Collaborating With School Boards on Antiracist Research and Reform: Working Toward Authentic Collaboration

• In Event: Interrogating Research in Educational Leadership: Co-Constructing Methodologies for Equity

Abstract

The Purpose of this paper is to explore critical anti-racist approaches to engaging in research and reform with school boards in Ontario. The paper stems from a SSHRC funded project exploring the challenges and possibilities of anti-racist district reform across Ontario. In this paper we explore theoretical and practical approaches to engaging in collaborative research. A central goal of the project is to be as collaborative as possible in our approaches at all phases of the project, from the organization and actions of the research team, the conceptualization of the study, data collection, and mobilization of the data towards greater anti-racism through and with members of Ontario school boards. A goal of this project is the creation of a network that is truly a collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and other school-community members such as parents and care-givers. In this paper we talk about how we approached this in theory and practice, drawing upon research and theories of critical anti-racism (Vélez, and Solórzano, 2018; Solorzano, and Yosso, 2002) critical race theory (Carr, 1993; Delgado and Stefancic, 2001; 2017; Gillborn, Warmington, Demack; 2018), approaches to anti-racist district reform (Diem and Welton, 2020), approaches to research-practice partnerships (Farrell, Wentworth, and Nayfack, 2021). We explore some of the individual and institutional challenges we have faced as we embark on this work and strategies for moving forward in a manner that is as close to our idealized notions of collaboration as possible in the hopes that sharing our experiences and engaging in discussion with others doing similar work will strengthen our approaches moving forward. This paper is timely as many researchers across the globe are attempting to work towards more authentic collaborative approaches in their research and reform efforts, particularly those doing social justice work.

Authors

• Stephanie D. Tuters, University of Toronto - OISE
  Presenting Author

• Vidya Shah, York University
  Presenting Author

• Sachin Maharaj, University of Ottawa
  Presenting Author