Editorial

Higher Education: Does it foster upward
social mobility and inclusivity?

Every human being must have the opportunity to make better for themselves and should be able to achieve their potential without any obstacles and to live a life free of oppression. Unfortunately, too many children grow up without ever completing school, and many adults are struggling to make ends meet. Although there are many ways to fight poverty, a powerful tool to ameliorate it is education. It is commonly acknowledged that poor people are often unable to obtain access to an adequate education, and without education they are confined to a life of abject poverty

Children from the racialized communities have several disadvantages compared to the children from the middle class and wealthy families, they are less healthy because of a lack of balanced meal and they are probably less prepared emotionally to perceive education as a vehicle to achieve their potential. If we fail to understand and take into consideration their disadvantaged position while attempting to address their needs, they will not benefit nor complete school.

How can we then foster an upward social mobility amongst our racialized communities and usher an era of inclusivity and harmony in our communities? Though this assertion sounds utopian where a society completely transforms itself to safeguard the principles of equality, liberty and freedom, yet this vision gives us courage to channel our energy and resources to realize that great dream.

With that said, we need to rethink the way we teach our students at Universities and Colleges. Much of the University teaching is focussed on inculcating the students with information transfer, rationality, linear thinking. In essence, Universities became “gate keepers” for what can pass as a legitimate knowledge while shunning the lived experiences of the racialized people, dismissing alternative knowledge as personal stories, and discounting the utility of what Michel Foucault described as the “subjugated knowledge”.

The undue emphasis on information transfer minimizes the much important component of education which is identity development that will integrate academic learning with that of human growth. The shift towards holistic and comprehensive transformation of the student that will have a clearly defined learning outcome will help redefine the previously held Kuhn’s paradigm. The novel conceptualization of learning as a personal growth and a tool that empowers the student and the society in general to resist oppression provides the basis on which social equality and justice thrive and flourish.

This paradigm shift will challenge assumptions about race, gender, class and other markers of oppression. It will challenge the source of our knowledge by asking the question of how do we know what we know? This probing question will deconstruct the societal belief of oppression and unearned privilege and pave the way for a critical analysis of what is keeping the racialized communities economically, socially and politically downtrodden and subjugated.

Many schools of Social Work led by the Carleton University’s School moved away from theories that did not account the racialized communities ordeal and suffering. Models that sought to analyze the individual on the micro level were deemed inaccurate, and the schools shifted to understand the societal difficulties through critical analysis that emphasis the role of agency, structural oppression and eventually aims for greater equality and social justice.

Other institutions of higher learning ought to embrace anti discriminatory and anti oppression theories that will not only challenge our current belief systems but that will eventually bring forth new methods of fighting poverty and a diverse communities that celebrate their differences rather than ostracize and oppress each other.

It is through this teaching of anti oppression theories and what is called ‘conscious raising and empowering education’ that racialized students will be uplifted and will in turn enrich their counterparts through appreciation of each other.

It is imperative to acknowledge the phenomenon of racialization of poverty and embrace anti oppression theories to fight it. Our higher learning Institutions are in a position to engage their students and prepare them as agents of social change. This will be difficult as oppression and challenging unearned privileges will not go away uncontested

The societal problems that we confront today are enormous and probably reside in the racist perceptions, attitudes and norms that we use to measure other’s behaviour and ways of life that higher learning Institutions should uncover. Exposing these attitudes will benefit everybody and will help to create diversity rich communities that will enhance our collective economy and human capacity.

To link anti discriminatory and anti oppression theories with practice requires skill. Conflict resolution skills, communication skills and other skills need to be taught to students to prepare them to engage the wider society with their new thinking. We need to collectively address the relationship between race and poverty which is alarming, shocking and undeniable. We must aim to abolish racism, prejudice and oppression through education and social change.

Equality, liberty and freedom should be the fundamental principles that guide us in creating a society that adheres to the values of social justice. Our children and grandchildren will appreciate and benefit from our efforts to prepare for them a better future based on upholding human dignity and shunning violence and protecting the environment.

Said Y. Dirie, MSW
Editor , Immigrant Post Magazine

e-mail: editor@immigrantpost.ca