ARIE Research Update: Anti-Racism in Action
Since 2018, CREAN has been working on the Anti-Racism in the Education System (ARIE) project in collaboration with schools and community members in BC. The project aims to understand the racism that exists within schools, make recommendations for the implementation of anti-racism initiatives, advocate for racialized students, and improve educational outcomes. Based on the findings to date, CREAN has specific recommendations for improving communication and engagement, capacity-building and bridging, improved oversight, monitoring, and evaluation, and updates to curriculum. In collaboration with community partners, and with continued input from the research advisory committee, CREAN plans to build on the project results and recommendations so far, and explore the findings further through an updated online survey, key informant interviews, and anti-racism workshops in BC public high schools in 2023 and 2024.
Findings from the ARIE project so far reflect recent media attention and initiatives for anti-racism policy in Canada: more needs to be done to effectively implement anti-racism policy and initiatives, address racism in schools, and support racialized youth. Racialized students may not have opportunities to share their experiences in a safe way at school, and many teachers feel they are not well-equipped to deal with race-related topics. In the 2021 online survey, 42% of students reported they have felt unsafe/uncomfortable at school due to race, ethnicity, English speaking ability, status in Canada, or cultural background. Forty-five percent of respondents stated they sometimes or often hear racist remarks at school, and students reported that microaggression and verbal harassment, cyberbullying, and physical harassment remain present in the school system. Racialized students are not always reporting racist incidents when they occur, and over half of students surveyed were unsure if racism-related policies existed at their school. Teachers have reported feeling ill-equipped to respond to racist incidents; many teachers support anti-racism initiatives in the curriculum, but feel they lack understanding, support, and capacity to take action.
More can be done to support racialized youth in the school system. Wherever possible, CREAN aims to listen to and support important ongoing initiatives (e.g., the Black Youth Empowerment group) to continually improve our research approach and make research findings useful.
The project is funded by the Government of Canada.
