Paul R. Carr

Exposing Privilege and Racism in "The Great White North": Tackling Whiteness and Identity Issues in Canadian Education.

We began this collaborative Great White North project 1 through a chance meeting of the authors at the annual meeting of the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) in Atlanta in No...

The “Equity Waltz” in Canada: Whiteness and the informal realities of racism in education

Canada has long perceived itself to be a country in which multiculturalism, and a concomitant respect for diversity, is a unique and defining feature of its identity. Although Canada is a de facto multicultural country, owing to its rapidly evolving demography and the explicit notion of multiculturalism enshrined in its Constitution, there remains a plethora of problems and issues related to equity, diversity and human rights. This paper explores the context and impact of racism in education within a framework that acknowledges and critically positions the predominance of Whiteness. The salience of identity, therefore, is a primary consideration to understanding how marginalized groups face systemic barriers in education. The concluding analysis sheds light on the educational policy process, and focuses on the notion of accountability for anti-racism and social justice in education within a time of neoliberal reforms. The paper is critical of the lack of attention, resources and comprehensive plans in place to ensure that all students benefit from a more holistic education that includes a focus on social justice.

Computers, the media and multicultural education: seeking engagement and political literacy

This paper meshes Carrs research on media literacy with Porfilios research on computer literacy, with both of these areas being focused on the central notion of social justice within a multicultural society. Both researchers teach pre‐service teachers, and have an interest in extending multicultural education, which often equates, overlaps with, and complements intercultural education. The key issue probed throughout this paper relates to the potential for (critical) multicultural education to take place in and through attempts to inculcate a media and computer literacy that surpasses simplistic notions of tolerance, respect and basic knowledge of the ‘Other’. The research underscores the need for formal and informal approaches to inculcating media and computing literacy in the classroom, which, ultimately, support a more robust critical multiculturalism in schools.

Discursive Epistemologies by, for and About the De-Colonizing Project

Although colonialism is generally thought of to be buried in the past, similar to the mainstream pop-culture mantra that we are now in a post-racial society because of the election of an African-American president in the US, it is clear that our realities, experiences and minds have been shaped by the platform of centuries of colonial exploitation and degradation

The Mediatization of Democracy, and the Specter of Critical Media Engagement

In the 21st century, most nations, including those throughout the Westernized world, are multimedia societies wherein citizens are, for the most part, media saturated, technologically dependent, and globally connected. Social media, broad access to the internet, and hi-speed communications of all sorts have changed the traditional paradigm of how information, news and communications are developed, massaged and disseminated, or as Chomsky has famously put it, manufactured.