(EDU3) Challenging Hate: Fostering Human Flourishing

This session invited papers that draw on theoretical or empirical research to address the topic of challenging hate within educational institutions. We are interested in the work happening in educational institutions that seeks to promote just, democratic, and inclusive educational practices that centre on human flourishing and the success (in all aspects of the word) of students.  Cross-listed with the Canadian Association of Sociology of Education (CASE). Tags: Éducation, Égalité et Inégalité

Organizers: Cathlene Hillier, Crandall University, Maria Brisbane, University of Waterloo; Chair: Anastasia Kulpa, University of Alberta/Concordia University of Edmonton

Presentations

Xinru FAN, Beijing Foreign Studies University

Unmasking Power Dynamics: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Indigenous Education Policy in Ontario

Policy matters for those interested in inequalities because it shapes who benefits, for what purposes and who pays. Ontario has released its formal policy frameworks guiding and supporting Indigenous education in 2007: Ontario First Nation, Metis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework. However, according to Wotherspoon, there exists a form of "democratic colonialism" in Canadian legislation, discourse and practice. This raises concerns about whether these policy frameworks inadvertently conceal unequal power dynamics. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, the study moves beyond a narrow focus on language features and considers how language is used to construct and perpetuate the disadvantage faced by Indigenous people in Canada.

Sarah Masri, McMaster University

Islamophobia and its Impacts on School Performance among Muslim Canadian Youth

Muslim adolescents’ academic engagement is negatively impacted when they experience bullying at school. Lowered academic engagement leads to lack of interest in studying, especially when students are exposed to anti-Muslim stereotypes in their school climates, which lead them to feel misunderstood, unsafe and even excluded. (Moffic, Peteet, Hankir, and Awaad 2019). While studies have focused on Muslim students in the United States, this phenomenon can be applied to Canadian Muslim students. My presentation will look at Muslim students in Toronto schools’ performances and the degree in which their academic performances are affected by their sense of belonging in school.