Abstract
Sometimes life’s pivotal educational moments reveal themselves in unexpected situations. Like many other white mainstream Canadians, I have grown up virtually oblivious to an invisible bubble of white privilege, attending to instances of inequity and racism mainly for the purposes of telling inappropriate racist jokes. In 1987, however, during my first year of teaching high school in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, a group of students in one of my nonacademic English classes at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School opened my eyes to the potential for educators to work with students toward challenging racism and tackling issues of difference in school settings.
Portions of this manuscript appear in revised form in Lund (2001), and arc used with the kind permission of the publishers. I acknowledge the generous support of my research by fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Alberta Teachers’ Association, and the Killain Trusts.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission. (2000). Tools for Transformation: Human Rights Education and Diversity Initiatives in Alberta. Edmonton, AB: Government of Alberta.
Apple, Michael W (1993). Official Knowledge: Democratic Education in a Conservative Age. New York: Routledge.
Baergen, William P. (2000). The Ku Klux Klan in Central Alberta, Red Deer, AB; Central Alberta Historical Society.
Berlin, Myrna, and Ibrahim Alladin. (1996). “The Kipling Collegiate Institute Story: Towards Positive Race Relations in the School.” In Racism in Canadian Schools, ed. Ibrahim Alladin. Toronto: Harcourt Brace, pp. 136–165.
Bissoondath, Neil. (1994). Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada. Toronto: Penguin.
Boyko, John. (1995). Last Steps to Freedom: The Evolution of Canadian Racism. Winnipeg, MB: Watson & Dwyer.
Canadian Race Relations Foundation. (2001). CRRF 2001 Best Practices Reader. Toronto, ON: Author.
Cogan, Karen, and Steve Ramsankar. (1994). Alex Taylor Community School: A Quarter Century of Programs and Promises. Edmonton, AB: Alex Taylor School.
Darling-Hammond, Linda. “The Right to Learn and the Advancement of Teaching: Research, Policy, and Practice for Democratic Education.” Educational Researcher 25:6 (1996): 5–17.
Fullan, Michael, and Andy Hargreaves (eds.). (1992). Teacher Development and Educational Change. Bristol, PA: Falmer Press.
Gairdner, William D. (1991). The Trouble with Canada. Toronto: General Paperbacks.
Giroux, Henry A. (1996). Fugitive Cultures: Race, Violence, and Youth. New York: Routledge.
Griffith, Bryant, and George Labercane. (1995). “High School Students’ Attitudes Towards Racism in Canada: A Report on a 1993 Cross-Cultural Study.” In Multicultural Education: The State of the Art, Report #2, ed. Keith A. McLeod. Winnipeg, MB: Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers.
Hargreaves, Andy. “Revisiting Voice.” Educational Researcher 25:1 (1996): 12–19.
Henry, Frances, Carol Tator, Winston Mattis, and Tim Rees. (1995). The Colour of Democracy: Racism in Canadian Society, Toronto, ON: Harcourt Brace.
Kehoe, John W. “Multicultural Education vs. Anti-Racist Education: The Debate and the Research in Canada.” Social Education 58 (1994): 354–358.
Kennedy, Cameron. “New Student Group Fights Anti-gay Bias at Local High School.” Red Deer Advocate, November 20, 2000.
Kinsella, Warren. (2001). Web of Hate: Inside Canada’s Far Right Network (2nd ed.). Toronto, ON: HarperCollins.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria. (1995). “Multicultural Teacher Education: Research, Practice, Policy.” In Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education, ed. James A. Banks and Cherry A. McGee Banks. New York: Macmillan, pp. 36–51.
Lund, Darren E. (1993). “The Evolution of STOP—Students and Teachers Opposing Prejudice.” In Multicultural Education: The State of the Art National Study; Report #1, ed. Keith A. McLeod. Winnipeg: Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers, pp. 26–45.
Lund, Darren E. “Social Justice Activism in a Conservative Climate: Students and Teachers Challenging Discrimination in Alberta.” Our Schools/Our Selves 9:4 (1998): 24–38.
Lund, Darren E. “Promoting Human Rights in the Conservative Heartland of Canada: A Practical/Theoretical Approach to School-Based Activism.” Journal of Intergroup Relations 28:2 (2001): 63–72.
Lund, Darren E. “Educating for Social Justice: Making Sense of Multicultural and Antiracist Theory and Practice with Canadian Teacher Activists.” Intercultural Education 14 (2003): 3–16.
McGregor, Josette, and Charles Ungerleider. (1993). “Multicultural and Racism Awareness Programs for Teachers: A Meta-Analysis of the Research.” In Multicultural Education: The State of the Art National Study, Report #1, ed. Keith A. McLeod. Winnipeg: Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers.
Smith, Jan, and Jon Young, (1996). “Building an Anti-Racist School: The Story of Victor Magel School.” In Multicultural Education: The State of the Art National Study, Report #4, ed. Keith A. McLeod. Winnipeg, MB: Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers.
Solomon, R. Patrick. “Beyond Prescriptive Pedagogy: Teacher Inservice Education for Cultural Diversity.” Journal of Teacher Education 46 (1995): 251–258.
Solomon, R. Patrick, and Cynthia Levine-Rasky. “When Principle Meets Practice: Teachers’ Contradictory Responses to Anti-Racist Education.” Alberta Journal of Educational Research 4.2 (1996): 19–33.
SooHoo, Suzanne. (1995). “Emerging Student and Teacher Voices: A Syncopated Rhythm in Public Education.” In Critical Multiculturalism: Uncommon Voices in a Common Struggle, ed. Barry Kanpol and Peter McLaren. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp. 89–101.
Walker, James W. S. (1985). Racial Discrimination in Canada: The Black Experience. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Historical Association.
Willinsky, John. “The Educational Politics of Identity and Category.” Interchange 29 (1998): 385–402.
Wiwa, Ken. (2001). “The Apostle of Forgiveness.” The Globe and Mail, May 5, 2001.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2005 Peter Pericles Trifonas
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lund, D.E. (2005). Tackling Difference in the Conservative Heartland of Canada. In: Trifonas, P.P. (eds) Communities of Difference. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981356_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981356_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-4039-6327-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4039-8135-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)