curricula, textbooks and the general school organization. In order to achieve the research objectives, I set out to investigate three major research questions relevant to art education, multicultural education and the educational experience o f Black/African-Canadians in Vancouver, Canada: 1) In what ways do school curricula, textbooks and general school organization affect Black/African-Canadian children's participation in visual art and general education. 2)  H o w do Black/African-Canadian children react to an African-centred art and cultural education program at the Multicultural Family Centre ( M F C ) ?  3)  What impacts do the African-centred art and cultural learning experiences have on students at an east Vancouver Public School?  These initiating questions shaped the research process, including the review o f the literature, the African Art and Cultural Education Program, methodology, specific interview questions and the mechanisms for data collection. The research confirmed that Black/African-Canadians in Vancouver encounter a host o f cultural,  \u000C254 institutional and educational barriers that negatively affect their full participation in art education and the general education process. It was also revealed that the issue o f inclusive schooling transcends the calls for curriculum and pedagogic reforms. It has socio-economic and political dimensions that raise wider public policy questions. For example, it calls for engaging in the task o f reconstructing schools to ensure that the faces o f school decision-makers reflect the diversity within the Canadian population. Fundamentally, it calls for a transformation o f power relations in the school and in the society (Dei, 1996). Black/AfricanCanadian children's educational under-achievement is a cumulative process. This process, from the perspectives o f Black parents and students, is influenced by factors such as curriculum deficiency, inappropriate pedagogy and learning materials, lack o f cultural continuity, teachers' insensitivity, devalued status o f students' cultural experience in school curricula, lack o f positive role models, inadequate family and community support and lack o f representation o f Blacks in the education process. This implies that any strategies, recommendations and plan o f action to confront these issues must be inextricably linked to the needs and experiences o f Black/African-Canadians.  Conclusions Based upon the conceptual framework, I drew conclusions and implications from three major perspectives: The first is about the challenges o f inclusive education; the second concerns the Africancentred art and cultural education program; and the third, a community-based education program.  The Challenges o f Inclusive Education: Multicultural Curriculum and Pedagogy The curriculum context, teaching materials, school texts, classroom pedagogies, communicative practices, as well as the overall school environment, are critical in affecting the learning practices o f students. In Chapter One, the systemic exclusion o f Black/African-Canadian perspectives from school curricula was documented and discussed (Alladin, 1996; B L A C , 1994; Hamilton, 1997). The review o f the literature in Chapter T w o revealed the needed exploration o f several issues, namely: the socio-historical realities o f Blacks in Canada; their invisibility in the education system; inadequacy o f theories in multicultural art education to explicate the art and cultural experiences o f Black peoples; and the  \u000C255  predominance o f Euro-Canadian hegemony in the education system. Black/African-Canadians, informed by the realization that the mainstream education system has not succeeded in providing Black students with culturally relevant education, called for sweeping reforms to the education system. Multicultural educators have the responsibility to ensure that the experiences o f all students, especially students o f colour, are brought from the fringes into mainstream academic discourse and school experiences (hooks, 1984, 1994). The conclusion drawn from the study indicates that cultural continuity or immersion into the African culture can help Black/African-Canadian students to develop more positive attitudes towards learning. The finding turns on its head not only conventional educational thought, but also assimilationist policies and practices in schools that have contributed to the neglect o f students' native cultures and knowledge systems with the promise o f ensuring success in school and mainstream society. Rather than attempting to erase students' cultural, artistic, historical and linguistic heritage, Africentrists have stressed the importance o f locating learners within the context o f familiar cultural and social reference to enable them to relate socially, emotionally and psychologically to the learning process (Asante, 1990, 1992; D e i , 1996). This means that educators should target individuals and groups for attention by centring the lived experiences o f a diverse student body as a starting point for education. The role o f the teacher in this process is to make the student's world and the classroom congruent. Black children should be provided with the opportunity to experience an appropriate cultural education which gives them an intimate knowledge o f and which honours and respects the history, art and culture o f their heritage. Multicultural educators need to create truly democratic learning experiences to provide students with some pride o f ownership and control over their own learning process. Learning must start from an \"inside out\" rather than an \"outside i n \" perspective. The student must start with what s/he knows through experience as a bridge to understanding other forms o f knowledge and cultural perspectives. Although dismissing the existing curriculum is seldom either feasible or practical, several strategies involving the use o f \"modified\" versions o f existing curricula and an emerging one may help to facilitate curriculum reform. For example, when studying history o f British Columbia, the contributions o f  \u000C256 pioneer Europeans, Jews, Chinese, East Indians, First Nations and Black pioneers must be acknowledged. B l a c k pioneers played a significant economic and political role in the early years o f the province. For instance, the African Rifles \u2014 the first militia unit o f the province, contributed to the defence o f British Columbia against American encroachment in the 1860s. A g a i n , when studying the history o f Canada, teachers should include how communities o f slaves and free Blacks, First Nations, Chinese, Japanese, South Asians and Jews met the challenges o f unequal treatment and survived against the odds. In the study o f African history, efforts should be made to link contemporary African history with all o f the fragments o f its classical past, as well as its relationship to Europe and the rest o f human history - from ancient Egyptian and Nubian civilizations to the forgotten empires o f Western Sudan, and from the horrendous history o f slavery and colonization to independence and contemporary era. When studying world art history, students should explore the experiences and contributions o f Europeans, Euro-Canadians, First Nations, Chinese, Japanese, Black/Africans, diaspora Africans, East Indians, Hispanics, women and others whose perspectives have been marginalized or generally excluded from art history. Exposing students to the art o f ancient Africa including Egyptian and Nubian art, Benin art and material culture, Ashanti gold ornaments and royal paraphernalia, Zimbabwean architectural ruins, traditional African art, contemporary African art, and the arts o f diaspora Africans w i l l send a positive message that Africans, like other cultures, have contributed to the advancement o f world art production. Educators need to re-conceptualize the ways cultural holidays are defined and celebrated to better reflect student diversity. For instance, in dealing with a culturally diverse group o f students, Thanksgiving could be conceptualized as a Festival o f Harvest; Halloween as a Festival o f Superstition; and Christmas as a Festival o f Lights (Nieto, 1996). In this way a common theme in many festivals o f the world is emphasized, thereby making it more inclusive. It is also necessary to recognize other interpretations o f cultural festivals such as the perspective o f Native Americans and the First Nations o f Canada who consider Thanksgiving to be a day o f mourning because o f the history o f North American colonization (Nieto, 1996). A r t education has the potential o f becoming a leader o f democratic multiculturalism by staunchly working towards removing barriers to an inclusive curriculum. Developing curricula which effectively  \u000C257 integrate cultural diversity into the art disciplines has been a long-standing goal o f art educators such as Blandy &amp; Congdon, 1987; Chalmers, 1992; 1996; Fehr, 1993; Grant, 1992, M c F e e , 1986; BallengeeMorris &amp; Stuhr, 2001). Presently, a variety o f curriculum and pedagogical approaches have been suggested for teaching art in a multicultural classroom. In Chapter T w o , I discussed these curriculum models (i.e., D B A E , M D A E , feminist and post-modern approaches to art education). Although these models focus on the socio-cultural aspects o f art education, they have not responded effectively to the artistic and cultural needs o f the Black/African-Canadian student. African-centred art education immerses students into the context o f African art and culture in order to facilitate understanding and appreciation o f the art o f the African peoples. The Africentric approach to art education is one o f the many centres or approaches for achieving a multi-centric art education. The findings from this study indicate that a culturally relevant art curriculum could provide an effective means o f inducing positive attitudinal change among students o f all backgrounds. Finally, this study vividly describes how Black/African-Canadian students, in their own words, describe and interpret their educational experiences; what factors they believe have helped them; and what barriers have held them back in their schools, families and communities. Including students' voices in multicultural education can be constructive for learning, since teachers would be in a better position to learn from, and understand, students in order to provide appropriate academic environments for them to learn. Nieto (1999) points out that i f students' views are sought through a critical and problem-posing approach, their insights can be crucial for developing meaningful, liberating and engaging education. M a n y o f the students in this study mentioned particular traits they look for in the choice o f their favourite teachers. The most important characteristic students valued in their teachers was \"caring.\" Students evaluated their teacher's level o f caring by such factors as subject knowledge; effective teaching and motivation o f students; sense o f humour; use o f multiple teaching strategies, including application o f technology; commitment to the success and well-being o f students both at school and beyond; fairness, patience and level o f affability. Multicultural art educators should expand their repertoire o f pedagogical skills in order to reach out to all students, particularly those whose voices are marginalized.  \u000C258 African A r t and Cultural Education Program: A Journey Toward Cultural Awareness and Multiculturalism That many young Black/African-Canadian learners are alienated, uninvolved and discouraged by school are evident from this study. Although schools are supposed to be places where a lot o f interactions occur, Black/African-Canadians and other students o f colour are often passive participants in the school experience. Teachers often miss the opportunity to learn first hand from students about their needs and experience, and how best to assist them. A s one Black parent from the study pointed out, \" O u r children are endangered species. There is very little understanding o f Black children among the present crop o f teachers\" (Parent). Rather than being organized around issues such as collaboration, consultation and democracy, most schools are organized around issues o f control and benign dictatorship in which decisions are made for students in what is perceived to be \"their best interests\" (Nieto, 1996). Wurzel (1988) describes multicultural education as a qualitative process o f thinking and feeling with the potential o f fostering healthy interpersonal and intercultural relationships. Wurzel maintains that it is necessary to go through various stages o f the multicultural process to attain multicultural consciousness. These processes include: 1) reflection, learning and development o f self-awareness; 2) acceptance o f conflict for its educational potential; 3) learning about one's own cultural reality through interaction with others; 4) fostering healthy communication with people from other cultures; and 5) recognizing the universality o f multiculturalism. Relating this ideology to the real life experience o f middle and high school students was a complicated process. This became clear from the implementation o f the A A C E P at the Multicultural Family Centre and the east Vancouver School. For Black/African-Canadian students who participated in this study, the A A C E P was not merely an instructional product, but a continuous process o f critical reflection, learning and intervention; it was a journey toward cultural self-awareness and understanding o f others in historical, cultural and contemporary contexts. For participants from the east Vancouver School, it was a process o f restoring the missing link; non-Western art, history and cultural knowledge absent from school curricula, and an opportunity to see things from a different perspective. In the process o f developing self-awareness and multicultural consciousness, journeys might vary depending on an individual's experience, yet in all transformative journeys a person encounters a variety o f experiences, challenges and perspectives which  \u000C259 expand her/his horizon. L i k e the physiological and sociological stages o f African rites o f passage (from infancy and adolescence to adulthood), the journey to critical self-consciousness and multiculturalism is a transformative process with socio-political and educational implications. A t infancy, a person embarks upon life journey with a sense o f naiveness and accepts everything placed before her/him at face value (e.g., water is water and a mountain is a mountain). A t this stage, a person is exposed to only one reality and acquires a mono-cultural perspective. S/he acquires what Freire (1970) calls \"banking\" education, that is, a process by which teachers \"deposit\" knowledge into students who are perceived as empty receptacles. It is education for powerlessness. Students are not aware o f who they are, where they have been and where they are heading. Many Black/African-Canadian youths find themselves in this situation in their educational pursuits. Schools deprive them o f the necessary preparation to take ownership and control over their own learning and access the cultural capital o f society. A s the life journey continues to adolescence, a person encounters real life conflicts and challenges. S/he w i l l be puzzled, confused, overwhelmed and sometimes lost in the cacophony o f voices competing for his/her attention. Due to both physiological changes and social pressures, adolescence becomes a very unpredictable stage in the life o f a person. A t this stage, things are perceived differently from how they used to be. Water is not as a person is used to seeing it, and the mountain is no longer the mountain. The person experiences conflicts and resistance. S/he does not accept everything placed before her/him. S/he makes decisions, most o f which, owing to physiological and social pressures, are more instinctive rather than thoughtful. For many Black/African-Canadian immigrant children, the process o f acculturation can bring about conflict. Blending their home and Canadian cultural experiences can be confusing, ambiguous and full o f bittersweet tastes. Cultural incongruence between the home and school cultures creates a sense o f conflict and alienation among many Black/African-Canadian youths exploring their self-concepts and identities. This contradiction comes about because o f incongruence between the official multicultural policy o f Canada and the assimilationist policy and practices o f the school. After a period o f struggle, reflection and intervention, a person's life journey reaches adulthood. The experiences from life's struggles and interventions enable one to gain wisdom and became more mature. A t this stage, one  \u000C260  becomes more open and capable o f accepting an imperfect world and playing one's role in it. The passage from adolescence to adulthood symbolizes a higher state o f awareness in which one no longer sees only one reality or perspective o f things. This new perspective o f \"seeing\" enables a person to acquire deeper recognition o f what the meaning o f life is. In The Enlightened Eye, Eisner (1991) discusses his philosophy toward qualitative inquiry, which demands an enlightened way o f seeing. He explains that, \"seeing, rather than mere looking, requires an enlightened eye: this is as true and as important in understanding and improving education as in creating a painting\"(p. 1). M a n y o f the students involved in this study might have been at the beginning o f the processes o f \"seeing.\" They might have gone through the first and second stages o f the journey toward cultural awareness and multiculturalism. However, it cannot be guaranteed that they w i l l reach the third or adult level o f \"seeing,\" in view o f the socio-political realities o f their lives in Canada. The A A C E P provided an opportunity to bring them closer to their cultural heritage and assisted them to envision through their enlightened eyes. When they have the opportunity to discover who and what they are, this learning experience may serve as a guiding light for exploring and seeing where they have been and where they are heading. The A A C E P initiates a long process o f soul searching which may not be evident in the public school learning environment. Nevertheless, it is essential that students be provided with the knowledge, attitudes, skills and tools necessary to function in a multicultural society and the \"global village\" during this new century. A r t experience can open doors for students to know who they are and to determine the roles they can play in Canada and the world. L i k e the journey toward self-awareness and multiculturalism, developing a truly comprehensive multicultural education takes time and effort. Because many art teachers share a pervasive Eurocentric culture and practices, there are limits to the extent to which they can change without a corresponding change in the institutional structures and society within which they operate. Becoming a multicultural person requires a transformation o f oneself. The process requires that we re-educate ourselves more about other cultures and participate in activities that emphasize pluralism. Second, we need to confront our own racism and biases. Because we are all products o f a society that is stratified by race, gender and class, we have all internalized some o f the messages in one-way or another. Our actions sometimes reflect, or  \u000C261 reproduce, the messages we have learned. A n example is a stereotype commonly held among many Canadian teachers that Black males are heroes in sports but not in math. Self-transformation in multicultural education means not only learning new things but also unlearning some o f the old. Thirdly, multicultural consciousness means envisioning reality from a variety o f perspectives. Because we have learned that there is only one \"right answer\" to every problem, we have also become accustomed to perceiving the world from only one perspective. Re-orienting ourselves towards multicultural perspectives w i l l demand a dramatic shift in our worldview. Although the transformation o f individuals and teachers from being \"monocultural\" to \"multicultural\" w i l l not guarantee that schools would become multicultural, it w i l l certainly lay the groundwork toward multicultural education.  Community-based Cultural Education Programs Community-based groups and organizations can play important roles in cultural education, and in curriculum reform and implementation as schools try to embrace multicultural curricula. The most important and successful ethnic group and cultural education has depended on the initiative o f the groups involved with limited support from other sources. In Canada, examples o f ethno-cultural groups that have successfully established separate ethnic specific programs include the Ukrainian, Hutterite and Mennonite schools in Alberta, Chinese and Greek schools in Ontario and Quebec, and Punjabi, Chinese and Hebrew schools in British Columbia (Moodley, 1995). The goal o f these ethnic-based schools and ethno-cultural programs are generally to provide and affirm cultural experiences o f students who have been marginalized or isolated by the traditional schools. The Black/African-Canadian community must take the initiative in addressing the problems o f Black youths. Through participation in community-based programs from socio-cultural organizations such as the Multicultural Family Centre, the African-Canadian Association o f British Columbia and the various African national associations, the community could provide useful outlets for Black children to participate in meaningful programs such as homework clubs, sports clubs, cultural music and dance clubs and volunteer clubs. When the youths are involved in meaningful activities outside o f the academic context, they find support not only to keep them away from negative peer pressure but also to reinforce their  \u000C262 leadership and critical thinking skills. A r t educators such as Stuhr, Petrovich-Mwaniki, and Wasson (1992), Ballengee-Morris and Stuhr (2001) advocate community-based research in support o f art education curriculum development. For the children, the M F C was a setting where they experienced a large number o f Black/African-Canadians congregating in a limited space on a regular basis. A s many o f them indicated, the M F C was one o f the few places where their African identity was salient and where they had opportunity to practice and affirm African cultural identity as well as engage in academic exercises in an informal setting. The M F C was not only a place to learn about African culture and behaviour but also a place for acting out tensions involved in being bicultural. This study shows that a community-centred education processes can serve an important role in facilitating multicultural art education. In particular, the bilateral cooperative relationship between M F C and the east Vancouver School demonstrated that local community groups could serve as resources that are both culturally relevant and have the potential to generate inquiry into multicultural art education. The A A C E P not only provided cultural learning experience for Black/African-Canadian students but also community resources for local public schools to utilize.  Recommendations: Possible Approaches and Directions for Multicultural Education Teacher Education Challenge It is clear from this study that asking teachers to teach in ways and/or perform in settings for which they have not been duly trained may create a problem or a backlash. T o this effect, we need to reform existing teaching, pedagogic and communicative practices. The Ministry o f Education, school boards, colleges/universities and schools have a moral and ethical responsibility to prepare teachers and all educators to be culturally responsive to the educational needs o f their diverse student populations. The responsibility demands that the culturally diverse nature o f the student body o f British Columbia and Canada is reflected in the curriculum, teacher demographics, faculty and the practices o f the profession (Banks, 1995; Dei 1996; Grant &amp; Sleeter, 1993). Every faculty o f education or teacher education institution needs to incorporate mandatory coursework on multiculturalism in teacher certification  \u000C263  programs. To meet the challenge o f inclusive education we need to make available to teachers and students educational materials that deal with people and societies o f colour and their contributions to knowledge and society. Obtaining educational materials and resources on African-Canadians or Blacks can be a difficult venture in British Columbia and Canada. A t the onset o f this study, I had difficulty gathering reading materials in the province. I had to visit libraries in Washington, D C , and Washington State in the United States in order to search for pertinent resources for the literature on Africentrism. A serious attempt therefore is needed to ensure the availability and accessibility o f appropriate learning materials on Africa and other cultures. This should including teaching guides, journal audio-visuals, children's literature, textbooks with Black/African authorship and resources on African art and art history. Teachers must learn about the cultures o f their students. They should be knowledgeable about how to use multicultural learning materials and guide their students to learn about the achievements o f all groups in Canada in ways that address inclusion and validation o f alternative knowledge. In art education, the cultural diversity o f teachers may be expanded by examining the nature o f visual arts pre-service teacher education programs and their effects on teachers' beliefs, knowledge and teaching practices with diverse students. Multicultural Discipline-based A r t Education ( M D A E ) can be useful for the preparation o f pre-service and in-service teachers, as well as other art education practitioners because it identifies with a multicultural agenda by assuming a more cross-cultural perspective. M D A E requires art teachers not only to accommodate all the artistic and cultural perspectives represented in their classrooms when examining the art but also to guide students to critically examine the epistemic inequalities embedded in the representation o f various art forms in society. M D A E w i l l embrace Africentric knowledge and cultural perspectives since it reaches across cultural boundaries to examine cultural influences, differences and similarities without looking down upon any culture. Finally, M D A E w i l l enable art teachers to tap into each student's culture in order to provide him or her with opportunities for self-expression in unique ways.  \u000C264 .  Critical Multicultural and Social Reconstructionist M o d e l Various models o f multicultural education have been advanced and practiced in Canada (i.e., Coombs, 1986; Fleres &amp; Elliot, 1992; M c L e o d , 1981; Quellet, 1992; Y o u n g , 1979). These models are described in Chapter T w o . The human relations approach, which is the most popular model in many schools, seeks to foster positive interpersonal and inter-group relationships among students. It is a liberal pluralistic view that sees diversity as intrinsically valuable and beneficial to society. This model, however, glosses over institutional discrimination and real conflicts between groups. It focuses on tolerance, which is the lowest level o f multicultural education in a school setting. Teachers are encouraged to \"tolerate\" diversity but not necessarily to affirm and integrate it into school curricula. The cultural pluralistic approach, however, moves multicultural education beyond the level o f tolerance to acceptance and respect for differences. In this model, students' cultures are visible in school curricula and other practices. Frequent and positive interaction with parents would take place. Critical multiculturalism or social reconstructionist perspective takes a proactive approach to multicultural education. To bring about any real change in the lives o f Black/African-Canadians and other minorities in the middle and high school levels, I recommend an eclectic approach that incorporates elements o f a transformative political agenda o f cultural pluralism and a social re-constructionist or critical multicultural education approach. In culturally pluralist curricula, art teachers w i l l pay attention to equity issues in terms o f gender, race, ethnicity, social class and other social differences. Critical multiculturalism\"will actively involve students in critical thinking and empower them for social action.  Interdisciplinary and Blended Approach One conclusion drawn from this study is that an interdisciplinary and blended approach to multicultural art education can be responsive to diverse students' cultural needs. To reflect the present realities o f Black/African-Canadian students, a blended curriculum o f both African and Canadian styles o f learning can achieve greater social relevance. A n interdisciplinary art curriculum approach w i l l facilitate multicultural learning not only by dealing with common issues from different academic perspectives but also by responding to the various interests and motivations o f students, in order to achieve a more balanced  \u000C265 and broad-based art education. African and many other cultures are inter-disciplinary in their creative endeavours. Awareness o f this fact may prove to be necessary when placing a work o f art into its proper cultural, historical and socio-political context. Africentrists believe that all academic disciplines (mathematics, language, geography, science and philosophy, art and history) are interconnected. They are taught as separate disciplines only by distortion (Verhaven, 1995). A r t educators need to embrace interdisciplinary models o f art teaching to meet the needs o f students from diverse backgrounds. A n interdisciplinary approach to art education w i l l expand our understanding and appreciation o f artistic production from many cultures. Chalmers (1996) points out that art educators can learn a lot from related disciplines o f anthropology and sociology o f art education.  Collaboration A n important theme recurrent in this study is the notion that no single approach to multicultural education can meet the needs o f the Black learners. The most successful approaches are multi-faceted, and cooperatively involve the student, parents, the community and the school. Multicultural education demands that teachers be able to recognize students, parents and community workers as genuine partners in the production and dissemination o f school and social knowledge. Local community knowledge is an important pedagogical tool and source o f cultural information which art educators can tap for the benefit o f their students and the school. Africentricity emphasizes the values o f group unity, mutuality, collective responsibility, community and social bonding. These values can enrich multicultural art education by shifting the emphasis away from individual competitiveness to that o f the group and social issues. Teachers should uphold and promote strategies for co-operative learning that also stress collaboration and bonding among students, administrators, teachers and parents. In the visual arts classroom or studio, assignments should be structured to provide students with group and collaborative learning skills. Such projects should permit meaningful dialogue and collaborative work between and among students and teachers. Teachers should encourage students to set their own priorities for their learning. Africentric values o f group unity, collective responsibility and mutuality, when applied to the. teacher/student relationship in multicultural education, would emphasize a relationship based on cooperation and harmony. This would require the teacher to assume a non-elitist posture and view students  \u000C266 not only as active learners but knowers as well. Learning should be viewed as interdependent and b i directional rather than dependent and unidirectional. African-centred multicultural education emphasizes mutual exchange o f information between students and teachers with the teacher acting as a guide or facilitator o f the information exchange process.  Multicultural Education as Praxis Role-playing was crucial in all aspects o f this study. Facilitators o f the A A C E P led by example by way o f advocacy, showing pride in African cultural values and identities, clothing, participating in African cultural festivals and programs, showing interest in the well being o f the students, and assuming a more affable posture in relating to students. Multicultural education cannot be effective i f teachers and schools do not value the confluence between the principles o f multiculturalism and practices (Dei, 1996). Effective multicultural education connects theory with reflection and action. This is what Paulo Freire (1970) refers to as praxis. Critical multicultural pedagogy requires that we teach students to apply what is learned. Teachers should model to students by setting appropriate examples. Students should not feel any contradiction in terms o f what their teachers teach theoretically in the classroom and what they actually practice in and outside the school. Progressive educators match their theoretical pronouncements against exclusive educational practices, their intellectual criticism o f social injustice and their political affirmation o f social difference with action for social justice (Nieto, 1996). While it may be unrealistic to expect all teachers to be open to multiculturalism (given existing structures and backgrounds o f teachers), multicultural educators must capitalize on those progressive teachers who are genuinely open to reform in order to move their agenda forward, while they also strive for institutional support.  Issue o f Race and Representation in Schooling M a n y schools often avoid dealing with issues o f race. Teachers often refuse to engage their students in discussion about racism and anti-racism because it is perceived as a \"dangerous discourse\" that challenges existing structures o f public schooling (Nieto 1999). The challenge for developing a critical multicultural curriculum and pedagogy requires that we address issues o f race, representation and identity in the education system. M a n y educators assume that simply ignoring racial issues, or by having lessons  \u000C267 on getting along, and celebrating Human Relations or Multicultural Week w i l l make students acquire healthy inter-group and interpersonal attitudes. Unfortunately, this conceptualization and practice o f multicultural education is not enough to making curriculum and pedagogy genuinely transformative. This became evident through the narratives o f the A r t Teacher, the School Principal and nine Black/AfricanCanadian students in this study that did not support such an assumption. The fear o f naming racism in school practices is part o f the system o f silencing in public schools. The A A C E P , however, created a forum for the students to discuss issues that had not been touched in their schools. A s uncomfortable as these issues might be for teachers to discuss, they are meaningful focal points for student learning. In a society that is stratified by race, class, gender, ethnicity and other social identities, it w i l l be unrealistic to expect that people's attitudes w i l l not be affected by the embedded inequalities that flow from social stratifications. The school is a reflection o f society. It magnifies and reproduces the contradictions and tensions o f society marked by racism, classism, inequality and oppression (Apple, 1979; Weiler, 1988). Therefore, part o f the mission o f the school is to create the space that legitimates dialogue on racism and discrimination in school practices including representation o f minorities in curriculum, textbooks, teacher recruitment and decision-making.  Limitations and Future Study In this research, I was a witness to the j o y and emotional satisfaction, as well as the pain, anger and frustrations o f many Black/African-Canadian students, parents, social workers and teachers as they struggle to secure appropriate cultural education for themselves or for others. Having listened to many young people I could hardly ignore the deep sense o f frustration and alienation which some o f them feel in society and in school. The interview texts present the multiple voices o f participants and indicate a range of positioning. For instance, I discovered that not all Black/African-Canadian children are having overwhelming difficulties at school. In fact, my investigation reveals that some students have been quite successful at school. Nevertheless, I believe that every student must be equipped with the necessary tools to think critically and creatively, solve problems and participate fully in the educational process and in society. Finally, I believe that issues o f race, class, ethnicity and culture should permeate educational  \u000C268 discourse so that the alienation experienced by many students o f colour in Canada's public schools is eradicated. It should be reiterated that the experiences o f students presented in this study are not meant to represent all other Black/African-Canadians students. A s an ethnography, this study provides v i v i d portraits o f the lives and experiences o f particular students. They are examples o f the complex interplay o f relationships within families, schools and community that define students' struggles for identity and survival. Therefore overarching claims from the education o f all Black/African-Canadians cannot be made. Furthermore, due to scheduling difficulties and timetable problems in the east Vancouver School's visual arts curriculum, I could not implement all seven lessons in the A A C E P as planned. While the study is limited in scope, the outcomes are promising, and provide a clear indication that the development o f curricula in the visual arts based on multicultural perspectives is a legitimate and worthwhile pursuit. It can be helpful in illuminating some key issues about culture and power relationships and schooling in a multicultural society. Because the stories o f these students have been placed in the socio-political contexts o f their families, schools and communities, useful information can be found for teaching and learning in similar circumstances. There is very little research on Black/African-Canadians in British Columbia in terms o f their participation in education and society. In addition, there is a paucity o f research in community-based approaches to multicultural education. More studies that involve ethnic groups o f students and communitybased education programs should be conducted. A s the A A C E P through the M F C has demonstrated, community-based groups can function in powerful ways to enhance the efforts o f multicultural art education and education in general in Canada. There is a need for more in-depth research from real-life situations in community-based ethnic settings and interactions with school contexts, to build holistic theories o f multicultural education. In conclusion, my journey through this study was not at all like taking a trip filled with stunning excitement; in contrast it was a lonely and slow process. There is still a long road from theory to practice. There are many issues that cannot be solved in one study. The study was not only about the two terms, \" B l a c k / A f r i c a n \" and \"Canadian\" that connect each other using a hyphen. Neither was it solely about  \u000C269  \"schooling\" and \"inclusion\" o f perspectives o f people o f colour. 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A better balance: A R T S P R O P E L as an alternative to discipline-based art education. In Burton, A . L . , &amp; London, P. (Eds.), Beyond DBAE: The case for multiple visions of art education (pp. 117-130). M A : Southern Massachusetts University.  \u000C286 APPENDIX I  AFRICAN-ART A N D C U L T U R A L EDUCATION: A N INTEGRATED UNIT Activity I: The L a n d of Africa Introduction The portrayal o f Africa and its people in reading materials, historical textbooks, curricula and the mass media and in Western popular culture has often been a far cry from the Africa that really exists. A s a result, a vast majority o f students are ignorant or misinformed about the continent o f Africa: the various countries, the landmarks, the rich mineral resources, the people and cultures. One o f the goals o f multicultural education in Canada is to educate students to understand and embrace the increasing ethnocultural diversity in Canadian classrooms and the ethnic minorities that form the mosaic o f Canadian society. Schools are called upon to preserve diverse cultural heritages through multicultural approaches in the disciplines o f language arts, studies in history, geography, art, social studies, music, or drama to remind us who we are today and from what culture we once came (Sullivan, 1994). Multicultural literacy is essential for all students to function effectively in a democratic/pluralistic society. For this reason, the objective o f the Land of Africa unit plan is to encourage students to learn, through written work, artwork, map study and verbally the individual countries comprising the African continent and their geographical features. The Land o f Africa is a multidisciplinary unit that integrates art, geography, history and social studies. The unit w i l l be taught using a combination o f methods including lecture format and cooperative learning format. There w i l l also be a lot o f cooperative learning, using brainstorming techniques, discussions and even group work. Most assignments may be worked on cooperatively but each student must have their own completed work to put in their workbook. The instructor w i l l ask many leading questions during the lesson to get students to think about the topic. The procedures o f teaching used by this unit are great for grade seven students because the information that they have to assimilate and analyze enhances their multicultural literacy, develops their artistic skills, critical thinking and summarizing skills.  Objectives: To describe Africa's geographical setting in relation to other continents and bodies o f water. To identify all the countries comprising Africa, its major cities and regions. To define the major rivers, climate and vegetation o f Africa. To identify major metals and minerals in Africa. Estimated Time: (150 minutes). Materials: African map handouts, overheads o f maps, wall map, overhead projector, coloured pencils and  \u000C287 pens, globe, video deck and T V Monitor.  Procedure: Introduction (time 15 min): Show a short introductory video about A f r i c a (10 min). Explain to students that they w i l l be doing a unit on the continent o f Africa. Brainstorm with students about different things they already know about Africa and write them on the chalkboard. Test student's knowledge about North America, Europe, A s i a , Australia and South A m e r i c a in relation to Africa. Body (time 120 minutes): Using a large wall map o f the world and a globe, get students to point out the geographical location o f Africa in relation to North A m e r i c a and other continents and bodies o f water. Hand out blank maps o f Africa to students and tell them that they w i l l be drawing or tracing the outline and labelling the various countries o f Africa. When they are correct, they w i l l be colouring them to use as a title page in their drawing or workbook. Discuss with class and model by using an overhead o f the maps they have, where to label the various countries in A f r i c a (Use a wall map as a guide). Have students label their maps the same. Have students exchange their maps with a partner so that they can peer-edit errors. Hand out a reading list o f African countries and their capital cities. Discuss with class and model, by using an overhead o f the map they have, the major rivers, climate and vegetation o f the various regions in Africa. Discuss with class and model, by using an overhead, where the major metals and minerals are located on the continent. Conclusion: When their maps have been checked for correctness, have students colour their maps while a tape o f African music is playing softly in the background. Evaluation: (time 15 minutes) Evaluate entire class to see how much they know about Africa during the brainstorming session. Evaluate students to see i f they understand where Africa is in relation to other continents and oceans. Evaluate students to see i f they understand where individual countries and their capitals are in relation to the various regions (i.e., North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa,  \u000C288 Southern Africa). While students are working on maps, walk around class to ensure their maps are correct. Evaluate the lesson for yourself by asking: was the lesson effective for teaching the geography o f Africa?  '  Activity II: Kente Weaving  Introduction  Kente, a cloth o f many strips, rich colours and geometric patterns is the dress o f royalty, honoured gods and many ordinary people o f West Africa and throughout the world. In Ghana, it is worn on joyful occasions as symbol o f pride among the Asante and E w e ; nevertheless, it finds expression among AfricanAmericans and Africans in the diaspora as a symbol o f African identity and cultural heritage. Kente has travelled from its birthplace in West Africa and found its way into homes, churches and government buildings in the United States and throughout A f r i c a and the world. The geometric patterns woven into kente or printed on  adinkra cloths are frequently proverbial, conveying messages to individuals and  society. Clothing as an adornment is a universal theme that provides the basis for cross-cultural learning. A story is told in Bonwire, a town in Ghana that, a long time ago, two men saw a spider weaving a web. They watched it for a long time, observing how individual threads were added and the different geometric shapes and patterns. The men wondered i f they could make cloth in the same way. They told no one what they were doing until they had finished a piece o f cloth. The geometrical patterns in their cloth resembled the spider's web and the threads glistened like spider silk. When they showed their cloth to the chief o f Bonwire, Nana Bobie and the Asantehene, or the K i n g o f Asante, they were so pleased that they encouraged them to weave more cloth. Since then, kente weaving has become the most important work in  Bonwire. Kente is woven in strips o f about four inches wide and three yards long. The woven strips are sown together side-by-side to produce a large cloth (see Figure 5.1 for a sample o f kente cloth). A m o n g the Asante and Ewe, very few women traditionally become weavers because it was considered a man's profession.  Objectives: To enable students explore some o f the functions kente cloths may serve among Ghanaians, Africans and the diaspora. To help students learn how to weave kente patterns and colours with paper, through experimentation and imitation. To express observations, reactions and judgements on analysis o f traditional kente clothes using contextual information and the language o f design. To help students recognize both cross-cultural similarities and differences in practices and values  \u000C289 as reflected in woven fabrics. Estimated Time: (150 minutes) Materials: Photocopy paper (all colours), paper cut-offs, hard paper, knives, scissors, glue-sticks, rulers, paper cutter and samples o f kente cloths (If you do not wish students to use a utility knife or paper cutter, prepare the paper strips in advance). Procedure: Introduction (15 minutes): Show physical samples o f kente cloths to students and demonstrate how they are worn. Teacher should dress up in kente to motivate and generate students' interests. Provide a brief history o f kente weaving at Bonwire in Ghana and Togo. I n v o l v e students i n group-discussions o f what c a n be learned f r o m kente c l o t h . Compare and contrast kente with adornments from other cultural groups in Canada. Suggested Questions: W h o might wear the different variety o f kente cloths? What are the cultural meanings for some o f the most popular kente patterns and colours (e. g.,  Oyokoman,  Adweneasa, Ntokosie, Sika Futuro, Asaase ne Abuo, Akyempim)? H o w do you think a person might feel wearing kente cloth? What does kente cloth tell you about the wearer values, culture and environment? What are the difference between kente designs from Asante and Ewe? A r e there any common characteristics between kente and adinkra from West Africa and quilting or textiles from Canada, East India, China, Japan America? Introduce the rules and demonstrate methods in kente weaving on the chalkboard with paper strips. Body (120 minutes): Divide the class into groups with each comprising six (6) students. Provide each student with an already cut out strip o f red hard paper to avoid the risk o f students cutting themselves) to be used as the warp and each group with sufficient pieces of paper cut-offs to be used for weaving the weft. Demonstrate by combining and alternating weaving with glued patterns o f coloured, paper strips (cut-offs) in horizontal and vertical arrangements. Have students weave their own kente with the provided materials. Guide students through the weaving process to enable them achieve the patterns and colours o f kente cloths. Conclusion/Evaluation (15 minutes): Have students display and view each other's final kente work. Students should reflect on their works by discussing artisanship, differences and similarities in  \u000C290 patterns and colours based on design principles and in relation to those o f their classmates and to kente cloth. Students should assemble their kente side-by-side to form one large kente piece (like completed kente cloth. Students should collectively review the project by paying particular attention to each strip, colours and patterns. H o w is kente weaving and quilt making similar or different? Students should identify commercial products that are inspired by kente design from Africa (i.e., cups, quilts, key chains, wallets, handbags, dolls, men's tie, games). Students should consider ways in which the clothing o f Canada and other countries are influenced by the social and physical environment. Instructor evaluates the lesson for self by asking: Was the lesson effective in achieving the intended objectives? H o w enthusiastic are students about African kente?  Activity III: Printmaking from African Adinkra Symbols Introduction In many societies, cultural symbols exist as artefacts for interpreting and codifying knowledge and experience. Traditional African fabrics were often hand woven, decorated with stamped symbols or dyed patterns. Besides the oral tradition - the passing on o f traditional histories and stories from one person to another and from one generation to another - many African cultures also developed visual ways o f telling their stories. Graphic symbols (i.e.,  adinkra symbols from Ghana and the applique art o f Benin) embody  cultural knowledge and convey messages o f socio-historical significance (see Figures 5.5 and 5.6). The study o f  adinkra symbols and clothes can thus tell us a great deal about the A k a n culture and people o f  West Africa. Although no one really knows the origin o f adinkra cloth, the Asante tell a story about how it came to Ghana. Long time ago, Adinkra, a neighbouring king infuriated the K i n g o f Asante by imitating the  Golden Stool of Asante, a symbol o f Asante's unity and power. T o the Asante, this was a terrible  offence. Copying the Golden Stool was an insult to their leader and to their religion. The Asante went to war with Adinkra. A d i n k r a was defeated and killed and the Asante took the printed cloth he was wearing as a trophy o f war. This was the first adinkra cloth o f the Asante people. The term,  adinkra means farewell or good-bye, hence the adinkra cloth was traditionally used for  funeral occasions to say good-bye to the departed. Today, however, it is worn for a variety o f occasions. The adinkra cloth is made the same way as block-printed fabric by dipping relief-carved wooden blocks or stamps into natural dyes and pressing them onto a woven cotton cloth. The stamps are cut into over 60 designs, each bearing an Asante name o f historical and cultural significance. Each symbol may tell a story about the authority and power o f the Asantehene, the Ashanti king in relation to his subjects. They may tell  \u000C291 L  a story about the history and status o f the A k a n state, a geographic area, an event, a family or an individual. Some convey messages about ethics, morality and traditional values; others are proverbial, wise sayings, or reinforce beliefs. A black dye used for printing is made by boiling special type o f plant barks,  Kuntunkuni or Badie in a large kettle into which lumps o f iron slag have been placed.  Objectives: To introduce students to adinkra cloths and stamped patterns. To help students recognize the various adinkra symbols and their cultural significance. To help students learn to make prints on T-shirts using A d i n k r a symbolic patterns and instant heat transfer paper. To help students recognize both cross-cultural similarities and differences in practices and values as reflected in cultural symbols. Estimated Time: (150 minutes) Materials: Printed copies o f adinkra stamped patterns, samples o f adinkra clothes, pencils, felt pens (permanent), drawing paper, Copy-trans Instant Heat Transfer Paper, T-shirts or plain fabric, scissors, electric iron and newspapers. Procedure: Introduction (15 minutes): Show samples o f adinkra clothes and/or printed adinkra stamp patterns to students. Teacher should dress up in A d i n k r a cloth to motivate and generate students' interests. Explain the significance o f each symbol. G i v e a brief historical account about the origin o f adinkra stamped cloths. Involve students in a discussion o f what can be learned from adinkra cloths. Suggested Questions: W h o might wear the different variety o f adinkra cloths? What are the cultural meanings for some o f the most popular adinkra symbols (e.g., Gye Nyame Except G o d (I fear none),  Nsoroma - a child of the sky, Fofoo - symbol of jealousy,  Biribi wo sore \u2014 a symbol o f hope, Funtunfunafu denkyem funatu - sharing one stomach yet they fight over food,  Sankofa - return to your roots)? H o w do you think a person  might feel wearing adinkra cloth? What does adinkra cloth tell you about the wearer's values, culture and environment? What other cultural symbols are peculiar to people from Canada, First Nations, East Indians, Chinese and South American? What are the difference between adinkra symbols and any other cultural symbols you know? Introduce students to procedure for printing adinkra symbols on T-shirts using Instant Heat Transfer Paper.  \u000C292  Body (120 minutes): Provide students with printed copies o f adinkra stamped patterns, drawing papers and sheets o f instant heat transfer paper. Demonstrate the processes for printing adinkra symbols on T-shirts. Each student w i l l choose his/her preferred symbol or combination o f symbols and make an initial design/drawing on drawing paper. Students w i l l turn their drawings upside down and trace the negative image onto the glossy/waxy coated side o f the copy-trans instant heat transfer paper. Students w i l l colour their image on the instant heat transfer paper with markers or felt pens while ensuring smooth outline. Cut away blank unpainted area o f transfer paper. Place final image/symbol upside down onto T-shirt/fabric on an ironing board/table. Place newspaper over your design, T-shirt, use two-hands and body pressure to heat press iron over the entire surface o f the T-shirt. Remove newspaper; beginning from one corner, peel transfer paper from garment while hot. Conclusion/Evaluation (15 minutes): Students w i l l wear their T-shirts and talk about them. Students should assemble their completed prints side-by-side, choose their favourite prints and explain what they like about them. Demonstrate the procedure for washing garment to avoid damaging print (i.e., turn garment inside out; wash in cold or warm water without bleach; and spread newspaper over image before ironing). Instructor should discuss the final products with students paying particular attention to strengths and weaknesses o f designs. Evaluate lesson by asking: Was the lesson effective in helping students appreciate adinkra cloths and understand their cultural significance? C o u l d you achieve other learning outcomes set out for the lesson? Were students enthusiastic and interested in the lesson?  Activity IV: The African Mask (Papier Mache) Introduction Masks play an important role in African culture. They are widely used during initiation ceremonies, entertainment, agricultural festivals, funeral rites, ancestral veneration and other religious ceremonies. They are symbols o f social control employed for protection and maintenance o f law and order. Masks o f all kinds are frequently seen in schools and art studios. A l u m i n i u m foil, paper mache, clay, paper, mosaic, wire and many other materials are employed to create them. In North America, masks  \u000C293  '  are used to disguise ones personality during celebrations such as Halloween and Potlatch. Masks that are used in Africa have a hierarchy that extends from the highest \"great spirit masks\" which appear only in the perilous moments o f the tribe through smaller ones that may act as judges, peace-makers, tax collectors, law enforcement officers, nocturnal expellers o f witches, right down to those used in entertainment. Generally, masks imbue upon their wearers the authority o f the spirits or vital forces, which reside in the masks. There are different types o f masks namely: headdress masks, helmet masks, face masks, shoulder masks, body masks, venerated masks and masks used as badges. In this unit, children w i l l explore general themes o f disguise, fear or mystery. They w i l l be introduced to a wide variety o f masks across Africa and elsewhere and w i l l learn the skill o f using papier mache to fashion their own masks. Objectives: To understand and appreciate the functions o f masks in African cultures. To explore the general themes o f disguise, fear and death in Africa cultures. To plan a mask based on a theme related to an African cultural event (i.e., initiation, funeral, entertainment and agricultural festival) and demonstrate how this w i l l be communicated through the elements and principles o f design. To accurately recall and follow papier mache mask making instructions. To make an African mask following the plan. Estimated Time: (150 minutes) Materials: Videos (Masks for Today's World or African Masks), samples o f masks, poster on African masks, news paper, scissors (15-20), bowls, modelling clay (re-usable 1- 2 lbs per student) flour, water, storage trays, sponges, paints, shoe polish, ink, sand, brushes, small strips ( l \" - 2 \" ) o f newspaper, stages o f papier mache mask, clay form, partially finished and completed finished paper mache decorated masks. Procedure: Introduction (15 minutes): Show video (e.g.,:Masks for Today's World or African Masks). Show physical samples o f African masks and/or posters o f African masks. Brainstorm and web questions such as: What do we wear them for? W h y do we wear them? When do we wear them? H o w can you tell when someone is wearing a mask? W h o wears which masks? Where in Africa are masks worn? What are the common characteristics o f African initiation or ceremonial masks, Halloween masks, Chinese Dragon masks and First Nations' Potlatch masks? Describe the various emotions exhibited through these masks. H o w do the artists achieve those emotional effects? H o w do they conform to formal  \u000C294 design elements and principles? Use the emotion exercise for vocabulary development (horrifying, sad, w i l d , happy, scarify, devilish, disgusting, smiling, serene, frowning, dreadful, frightening). Body (120 minutes): Discuss the influence o f African religion on the form and aesthetics o f African masks. Examine, compare and discuss photos, posters and masks from real life in Africa, North America, A s i a , Europe and South America. Draw/design an African mask based on general themes (i.e., disguise, fear or mystery) or event (i.e., imitation, funeral, entertainment, agricultural festival, etc.). Teacher demonstrates with examples at different stages o f the papier mache mask making process. M o d e l clay to make a mould; exaggerate by focusing on a theme o f an African cultural event. M i x floor and water - have all students observe and feel for the correct consistency o f the paste. Demonstrate by dipping small strips o f newspaper, wiping off the excess paste and smoothing the strip on the partially done mould. Work systematically to keep your mask o f even thickness. Thoroughly dry before removing from mould. Decorate with paints, inks, sand, etc. Conclusion/Evaluation (15 minutes): Display completed masks. Students analyze and judge the most successful masks. Instructor checks understanding o f the procedure through informal questions and observations during demonstration and the mask making process. Instructor evaluates students' masks to determine how the African cultural elements and principles of design are employed to communicate African cultural themes and events. Evaluate lesson by asking: Was the lesson effective in helping students appreciate African masks and their cultural significance? In achieving other learning outcomes set out for the lesson? Were students enthusiastic and interested in the lesson?  Activity V: African Mythology and Folktales Introduction Throughout time, people have told incredible tales o f heroes, monsters, animals, magical creatures, great adventures and quests, gods and goddesses. Myths and legends are different ways people explained  \u000C295  phenomena they did not understand. Together with folklore, they form the core o f the  African Oral  Tradition or the unwritten literature o f informal education. In addition to being enjoyable stories they contain themes and powerful messages, which highlight issues that are o f vital importance to the well being and survival o f all people no matter what their culture or religion. For example, a common theme is that o f the protection o f children from known and unknown dangers. Children are told o f the conflict between good and evil. They are warned not to lie to their parents, wander from their homes or be disobedient to their parents. The tale o f \"The Forest B o y and the Parrots\" or \"Abena and the Python\" from West Africa have close parallel in the European story o f \"Goldilocks and the Three Bears.\" Like Goldilocks, Abena and the Forest B o y disobey their parents' instructions only to learn a hard lesson from the consequences o f their actions. Myths and folktales show how people who sin rarely escape the wrath o f the gods and, at the same time, how good people are rewarded. Some myths and legend such as the story of the heavenly origin o f the Golden Stool o f the Ashanti o f Ghana are told to unite members o f the Ashanti ethnic group under the authority o f the Ashanti K i n g . Creation myths about G o d and the origin o f humans abound all over Africa. Generally, they imply that humans belong to G o d and that G o d has the power to do what He likes with humans. A l s o , they may imply that even though G o d is far from us, He takes a keen interest in our affairs. Some African tales help people to overcome their fears. They prove that strange monsters such as  Sasabonsam (forest monster) and Moatia (dwarfs) are not invincible. Others examine human relationships, exploring sensitive issues while also softening them to avoid offence. For example,  Ananse, the  Spiderman, a hero from the folklore o f West Africa and the Caribbean is a witty rogue. Many o f his actions are quite wicked but appealing. Even  Nyame, the S k y - G o d , admits that he is the cleverest o f all the  animals. So popular is he that he has given his name to the whole rich tradition o f tales on which so many Ghanaians children are brought up -  Anansesem - or spider tales. The heroes o f these tales are the forest  animals or chiefs and people o f the village. For several centuries, Europeans, North Americans and Africans sold people from Africa as slaves. Many o f the slaves came from West Africa, the area along the G u l f o f Guinea, which came to be called the Slave Coast. M e n , women and children were uprooted from their homes in Africa and forced to take a terrible trip across the Atlantic. M a n y o f them died in the \"middle passage\" and later, through the inhuman treatment they underwent in the plantations in A m e r i c a and the Caribbean Islands. Those who survived tried to keep their culture alive by telling stories that were an important part o f West African culture. Many o f the stories we know today, as Brer Rabbit stories are similar to the stories told by people in West Africa. The only changes are the names and the settings. Storytelling and folktales can inspire children to develop their listening skills, imagination and artistic creativity. The need for children to appreciate fantasy is no less important than the virtue these tales entail. The natural impulse o f children to tell stories or make, art should be harnessed by educators as it can be inspiration for some exciting class work.  \u000C296  Objectives: To learn to listen to and enjoy some African folklore and myths. To identify vital themes, key decisions, dilemmas and moral issues in African mythology and folklore. To enable students to tell their own stories and figure out their embedded themes and significance, using the stories told in class as a model. To use drawing and painting to express the moods and roles o f characters in their tales. To study the relationship between myths and folklore o f Africa and those o f other countries and cultures. To emphasize the cross-cultural similarities between African folktales and myths and those from North A m e r i c a and other countries. Estimated Time: (150 minutes). Materials: Books on folklore and  Ananse stories (i.e., Tales ofAshanti Father and Ananse the Spider by  Peggy Appiah; A story, A story by G a i l Haley), Flashcards, wall chart. Procedure: Introduction (15 minutes): Familiarize thoroughly with at least five African folktales and myths. Prepare and show flashcards where necessary to enable students to follow the story, understand the context and the role o f the characters. Serialize long stories with each episode finishing on a cliff-hanger. Gather students around in a circle in or outside the classroom, under a tree in a park to create a story-telling atmosphere similar to that o f an African traditional village where grandparents tell stories beside an open hearth. Discuss the cross-cultural similarities and differences in folktales, stories, fairytales myths. Body (120 minutes): Tell at least five tales and myths from A f r i c a including the stories of: Ananse the Spiderman and the myth o f the Golden Stool o f Ashanti. Explain how Ananse manages, by his wits, to fulfil the Sky G o d ' s three impossible tasks and wins the golden story-box containing all the stories o f the world. Explain to children why the story is still told among Africans in A m e r i c a and the Caribbean. Show how African slaves took their stories with them to the new world. Tell the story o f the most famous myth o f Ghana - the story about the heavenly origin o f the Golden Stool o f the Ashanti.  \u000C297  Show how K i n g Osei-Tutu I o f Ashanti worked with his most powerful priest, Okomfo A n o k y e by calling an assembly o f all the chiefs o f independent states o f Ashanti at K u m a s i on a Friday during which Okomfo A n o k y e miraculously commanded the Golden Stool from the sky to fall on the lap o f K i n g Osei-Tutu. Explain why the Ashantis came to believe that their collective souls reside in the Golden Stool, which destruction would mean the destruction o f all Ashantis. Finally, show how the Ashanti Confederacy has stood the test o f time with the Golden Stool serving as the symbol for Ashanti unity. Divide the class into groups o f four after each story and discuss the dilemmas, moral issues, key -decisions and other vital themes in the story. Record the common characteristics o f folktales, mythology and fairy tales across cultures of the world. Suggested Questions: What lessons can be learned from the stories? What was the role o f the main character(s) o f the story? What kind o f theme vibrates through the story? Can you think o f a different ending to the story? What is it about the story that makes it worth remembering? H o w would you describe the setting or context for the story? W h y do you think fairy tales from different countries have some common themes or resemblance? H o w would you describe your thoughts and feelings at various stages o f the story i f you were one o f the major characters? Is there any link between the role o f the mythical animals or human characters represented in the story and their physical traits in real life? A s k each group to share their responses and main arguments to the class. Assign students to consult their parents, relatives, adult friends and members o f the African community for a tale that w i l l be shared with the class. Students w i l l draw and paint the major mythical characters in their stories in order to keep the stories in their memories for a long time. Design and make a model o f the Golden Stool and other traditional stools o f the Ashanti palace. Conclusion /Evaluation (15 minutes): Evaluate the impact o f the African story-telling sessions on students' attention and listening skills. Evaluate students' enthusiasm, imagination and creative skills and story telling abilities through their personal stories. Students should write down the various messages myths and folktales could carry and discuss them in class. Display and discuss with students their drawings about the various characters in their stories and the stools from Ashanti.  \u000C298 Outline the relationships between African myths and tale with those o f other cultures such as African-Canadians, Europeans, Chinese, East Indians, First Nations and Latin Americans.  Activity VI: Ancient Egypt and Nubia Introduction Many Canadians have roots in cultures from other parts o f the world. For this reason, it is important to know about one another's past to better understand the peoples o f the world and their cultures. Unfortunately, because o f slavery, imperialism and its aftermath in the Americas and elsewhere, much o f our knowledge o f Africa's past has been distorted by cultural bias and racial prejudices that we are only beginning to correct. The empires o f the N i l e flourished in Egypt and N u b i a from about 3500 B . C . E . until 400 B . C . E . Nubia, Egypt's rival, stands as one o f the earliest known African civilizations that flourished in the N i l e Valley. Studying Egypt (Kemite) and N u b i a (Kush), the two earliest known African civilizations w i l l therefore help lead us toward an overdue reassessment o f Africa in terms o f its contribution to world cultural history. Additionally, awareness o f ancient African artistic and cultural achievements w i l l not only inspire and empower young people o f African descent but also challenge other youths to be critical o f their \"received\" knowledge. Egypt and N u b i a should mean more than myth, legend and the fabled kingdoms o f the Kemites and Kushites. A s the birthplace o f civilization, ancient Egypt and N u b i a present a legacy o f art and knowledge and o f the growth o f a people in the five thousand-year course o f this civilization. Although unlike Egypt, the archaeological picture o f Nubia, as a whole, is very incomplete, evidence available suggests that the Greeks, Romans and the Egyptians wrote about the Nubians and depicted them in art. The Nubians themselves left us their own art and written records. Nubian (Kushites) and Egyptian histories are closely intertwined. They shared the same river, the N i l e and a common frontier over which contact and interaction ebbed and flowed for thousands o f years. Geographically, Nubia extends from the Sixth N i l e Cataract, from the confluence o f the Blue and White N i l e in modern day Khartoum, to the First N i l e Cataract. Egypt, on the other hand extended from the First N i l e Cataract to the Mediterranean (See map, Figure 2.5). Though Egypt and N u b i a interacted in several ways, including trade relationships, the two civilizations were distinct from each other; each demonstrated a unique cultural character (Haynes, 1992). N u b i a was typically the rival o f Egypt, as the two powers shared a past o f conquering and being conquered by each other in their endless pursuit for control over territory and trade routes.  Objectives:  i  To interpret maps by locating ancient Egypt and N u b i a on a M a p o f the world and Africa. To encourage students to demonstrate a willingness to inquire about ancient Egyptian and Nubian history, technology and political systems.  \u000C299 To enable students to learn the physical features o f Egypt and Nubia, including the Sahara, the N i l e and their impact on transportation, agriculture, shelter and artistic achievements. To enable students to learn about the cultural practices o f ancient Egypt and Nubia, including their belief systems and art forms. To enable students to explore the similarities and differences in art and cultural practices o f ancient Egyptians and Nubians. Estimated Time: (150 minutes). Resources and Materials: W a l l map o f North Africa or atlases; maps o f Ancient Egypt; V i d e o - \"Egypt: Gift of the N i l e ; \" Books -  Nubia: Ancient kingdoms ofAfrica by Haynes (1992); Ancient Nubia:  Egypt's rival in Africa by O ' C o n n o r (1993); World history: Perspectives on the past by Krieger, N e i l l , &amp;Reynolds (1997); and  Africa in antiquity: The arts of ancient Nubia and the Sudan by The  Brooklyn Museum (1973). Procedure: Introduction (time 20 minutes): Explain to students that they w i l l be doing a unit on ancient Egypt and Nubia. The class w i l l brainstorm what they know about ancient Egyptian and Nubian civilizations. Show the video - \"Egypt: Gift o f the N i l e \" as an introduction to the lesson Explain why ancient Egypt is referred to as the birthplace o f civilization (i.e., astonishing architectural, artistic, political, technological and scientific achievements. Body (100 minutes): Help students to make predictions about the impact o f the Sahara and the N i l e on Egyptian and Nubian ways o f life (food, shelter, clothing, trade, population distribution, transportation, values, skills, technology and defence). A l l predictions, offered by the class w i l l be written on the board where they are visible a l l . Show how closely intertwined Egypt and N u b i a were in terms o f geography, usage o f the N i l e , trade relations, artistic accomplishments, belief systems and political organization. A l s o , point out the antagonism that existed between these two ancient rival empires, particularly the struggle for control over territory and trade routes. Point out the similarities and differences in the way the Egyptians and Nubians represented themselves in their art, crafts and writings. Explain how technological advances such as the invention o f the plough and irrigation systems, hieroglyphics, artistic and architectural expertise enabled ancient Egypt and N u b i a to modify their physical environment, as well as satisfy their needs more  \u000C300 effectively. Show how the Egyptian Pharaohs and Nubian kings ruled as gods and passed on their royal crowns to their sons, or sometimes to maternal nephews (as was the case o f the Nubian pharaohs) in a single succession called dynasty. Point out that beliefs in life after death, the immortality o f the Pharaohs and divine kingship o f Nubian royalty, influenced the funerary cult, mummification o f Pharaohs and kings, the creation o f sculptures and pyramids, artefacts. Show why the pyramids were more important than palaces for Egyptians and Nubians. Let students know that the Nubians used hieroglyphics long before the ancient Egyptians developed it together with number systems, the calendar and many academic subjects. Describe the role o f women in Egypt and Nubia. Show how important women's roles were as they held many o f the same rights as men. Some served as government officials and priests. In the Kushite culture, women played an important role in establishing who was going to be the next king or queen just like the Ashantis o f Ghana or the Akans o f West Africa today. Show the connection between the practice o f matrilineal succession in some African societies today and the matrilineal succession that was practiced in ancient Egypt and N u b i a particularly, under the Nubian Pharaohs. Explain what excavations at Egyptian and Nubian royal cemeteries have revealed in terms o f sculpture, paintings, pottery, clothing and jewellery (circlets, hair ornaments, necklaces, armlets, bracelets, finger rings, girdles, anklets and beads). Discuss how archaeologists learn about and date ancient cultures by studying their pottery, sculpture, jewellery and other artefacts. Give examples to demonstrate that many aspects o f ancient Egyptian and Nubian cultures survived today, unchanged for more than 3500 years in parts o f modern day Egypt Sudan, Ethiopia and Africa. f  Conclusion/Evaluation: Evaluate students to see how much they have learned about ancient Egyptians and Nubian civilizations. Mentally evaluate students to see i f they understand the factors that sustained the growth o f Egypt and N u b i a for more than 3000 years o f their existence. Students w i l l draw maps o f Africa and indicate the locations o f Egypt and N u b i a N i l e Valley. Evaluate the lesson for yourself by asking; was the lesson effective in achieving its intended outcomes?  \u000C301  Activity VII: The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhai Introduction The royal empires o f Western Sudan - Ghana, M a l i and Songhai rose to power in the savannah, between the Sahara and the tropical rain forest. Their wealth and power were largely based on rich gold deposits o f the region and their control o f the trans-Saharan trade. The kings o f the empires o f Western Sudan were renowned for their lavish display o f wealth. U n t i l about 1350, at least two-thirds o f the world's gold supply came from West Africa (Krieger, N e i l l , &amp;Reynolds, 1997). G o l d , ivory, cola nuts, forest products and domestic servants (slaves) came from Sudan, from the West Coast and the forest region between Niger and Senegal rivers (see Figure 2.6 for map), while salt, copper, slaves and other luxury products for privileged and wealthy people (i.e., horses, fine cloths, silk garments, leather goods, blankets, steel weapons, manufactured goods and books for M u s l i m scholars) came from the Berbers o f the Sahara oasis who had contacts with Arab traders from North A f r i c a and the Mediterranean. Camel caravans carried goods across the Sahara for many years. The trans-Saharan commerce in products o f West Africa helped to build the comfort and splendour o f large North African cities such as Carthage, back in the times o f Phoenician, Egyptians Nubians and Roman rule before C . E . 400. But the main expansion o f the trans-Saharan trade came after the M u s l i m conquest o f North Africa in the C . E . 800. This trade was to everyone's advantage. The Berbers sold the goods they bought from the Mende-speaking people o f Western Sudan to the Arab traders o f North Africa and the traders o f North Africa in turn resold their products to Europeans and Asians. European and Asian goods came to West A f r i c a by the same methods. Because o f the thriving trans Saharan trade, many trading centres and cities were founded across the Sahara. These cities and ports, some o f which exist today, include Agades, Awdoghast, Gao, Ghat, Jenne, Kumbi-Saleh, Murzuk, Sijilmasa, Taghaza, Tichitt, Timbuktu and Walata. These cities became centres for learning and for artisans who worked in leather, wood, iron smelting, ivory, gold and other precious metals. Trading centres such as Jenne and Timbuktu became popular for their unique and fascinating barter trade known as \"silent trade,\" under which traders secretly swapped salt for gold or other items without either group meeting the other. In the late 1500s, Moroccan invasion coupled with a severe famine devastated the Sudan and put an end to the desert kingdoms. The trans-Saharan trade lost much o f its importance after the rise o f a big coastal trade (trans-Atlantic trade) across West Africa, Europe and A m e r i c a after about C . E . 1600. One o f the greatest travellers in history was an Arab named Ibn Batttuta. Born in Morocco, he spent his entire adult life traveling through M u s l i m lands. He visited M e c c a and Baghdad, M o m b a s a and K i l w a . He travelled to India, Southeast A s i a and China. In 1352 Ibn Battuta visited the kingdoms o f Western Sudan and provided much o f the first hand information we have on West African kingdoms including their customs, religion, laws, political organization and human relations.  \u000C302  Ghana Empire The first o f the Royal empires o f Western Sudan to emerge was Ghana, peopled by the Mendespeaking group called the Soninke. The Soninke kings' title,  Ghana, was applied by the Arabs to refer to  the entire Ghanaian territory. The origins o f Ghana date back from about C . E . 500. Ghana reached its golden age in the ninth and tenth centuries C . E . Its capital, Awdoghast was later moved south to K u m b i Saleh, about 320 kilometres north o f present day Bamako. After conquering the Sahara Berbers o f Western Sudan, Ghana gained control o f the important trading town o f Awdoghast. L i k e the Ashanti Kings o f present day Ghana, the Soninke kings o f O l d Ghana became known for their grand court and lavish style including the wearing o f elaborate gold ornaments. Ghana, like M a l i , practiced the matrilineal system o f inheritance whereby inheritance to the throne was passed from a ruler to a nephew. Ghana's rulers demanded taxes on both import and export trade as well as from its subject chiefs o f surrounding lands. Although many o f the North African and Berber traders o f the Sahara accepted Islam after the Arab conquest o f the eighth century, the emperors o f Ghana maintained their indigenous Mende customs and religion o f their ancestors. The system o f government expanded with the success in trade and the strength o f Ghana's armies, equipped with iron-fashioned weapons. The ruler o f Ghana acted as chief priest, judge and military commander. A s it expanded, it became more complicated to control distant provinces. To deal with this, the kings o f Ghana appointed lesser kings or governors for the provinces who in turn gave loyalty and paid taxes to the central government. Ghana controlled an area from the Senegal River to the Niger River. In 1056, M u s l i m Berbers from the A l m o r a v i d kingdom from the northwest, from the Mauritanian Sahara, invaded Sijilmasa, the main northern trade centre for West African gold. From there, they went further to the north and conquered Morocco as well as A l - A n d a l u s , or M u s l i m Spain. A southern section o f the A l m o r a v i d movement led by A b u Bakr waged a long war with Ghana. The Almoravids made an alliance with the people o f Takrur and took the city o f Awdoghast leading to the disruption o f the gold and salt trade. W i t h this conquest, Ghana began to lose its power and prestige. In C . E . 1076, after many battles and stiff resistance, the Almoravids finally, seized the capital o f the Ghana Empire.  M a l i Empire A long period o f confusion came between the fall o f Ghana and the triumph o f M a l i . Some smaller states such as Takrur, Diara and Kaniaga, tried to build small empires o f their own. After C . E . 1200 the Fulani o f Takrur (in the northern part o f modern Senegal) under their most successful leader, Sumanguru took control o f the kingdoms o f Diara and Kaniaga (once provinces o f Ghana) and tried to build an empire out o f the ruins o f old Ghana with its capital at K u m b i Saleh, Ghana's last capital. Sumanguru's attempt at building an empire was met with resistance by M u s l i m traders o f K u m b i Saleh who opposed his harsh taxation and bad government. They rejected his over-lordship and resettled northward, to form a new trading centre at Walata, far beyond the reach o f Sumanguru's soldiers. Another Mende-speaking group  \u000C303 called the Mandinke from a small state o f Kangaba, near the source o f River Niger also challenged Sumanguru' ruthless rule. According to Mandinke legends, Sumanguru crushed any hope o f rebellion by executing 11 out o f 12 sons o f a powerful Mandinke rival. He spared the twelfth son Sundiata because he was badly crippled and seemed unlikely to survive. Sumanguru, however, had made a mistake, as Sundiata gained strength and became a popular leader. In about 1240, Sumanguru was defeated and killed by Sundiata's armies. Sundiata, sometimes called Mari-Djata, established his capital a t N i a m i and promoted agriculture and trade. Mali, a Mandinke word, meaning \"where the king lives,\" absorbed the name o f Kangaba and the empire o f M a l i was born. Sundiata died in 1255. Influenced by Arab traders, some o f M a l i ' s next rulers became M u s l i m s . The most famous o f these was Mansa Kankan M u s a I, Sundiata's grandnephew. When Mansa M u s a came to power, M a l i already had firm control o f the trade roots to the southern lands o f gold and northern lands of salt. He pushed his armies northwards as far as Taghaza and to the east, beyond Gao to the borders o f Hausaland. He pushed his borders westward into Takrur and imposed his rule on southern trading towns such as Walata. Under his leadership, M a l i became a powerful empire with its size as large as all o f Europe. A 100,000-man army, which included 10,000 cavalry troops, maintained order and protected M a l i from attack (Davidson, 1977). He appointed governors for all parts o f the empire and ministers for his administration. A s Mende, the Mandinke had many things in common with the Soninke o f Ghana - their food, clothing, art forms, houses, system o f inheritance and patterns o f beliefs and customs. Weavers, blacksmiths, potters, carvers, leather workers and other artists were highly regarded. Craftspeople were thought to possess magical powers, which allow them to accomplish the unfinished work o f the Supreme God. L i k e the M a l i kings before him, Mansa M u s a became a devout M u s l i m . But he also supported the religion o f the Mandinke to which many o f his subjects practised. H i s glittering pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325 captured the Arab world's attention. Mansa M u s a took with him so much gold and gave away so many golden gifts, that it affected the value o f goods on the Cairo market. O n his return, M u s a brought back with him a number o f learned men from Egypt who settled in M a l i and Timbuktu. One o f them, called As-Saheli is credited for designing new mosques at Gao and Timbuktu as well as a palace for the emperor in N i a m i . For a long time Timbuktu became a centre o f trade and learning in the Western Sudan. Following Mansa M u s a ' s death in 1332, M a l i remained an important Kingdom for nearly a century. Nevertheless, his successors were not skilful enough to hold this vast empire together. There were constant revolts for independence, especially from the Songhai people o f Gao. With difficulties over the rules o f succession, the kingdom was seriously weakened, opening the way for the rise o f the kingdom o f the Songhai.  \u000C304  Songhai Empire Songhai developed along the Niger River in the 14 century. B y the end o f that century, it had th  gained control o f the trading centre o f Gao. Songhai expansion took place under Sunni A l i , who lived from 1464 to 1492. In almost forty years o f continuous warfare, he conquered and held much o f the former lands o f both M a l i and Ghana. His conquests were consolidated by his successor, A s k i a Muhammad, who created a professional army. A s k i a Mohammed also made a pilgrimage to M e c c a , like that o f Mansa M u s a two centuries before. This action strengthened relations with the Maghrid or Arab states and renewed stories o f the wealth o f the kings o f the Sudan. A s with the kingdom o f M a l i , there was no effective rule for succession in Songhai. After Muhammad lost the throne in 1528, a number o f c i v i l wars were fought to gain control o f the kingdom. B y the end o f the 17 century, Songhai was seriously weakened by these wars. In 1591, a Moroccan army th  crossed the Sahara and defeated the Songhai army. The Moroccan troops had one important advantage they were armed with muskets, which were much superior weapons at the time. The Moroccans were unable to maintain control o f the region because o f the vastness o f the desert. Around this time, a severe famine devastated the Sudan and put an end to the striving desert kingdoms. It was also during this period that European merchants became active along the Guinea Coast. Thus, the once profitable trade o f gold, salt and slaves that had formerly gone north across the desert now turned south to the coast. Objectives: Demonstrate knowledge o f the empires o f Western Sudan - Ghana, M a l i and Songhai, including their geographical locations and territory. Identify and compare the characteristics o f the empires o f Western Sudan with present day West Africa. Demonstrate understanding o f the \"silent\" (barter) trade and its impact on the people o f ancient West Africa. Show how Islam influenced the development o f these empires. Estimated Time: (150 minutes). Materials: Maps o f West Africa (depicting the kingdoms o f Ghana, M a l i and Songhai). Books (i.e., The  Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhai (1994) by M c K i s s a c k , P.; A History of West Africa, 1000 7500(1977) by Davidson, B.). Procedure: Introduction (30 minutes): Explain to students that the lesson w i l l be a history o f the ancient kingdoms o f Western Sudan - Ghana, M a l i and Songhai.  \u000C305 Brainstorm with students about what they already know about these kingdoms and write them on the chalkboard. Show a short introductory video about the royal kingdoms o f Western Sudan by Basil Davidson or A l i M a z u r i . Divide the lesson into two parts (50 minutes each), with session one covering the introduction to Western Sudan and ancient Ghana and session two dealing with M a l i and Songhai empires. Body Part One (50 minutes): Give a lesson on the ancient empires o f Western Sudan focusing on the factors that contributed to the rise and fall o f these great kingdoms. Students should be divided into three groups; each group w i l l develop an interesting retelling o f the stories o f Ghana, M a l i and Songhai respectively at the end o f the lesson. Explain the similarities and differences among the three major empires in terms o f their wealth, power, trade, political organization, religion and culture. List the items o f trade and show why gold and salt became the most important trade commodities. List the groups that played active roles in the trans-Saharan trade (i.e., Soninke, Mandinke, Berber, Tuareg, M o s s i and Fulani). Explain why modern Ghana adopted the same name from ancient Ghana (i.e., the belief that the Ashanti o f Ghana migrated from old Ghana; common cultural practices such as chieftaincy and matrilineal system o f inheritance; and the abundance o f gold in both old and new Ghana). Demonstrate how the M o s l e m conquest of North Africa in the eighth century influenced the trans-Saharan trade. Explain the circumstances that caused the capital o f Ghana to move from K u m b i Saler to Awdoghast. Show how Ghana began to lose its power and prestige after the A l m o r a v i d s ' invasion in C . E . 1050 and how M a l i emerged as a dominant power. Show how Arab writers o f West African history, like later Christian missionaries, demonstrated biases toward customs and ideas that were different from their own culture and religion. Part T w o (50 minutes): Narrate the story o f Sumanguru, a powerful Susu king, who resisted Islam; who fought for the control o f the salt and gold trade and began a reign o f terror; and who was eventually defeated by Sundiata Keita, the founder o f the M a l i empire.  \u000C306  Show how the reign o f Mansa M u s a (1307 - 1332) is viewed as the golden age o f the M a l i Empire. Talk about the political organization o f the three kingdoms, including the administration o f provinces, status o f the army, governors, inspectors and revenue collectors. Discuss the work o f Ibn Battuta, the prolific Arab scholar from Morocco who visited and wrote about M a l i in 1353, a few years following M a n s a M u s a ' s death. Describe the most famous pilgrimage undertaken to M e c c a in 1324 by Mansa M u s a including his lavish display o f wealth and power that shocked the M u s l i m world and provided scholars with some insights about West African rulers. Point out the importance o f Timbuktu toward the training o f ancient African and M u s l i m scholars and artisans. Show how the Songhai Empire was established under Sunni A l i and A s k i a Muhammad in the 15th century. -  ,  Describe how A s k i a Muhammad's pilgrimage to M e c c a in 1495 helped to strengthen relations with the Arab world as well as renew stories o f the wealth and power o f West African kingdoms. Explain how Songhai expanded beyond the areas o f old Ghana and M a l i by employing similar methods that the Romans used in their conquest (e.g., by studying the people they defeated, adopting many o f their laws, customs, legends and myths). Describe how Songhai ruled the vast empire through a centralized system o f government with representative governors for its five provinces. Point out how A s k i a set up his counsel o f state and relied upon them for important decisions; how he developed Gao, Timbuktu and Jenne to reach new levels o f economic and educational centres that attracted visitors from as far as East India. Describe Sankore University at Timbuktu; its courses in astronomy, mathematics, ethnography, medicine, logic, music and literature; and show how one o f its professors, A h m e d Baba, wrote 40 books and kept 1600 books in his personal library during the 16  lh  century. Point out that after 35 years rule and at the age o f 85 A s k i a ' s eyesight began to fail and his sons engaged in rapid succession o f revolts and struggle for power until A s k i a died in 1538 at age 97. Evaluation: (time 20 minutes): Mentally evaluate each o f the three groups to see how much they have learnt about O l d Ghana, M a l i and Songhai empires. Mentally evaluate students to see i f they understand the factors that contributed to the rise and fall o f these ancient African empires.  \u000C307 Students w i l l draw maps o f Africa and indicate the geographical locations o f the kingdoms o f Western Sudan including their major economic centres. Evaluate the lesson for yourself by asking; was the lesson effective in achieving its intended outcomes?  \u000C308  APPENDIX II INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR TEACHERS A N D SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS 1.  What is the status o f multicultural education in your school?  2.  D o you think multicultural education should be fully integrated into school curriculum?  3.  In what ways can multicultural education be used to improve inter-group/inter-cultural relations in school?  4.  What are some o f the most common concerns o f parents o f visible minority students over the operations o f the school (i.e., curricula content, textbooks, audiovisuals, extra-curricula, teaching methodologies, discipline) and its impact on their children participation in school?  5.  Has the implementation o f E S L been a source o f any concern for parents o f ethnic minorities and new immigrant?  6.  The IRP recommends that visual arts education should be approached from a variety o f contexts; how does African art/multicultural art education fit into the goals o f your visual arts program?  7.  H o w would you, as school principal/art teacher, describe your philosophy o f teaching/administration?  8.  What do you see as your greatest challenge in teaching such a culturally diverse group o f students?  9.  In your view, how do such factors as race, ethnicity, gender and class influence schooling and education?  10. In your view, what pedagogical styles could facilitate learning for Blacks and visible minority students? 11. What effort is made by you to understand and meet the cultural needs o f your students, especially minority students? 12. What special contributions do you think Blacks and minority children bring to the classroom? 13. D o you think the experiences o f students are different for: boys/girls, students from families o f higher socio-economic status/lower socio-economic status, Euro-Canadians/visible minorities. 14. What are your views about celebration o f cultural festivals such as Chinese N e w Year, Halloween, Black History Month, etc. in school? 15. D o you perceive art and cultural education as essential components o f the education o f Black learners and indeed all learners? W h y ? 16. H o w do you feel about the under-representation o f Blacks and other visible minorities as teachers, school administrators and policy makers in B C ? 17. What other practical steps should be taken to make schools more inclusive? 18. In what ways can the school, the family and the community coordinate their efforts to enhance the achievements o f students.  \u000C309  19. H o w are teachers prepared to deal with racial incidents? 20. What do you think should be the role o f galleries and art museums in fostering multicultural art education?  INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS A N D MFC CROSS-CULTURAL FACILITATORS 1.  What are your perceptions and opinion about B l a c k children and the education system in Vancouver?  2.  Do you have any specific concerns about your children's school programs, textbooks and the general school organization?  3.  When you hear the term 'multicultural education', what does it mean to you?  4.  What is your opinion about the increasing calls for inclusive education in B C and other parts o f the country?  5.  D o you think that the education system has responded satisfactorily to these calls?  6.  D o you think that your children are receiving the necessary knowledge about their artistic and cultural heritage in their schools?  7.  What are your views about how E S L is organized for new immigrants and those whose first language is not English?  8.  Do you think that your child's experiences at school would be different i f s/he was male/female, from a wealthy/poor family, from European/non-European background?  9.  Can you think o f any reason why a disproportionate number o f Blacks and minority children \"drop-out\" o f school?  10. It is said that, the more parents participate in their children's education, the better they are likely to perform at school. What is your level o f involvement in your child's education? 11. What do you think teachers can do to encourage learning for Black students, in particular? 12. In what ways can strong partnership be built between the school, family and community to enhance the achievements o f Black students? 13. A s a Black/African-Canadian parent, what do you think are the special contributions that Black children bring to the visual arts classroom? 14. What are some o f the daily experiences you go through that you think may have significant impact on your children's education? 15. D o you think that the activities at the M F C are significant to the cultural education o f Black/African-Canadians? W h y ? 16. H o w have you been involved in the activities at the M F C ?  \u000C310  17. What do you suggest should be done to improve the services o f the M F C ? 18. What other African cultural activities have you been involved with outside the M F C ? 19. In what ways have you assisted your children to understand and respect their home culture. 20. What did you like about the art and cultural program offered at the M F C ? What did you not like about the program? 21. Can you think o f any reasons why learning about African art, culture, history and geography is important to your child's education? 22. W h y do you think non-Western art forms are marginalized in the curriculum? 23. What do you think should be the role o f galleries and museums in fostering multicultural art education? 24. What do you think are your child's aspirations in life? 25. What are your expectations about your child's future in Canada? 26. What is your greatest concern/worry for the Black youth in today's society? 27. Do your children encounter any problems in their efforts to adjust between the home and school cultures? 28. What do you suggest as the best way to deal with value conflicts and cultural maladjustment encountered by some Black/African-Canadian children? 29. In your opinion, what is racism? Has your child encountered any experience o f racism in his/her school? 30. H o w would you deal with incidents o f racism i f they happen to your child at school? 31. H o w do you feel about the under-representation o f Blacks and other visible minorities as teachers, school administrators and policy makers in B C ? 32. What can be done to address the problems o f under-representation o f Blacks/Africans and other minorities in the education system, including the problem o f negative references o f Blacks in learning resources (i.e., T V , ads, posters, magazines, videos)? 33. If you have a magic wand to change something about the school curriculum, what would that be and why?  INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR BLACK/AFRICAN-CANADIAN  STUDENTS  1.  Introduce yourself with your name or pseudonym, your place o f birth, your original home country or the culture you are identified with, when you immigrated ( i f you did), your age, school, grade, your brothers or sisters ( i f any) and anything else you might like to add.  2.  What is the occupation o f your parents or guardians?  \u000C311 3.  H o w do you feel about your social life in Canada compared with your home (or original) country; what are the advantages and disadvantages o f living in Canada based on your personal experiences?  4.  What do you like or dislike about going to school in Vancouver?  5.  Do you speak any other language apart from English/French at home or school?  6.  D o you know the origin and culture o f your closest friends? W h y are they your closest? W h i c h activities and hobbies do you share in common?  7.  When you hear the term 'multicultural education', what does it mean to you?  8.  Is multicultural education implemented in your school visual arts, social studies and other subjects?  9.  What aspects o f Black/African history, art, culture, geography and politics are you familiar with? Where did you learn them?  10. To what extent are Black/Africans represented as contributors in art history, in your school textbooks and in the art curriculum? 11. Does your visual art class include multicultural art activities from the First Nations' art, African art, Chinese art and South American art? 12. Have there been any celebrations o f art and cultural festivals (i.e., Halloween, Black History Month, Chinese N e w Year) in your school or community? 13. What do you think your school needs to do to promote multicultural education, including the knowledge o f Black/African art, history and culture? 14. Who is your favourite (art) teacher? W h y ? 15. Describe your art and other learning experiences at the M F C ? 16. H o w long have you been participating in the activities at the M F C ? 17. W h o encouraged you to patronize the M F C ? 18. Do your parents participate in African activities and programs in African language, festivals, concert, cultural associations, Black history month celebrations, etc? 19. D o you have any other African art learning experience besides those at the M F C ? If yes, what is it and where did you learn it? 20. Describe your favourite African art and cultural experiences (e.g., African literature, games, music, clothing, food, dance, art and craft, language, politics, religion, festivals and socialization). Why are you interested in them? 21. H o w and where do you get information about Blacks, your homeland and Africa? 22. What do you feel about the African A r t and Cultural Program? What impact has it made on you?  \u000C312 23. Describe the various aspects o f the workshop that you participated in and remember. 24. What lessons have you learned from the African oral tradition (Ananse stories, folktales and legends) and the history lessons presented as part o f the African art and cultural workshop? 25. Based upon the activities in which you participated in the African art workshop, can you give examples o f the characteristics o f African art that are common to Western art and other art forms? 26. What did you find to be most interesting and rewarding in the African A r t and Cultural Program presented at the M F C ? W h i c h art activity was less interesting to you and why? 27. Was there any difference between the way you interacted with your African friends at the M F C and friends at your regular public school? I f yes, what is the difference? 28. What have you learnt about Africa that you did not know before? 29. In what ways is your knowledge o f African art and culture useful to you? 30. W o u l d you like to share your African art and cultural learning experiences at the M F C with your public school classmates or friends? W h y or why not? 31. W o u l d you like to continue the African art and cultural program at the M F C ? W h y ? 32. Does it make any difference about who teaches African art and culture to you? 33. H o w many friends were you able to make during the workshop? A r e you still in touch? 34. What do you think should be done to improve future cultural education workshops? 35. What other cultural education programs would you suggest to the M F C or other immigrant settlement service agency to offer? 36. What do you understand by 'racism'? Have you ever encounter racism in your school? If yes, how does it feel to experience racism at school? 37. What do you feel about the portrayal o f B l a c k people and visible minorities in art history, literature and school textbooks, curriculum and the mass media (i.e., T V , magazines, newspapers, radio, advertisements, movies and posters) in North America? 38. Have you ever contemplated dropping out o f school? W h y ? 39. D o you think your experiences at school would be different i f you were male or female? 40. D o you think your experiences at school would be different i f you came from a wealthy or poor family? 41. D o you think your experiences at school would be different i f you were White? 42. H o w do you feel about the under-representation o f Blacks and visible minorities as teachers, administrators, principals and policy makers in the educational system? 43. What should be done to address the problems o f negative references to Blacks in curriculum materials, textbooks, pop culture and mass media (i.e., T V , magazines, newspapers, radio, posters,  \u000C313 movies and ads)? 44. Is there any strong line o f communication between your parents and your teachers? 45. What are your future aspirations in life? 46. H o w do you hope to accomplish these goals? 47. What do you know about the roles and responsibilities o f your school's guidance counsellors? 48. Under what circumstances have you seen your school's guidance counsellor? 49. If you were given a magic wand to change something in your school, what would that be? 50. A s a Black youth living in Vancouver, what four things worry you most? 51. H o w hopeful are you that these concerns/worries w i l l be resolved?  G R O U P I N T E R V I E W G U I D E W I T H S T U D E N T S F R O M A P U B L I C S C H O O L IN V A N C O U V E R . 1.  What is the average age o f participants?  2.  H o w many were born in Canada or outside Canada?  3.  What are the ethnic and cultural make up o f the class?  4.  What do you think about having students from so many cultural backgrounds in one class and school?  5.  What languages, other than English and French, do students speak at home?  6.  When you hear the term 'multicultural education', what does it mean to you?  7.  Is multicultural education being implemented in your visual arts class? H o w ?  8.  H o w many have best friends from ethnic and cultural backgrounds other than their own?  9.  If you have an African-Canadian as a friend, what would you expect to do with her or him?  10. Describe the ways you are able to express your own personal and cultural identity at school? 11. What do you like most about your present school in Vancouver? 12. What do you dislike about your schooling in Vancouver ( i f any)? 13. What aspects o f Black history, African art, culture, festivals and politics are you familiar with? Where did you learn them? 14. H o w many o f you would like to travel to Africa? W h i c h country and why? 15. Can you describe some o f the visual art lessons you've taken at this school?  \u000C314 16. What do you feel about the amount o f African art and multicultural art content in your visual art curriculum, as well as other subjects at school? 17. What w i l l you recommend your school to do in order to promote multicultural education, including the knowledge o f Black/African art, history and culture? 18. W h o is your favourite art teacher? W h y ? 19. D o your parents participate in multicultural festivals and other cultural programs in your community? 20. D o you have any other African art learning experience besides those at your school? 21. Describe your favourite African art and cultural experiences (e.g., African literature, games, music, clothing, food, dance, art and craft, language, politics, religion, festivals and socialization). W h y are you interested in them? 22. What have you learned from African legends?  oral tradition by listening to Ananse stories, folktales and  23. Based upon the African art activities in which you participated, can you give examples o f Western art, First Nation's art and other art forms that have similar characteristics to African art? 24. What did you find to be most interesting and rewarding in the African art program that 1 offered at this school? W h i c h art activity was less interesting to you? 25. What have you learned about Africa that you did not know before? 26. Do you think that learning about Africans, Blacks, African art, history and culture can help improve inter-racial relations? In what ways? 27. Would you like to share your African art and cultural learning experiences with your friends? W h y or why not? 28. W o u l d you like African art, First Nation art, Chinese art and other art forms to become regular parts o f the content o f your visual art curriculum at school? 29. Does it make any difference about who teaches Africa art and culture to you? 30. What do you feel about having some qualified African-Canadian teachers and instructors teaching certain subjects at your school? 31. Do you think your experiences at school would be different i f you were male or female; i f you came from a wealthy or poor family; i f you were visible minority or White? 32. H o w do you feel sometimes, about negative references to Blacks and visible minorities in curriculum materials, textbooks, pop culture and mass media (i.e., T V , magazines, newspapers, radio, posters, movies and adds)? 33. What do you think make some students \"drop-out\" o f school? 34. What do you think galleries and museums should do to foster multicultural art education?  "@en
<https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0055078>