Andrew Campbell and George Dei awarded for teaching excellence
May 10, 2021
While speaking to a group of librarians recently, Dr. Andrew Campbell reminded them that Black excellence is more than just having a photo on their walls of a Black youth playing basketball.
“If you want to be a champion, feature Black excellence,” he told them. “Take down that picture and put up ones of Black boys and girls doing all kinds of different things. What you are doing is working into the stereotypes and assumptions.”
The University of Toronto Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Adjunct Faculty member was honoured with a Champion Educator Award of Excellence during the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators (ONABSE) virtual two-day conference.
Two years ago, Campbell created a workshop, ‘Becoming a Champion for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion’.
“I realized that people who are doing this work aren’t aware there are several ways to be a champion,” he said. “What we see happening a lot are the protests on the streets in different forms, all of which I have done. You can however be a champion simply by seeing Blacks kids in school. Principals can be intentional about their hiring practices and champion that.”
Since joining Queen’s University as an online Assistant Professor in the Professional Master of Education program in January 2017 and OISE in September 2018, Campbell has been walking the talk.
“I have written letters to my department leaders saying the course I am teaching lacks certain evidence of diversity, inclusion, anti-Black racism and Indigenous content,” he noted. “I don’t shout out, saying ‘get it done’. In the very next paragraph of my letters, I say I will assist in updating the course if you will allow me. For me, champion is about taking it on and doing it. We all can be champions.”
Dr. Andrew Campbell (Photo contributed)
The educator for the last 25 years gravitated to teaching at a young age.
While in elementary school in Portmore, Jamaica where he was raised, Campbell taught kids on his verandah.
“I was about 12 years old and doing real teaching,” the Durham Children’s Aid Society board member recalled. “This wasn’t dolly house teaching. I gathered about 20 young people together and we did serious work. I realized at a tender age that teachers were influential, powerful and could do magic. A teacher could let a child believe that they could be anything. That same teacher could let another child believe they could be nothing.”
Campbell completed high school at Kingston College, his teaching certification at Mico University College, an undergraduate degree in General Studies & Counselling Psychology at the Jamaica Theological Seminary and taught at Waterford Primary School before going to the Bahamas where he taught for eight years.
Since coming to Canada 13 years ago, he has helped prepare educators at all levels in Ontario’s educational institutions to bring their authentic selves into the classroom through the development of new training programs that focuses on engaging the diverse classroom by challenging educators to examine their unconscious bias.
Campbell, who holds a Master’s in Educational Administration & Adult Education from the University of the West Indies (UWI) and a PhD. in Leadership, Policy & Diversity from OISE, encourages and nurtures pedagogical best practices and positive staff and faculty relations by providing support to Directors of Education and Education Managers.
He was delighted to share the spotlight at the ONABSE awards ceremony with Dr. George Dei who was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence.
“When I started my doctorate in 2009, I was introduced to him through his book, ‘Reconstructing ‘Drop Out’: A Critical Ethnography of the Dynamics of Black Students’ Disengagement from School’, that was recommended to me,” said Campbell who is an advocate for the 2SLGBTQ++ community and the author of ‘Invisible Student in the Jamaican Classroom’ that examines the experiences of gay males in the Caribbean country in their formal schooling experience. “So many things in George’s book resonated with me. I admire him because of how he walks in his Blackness.”
Considered one of Canada’s foremost scholars on race and anti-racism studies, Dei has been a major proponent and pioneering voice in the establishment of Black focussed and African-centred schools and his ground-breaking work is cited by school boards and in policy documents across the country
Dr. George Dei (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
The 2013 Social Sciences & Humanities curriculum for Grades Nine to 12 in the province lists his work as a reference for teachers on equity and social justice and the Ontario Ministry of Education 2014 ‘Equity & Inclusive Education in Ontario Schools: Guidelines for Policy Development & Implementation’ references his work to promote anti-racism. His 2000 text, ‘Removing the Margins’, and the Companion Teacher’s Guide, ‘Inclusive Schooling’, operationalized seven main domains of an inclusive schooling approach that continue to form discussions on questions of inclusive schooling in Canada.
Coming from a community of Black educators, Dei said the award is significant.
“I am asking Black educators to ensure that their work remains relevant to the community,” he added. “I am also asking that you link the Black scholar identity with radical politics affirming Black and African humanity. This is so important in the current climate where Black lives are dehumanized.”
The Community Services Award of Excellence was presented to the African Canadian Heritage Association (ACHA).
Rakiya Henry (l) & Lindis Collins-Bacchus were recognized at the African Canadian Heritage Association (ACHA) celebration in May 2013 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Originally launched in 1969 as the Black Heritage Association, the organization underwent a name change in 1992 to preserve its unique identity following the establishment of several Black heritage programs across the city.
Nadine McLennon was the recipient of the Parent Advocacy Award while Janae Knott won the Post-Secondary Student Award of Excellence.
Janae Knott (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
In her graduating year at Markham District High School, Knott was recognized with Black Business & Professional Association, Alliance of Jamaican Alumni Associations and Markham African Caribbean Canadian Association scholarships in 2017.
The third-year University of Toronto Business student aspires to pursue a career that combines her love of business and interest in science.
