This edited collection introduces readers to the main concepts that comprise the spectrum of diversity and multicultural education in Canada, with a particular focus on social justice and on what human flourishing might mean in these contexts. Diversity and Equity in Canadian Schools blends theory and practice with each section containing one theoretical and one practical chapter devoted to each area of diversity, including socio-economic status, gender and sexual orientation, language, religion, geography, disability, ethnicity and race, and Indigenous education, with a continuous focus on intersectionality.
The first chapter in each section is conceptual, providing thoughtful narrative of the historical and current concerns of the given area of diversity. The second chapter then provides practical considerations for educators in the K–12 classroom, building teacher capacity both to work against the structures, policies, curriculum, and pedagogies that limit marginalized students’ flourishing and to build the capabilities for flourishing in all students. Readers are provided with practical guidelines to help them approach each chapter with openness, humility, and critical engagement.
Diversity and Equity in Canadian Schools is well-suited for Canadian university courses in Education that focus on critical multicultural education and equity, diversity, and inclusion in the classroom.
AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Educating for Diversity and Human
Flourishing: A Conceptual Model
Part I: Education Policy: A History and Application of Multicultural and
Critical Ideologies in Canada
Chapter 1: The Evolution of Canadian Multiculturalism: Policy and Legal
Considerations
Chapter 2: Critical Race Theory in Canadian Educational Praxis
Part II: Ethnicity and Race: Incorporating a Pedagogy of Justice, Liberation,
and Care
Chapter 3: Cosmopolitan Education and Racial Justice: The Implications of
Martha Nussbaum's Philosophy of Education for Forging a Common National
Memory in Canada
Chapter 4: Supporting Students to Thrive, Grow, and Flourish: Embracing Their
Literate Lives as Liberatory Praxis
Chapter 5: Towards Strengths-Based Culturally Responsive Teaching of Refugee
Students with Interrupted Formal Education
Part III: Socioeconomic Status: Understanding and Responding to Systemic
Barriers to Foster Human Flourishing
Chapter 6: Socioeconomic Status and Children's Education in Canada: The
Importance of Aspirations in Flourishing
Chapter 7: Pedagogical Strategies for Equity and Inclusion: Addressing Low
Socioeconomic Status Students in the Canadian Classroom
Part IV: Gender and Sexual Diversity: Supporting Students' Identity as
Important to Human Flourishing
Chapter 8: Gender and Sexuality in Education: Critical Considerations
Chapter 9: Disruptive Stories: Straight Teachers Navigating Queer Allyship in
Ontario Schools
Part V: Indigenous Education: Remembering the Past, Acknowledging the
Present, Fostering Communities of Flourishing
Chapter 10: Tribal Critical Race Theory, Wâhkôhtowin, and Decolonizing
Canadian Education
Chapter 11: Fostering Wellness and Redefining Success for All Students
through Indigenous Perspectives
Part VI: Language: Policies and Practices to Support Linguistic Inclusion and
Flourishing
Chapter 12: Globalization, Decolonization, and the Diversity of Linguistic
Identities: A Review of Language Policies and Practices in Canadian K to 12
Education
Chapter 13: Inclusive Instructional Design within Language Education:
Principles and Practices for the Modern Canadian Classroom
Part VII: Religion: Understanding, Inclusion, and Flourishing of Religious
Diversity
Chapter 14: Framing Religious Diversity in the Canadian Classroom
Chapter 15: Broadening Understandings of Religion to Support Student
Flourishing
Part VIII: Disability: Nurturing Belonging and Flourishing Among Students
with Disabilities
Chapter 16: Lived Disability Experience in Canadian Schooling: Essential
Knowledge for Fostering Disabled Flourishing
Chapter 17: Schools as Polis: Fostering Participation and Belonging of
Children with Disabilities in Classrooms and Schools
Part IX: Geography: The Importance of Location in Supporting Students and
Teachers
Chapter 18: The Landscape of Education Inequalities in Northern and Rural
Locations in Canada
Chapter 19: Encountering Rural Narrative/Fiction in Teacher Education: Toward
a Conversation
Part X: Intersectionality: Teaching the Whole Child in Consideration of Human
Flourishing
Chapter 20: Implicit Inequities in School Practices: Interdisciplinary
Perspectives
Chapter 21: The Things We Carry: Human Flourishing for Students and Educators
through the Equity Backpack Project
Conclusion: Pedagogy for Flourishing: Preparing and Equipping the Educator
Author Biographies
Cathlene Hillier (PhD) is Assistant Professor of Education at Crandall University. She teaches social studies education and theory and practice courses to B.Ed. students. She has also taught undergraduate sociology courses which address diversity and inequality in public policy and schooling. She has published articles on religious diversity in schools, along with socioeconomic and geographical inequalities in academic outcomes. Dr. Hillier is currently leading a SSHRC funded project on technology use among children, families and schools in New Brunswick and Ontario.
Wendy Bokhorst-Heng (PhD) is a Research Fellow of Education at Crandall University (retired as Full Professor in 2021) and teaches part-time at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has taught courses related to diversity and multiculturalism to undergraduate, B.Ed., and graduate students, both in the USA and in Canada. She has published extensively on language and education policy in Singapore, and its relationship with multicultural policy, or national ideologies. Her recent research focuses on intercultural competence within the context of French immersion education in New Brunswick, considering the role of teachers and students, with focus on human flourishing and ethics of care.
