Anti-Racism in the Education System in British Columbia: Project Summary & Key Findings
View the publication here.
Since 2018, the Coastal Research, Education, & Advocacy Network (CREAN) has been working on the Anti-Racism in the Education System project (ARIE), in collaboration with schools, organizations, and community members in British Columbia (BC). The project aims to understand the racism that exists within BC public schools, make recommendations for the implementation of anti-racism initiatives, advocate for racialized students, and improve educational outcomes. Education town halls, workshops, training sessions, one-on-one meetings, and social media outreach began in 2018 to help determine the goals of the project and set up a research advisory committee. Since then, a literature review and an online survey with Victoria High School (one in 2021, 2023 and 2024) have been conducted to better understand student experiences of racism. In collaboration with community partners, and with continued input from the research advisory committee, CREAN held anti-racism workshops for middle and high school educators in 2023, 2024, and 2025 with curriculum built from the findings of the ARIE project and the experiences of students in BC.
Based on the findings to date, CREAN suggests the following recommendations.
Communication & Engagement
The Ministry should consult with racialized students and teachers on issues of racism in the education system.
Capacity-Building & Bridging
Anti-racism training should be mandatory for all BC teachers, administrators, and staff.
Universities and teacher education programs should actively recruit racialized teachers and provide specific support for their success in the education system.
The Ministry should provide school districts and teachers with more resources and expertise to incorporate anti-racism work into curriculum and classrooms (e.g., provide funding to bring in experts and an anti-racism liaison, create extra preparation time for teachers, provide lesson ideas and resources to empower teachers). Streamlining of these efforts is also needed.
Universities and teacher education programs and the BC Ministry of Education should examine barriers to entry into the teaching profession for racialized post-secondary students and look at the creation and implementation of policies to address these barriers.
Improved Oversight, Monitoring & Evaluation
The Ministry should provide specific direction to individual school boards for the implementation of anti-racism directives, as they do with anti-bullying. There should be consistency in implementation across school boards, and implementation should be evaluated and reported on, so that it is clear whether and how policies are being implemented, and if they are effective.
Instances of racism and hate crimes should be tracked in schools.
Teachers should be regularly evaluated on their performance, including their ability to deliver material in a culturally safe manner.
Updates to the Curriculum
BC secondary schools should focus on a competency-based curriculum and include more positive representatives of Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities. (Local) Black history and anti-racism education should be a mandatory part of the BC curriculum for all kindergarten to grade 12 students. Diversity and anti-racism can be incorporated into science, technology, engineering, mathematics, musicals, and more. There should be more appropriate material taught on emigration and migration in Canada. This is the final report with all findings and recommendations of the ARIE project that we have released upon completion of the third and final phase Spring 2025.