I’m struggling.
Yes. Struggling again.
Hmm. Or is it Still?
Anyway.
It was just another average day and I was at my son’s elementary school. After an event, his grade 8 teacher and I were having one of our impromptu catch-up sessions.
As we gabbed pleasantly, the conversation seamlessly changed from the weather to school. She laughed while mentioning how much she enjoyed having my son in her class and loved his personality.
As she spoke, I nodded along with her little talk because I agreed; my son is delightful.
While heaping on the praise, this teacher excitedly suggested that my son would make a great sales guy. She blathered on about how in high school he would do well in classes that suited his personality.
Then, it happened.
“So really,” she said, “with his personality, he could get a good job that didn’t need a degree! You really should remain open to him taking applied-level or locally developed courses in high school”.
Wait. What?
And that was that. Before I could collect my thoughts, ask any questions or look anything other than confused – the conversation was over. The need for her to get back to class interrupted us.
So this is why I’m in my feelings about it.
First of all — No. No, I am not “open” to my son taking applied-level courses.
Ontario streaming pathways explained;
Let me start by explaining a few things about Ontario’s secondary schools. For decades, Ontario, like many other Canadian provinces, has employed a ridiculous system known as “streaming.”
In Grade 8 Ontario’s students start their high school career by choosing which courses they will take and at what “level”.
Students can choose to take one of three “pathways”.
The Academic-level pathway offers courses that will prepare students to study at the university level. Admission to Canadian universities requires students to have taken the majority of their courses on this Academic-level “pathway”.
The Applied-level pathway courses are designed for people planning to go to college or even take up a trade. Locally Developed courses offer a pathway for “experiential learners”. Those planning to enter the workforce right out of school choose this path.
So, yes, to be clear – at the ripe old age of 13, Grade 8 students – steeped in preteen wisdom – must possess enough knowledge about their potential, the world, and their career aspirations to make pretty profound decisions.
Streaming requires students to make consequential choices that most preteens are ill-equipped to fully understand.
Oh, and it gets better, because — racism!
Streaming Cheated Black Students for Decades
Educator and blogger Jason To wrote a great piece about why streaming is just the worst. Mr. To asserts that educators are meant to stream students “based on perceived characteristics like academic readiness and potential. But he points out that that is not what has or is happening. Instead, streaming “became spaces of lower expectations, poorer learning environments, and fewer post-secondary opportunities for students that need the exact opposite”.
Formal research backs all of these observations up. Educators have streamed Black children into educational paths below their potential for decades. Data from the Toronto District School Board and the Peel District School Board show that Black students are twice as likely to be streamed into applied courses. Students in low-income communities are 1.5 times more likely to be in applied courses than those in other communities.
The cost our students pay for these low expectations is having fewer options for post-secondary education. Researchers have well-documented these outcomes.
Research conducted by York University’s Dr. Carl James cited several ways streaming impacted outcomes in the secondary school system. Their report, which drew on years of research around student learning, highlighted that students in Applied English and Math classes were less likely to meet the provincial standards for math and reading or attend post-secondary education.
Additionally, they observed that schools with more applied classes tended to have students from low-income backgrounds and often experienced lower graduation rates over time for Black students.
Black students are twice as likely to be streamed into applied courses.
I experienced streaming firsthand when I was a Grade 8 student choosing my high school pathway. I had high grades, had been recognized for public speaking and writing, and was hella bright. Yet, when I sat down with her to choose my classes for high school, my teacher advised me people “like me” usually took “hands-on” courses. Back then, she strongly suggested that I take what were known as general or Basic courses. In today’s terms Applied or Locally developed courses that would land me in trade school or college.
I’ll tell you, I wasn’t sure what “like me” meant – this woman barely spoke to me, so I knew she didn’t know what I was like one way or the other.
Thankfully, I had the good sense to turn to my friends. And as 13-year-olds are known to do, they didn’t hold back as they reminded me that we all knew this woman had no love lost for the Black and Brown kids in her class. Then they openly laughed at the thought of me – the girl who competed in math and speech battles and hated all things “hands-on” ever – suffering through trade school. With their help, I picked out my advanced-level courses.
Spoiler alert, I took Advanced or Enriched courses throughout high school. I graduated from secondary school as an Ontario Scholar – aka I achieved an A average – every single year. So yeah, I did just fine in academic-level courses, thank you.
Anyways.
It is ridiculous to limit a person’s future choices based on who they are and what you perceive their capabilities are at the age of 13.
Don’t be Fooled – Streaming is Still Alive and Well in Ontario Schools
Ontario school streaming has been steeped in bias. Layering historic and ongoing bias within the system, streaming had a damaging impact on the future of generations of Ontario’s Black students.
To his credit, Education Minister Stephen Lecce acknowledged streaming is a discriminatory practice. The province mandated the end of streaming for children entering Grade 9 in all school boards in the province by September 2022. This made Ontario the very last province in the country to do so.
We can and should applaud this decision. However, parents should be very clear that this announcement did not put an end to streaming in Ontario’s education system.
As a parent of high schoolers, I assure you academic streaming is still alive and well.
In grade 9, schools don’t offer applied classes, but students can still choose courses that follow streamed pathways as they progress through higher grades. Guidance counsellors and teachers still absolutely have a role in helping students consider future careers and which classes they should take. If students do not receive enough support during course selections, they can easily make course selections that limit their future options.
Parents should be very clear that this announcement did not put an end to streaming in Ontario’s education system.
Even as I helped my children review their classes, I noted that I was fortunate to have had the time, computer skills, and patience to navigate this world of course selections. Being raised in the system gave me an advantage, yet the process was still taxing. Making sure to take the right courses at the right pathway or level requires a fair bit of consideration.
Add to that the challenges with the courses that have been de-streamed.
Advocacy groups suggest that those expected to teach de-streamed courses receive little support. Teachers will have to adapt to working with a broad range of student needs. They will be teaching those with special education needs as well as those students who simply might do better with a more present teacher. The smaller class sizes that some say would better allow teachers to support student success in de-streamed courses are not on the table in the Ontario education system.
Let’s not forget that there is no real support for students who have already been streamed below their potential. We know without a doubt that there are many within the Black community whom the provincial government’s de-streaming will leave behind. Streaming has limited the record of student achievement for this generation of folks.
Unchecked Racial Bias Did Not End with De-Streaming Grade 9
And just to keep it real de-streamed classes in Grade 9 do not address the issue of systemic racism that made streaming inequitable for Black students. The racial bias that existed in 2021 still existed in schools in 2022. Unaddressed racial bias encouraged a disproportionately higher percentage of Black students toward the applied stream compared to white students. And as long as this bias remains largely unaddressed streaming of Black students below their potential will continue.
Teachers and guidance counsellors play a significant role in helping students choose their pathways. The problem is that streaming has always just been what it looks like for teachers to have low expectations of Black students. Numerous studies tell us that racial bias rather than student potential is at the heart of the disproportionately negative impact streaming has had on Black students.
While parents certainly have input, it’s crucial to recognize that teachers often communicate low expectations when parents are not present. Alternatively, back-handed praise and guidance might influence parents, restricting their child’s choices.
This is why I was shook when my son’s grade 8 teacher, the individual largely responsible for helping to guide my son during course selections, was so casual about limiting his future.
Although her comments masqueraded as a sincere concern, they translated into her having lower expectations for my child. They betrayed her belief that my son should take a path that would prevent him from being a teacher, lawyer, or even just experiencing dorm life.
So then, back to me and my struggles as I faced my son’s teacher.
Parents of Black children Can’t Let our Guard Down
That day, as the words of my son’s teacher settled in around me, a lifetime of navigating racial bias left me feeling, raw.
And then the doubt-spiral train picked up steam.
I wondered how long this teacher had believed that applied-level courses – and all that implied – suited my child. And how this belief might have quietly shaped her feedback and the “help” she gave to him. Never mind her grading over the last two years he had been her student?
I questioned whether I had let my guard down. If I had let her seemingly kind way of praising my son’s personality blind me to her bias.
I wondered if I had allowed myself to be bamboozled into believing his teacher was supporting him. All the while allowing her to chip away at his confidence. Who knows how her feedback impacted what he thought himself capable of achieving?
None of this would matter if my son didn’t want to go to post-secondary education. It would be a moot point if he wanted a career in the skilled trades. But he had other dreams that he would need a degree to pursue. She didn’t account for his dreams, encourage him to study more or even see those as worth chasing. And that in itself is problematic.
Plus –
a) He was 13!
b) Even if he did know what he wanted to do, he’s too young to close the doors to all other careers!
and
c) it’s not just about a career – going away to university is a right of passage he wants to experience.
Okay, I want to experience him going away to university. I was invested in reclaiming my house for four years, and she was depriving me of that.
Did I mention I was spiralling?
I Missed the Signs of Streaming and Bias
Most profound was my feeling of regret. My sincere fear was that because I had naively mistook her past comments as helpful, when they may have hidden harmful bias, I had let my son down. I should have done a better job in my role as his protector and advocate.
Months later, I am still unpacking how deeply that conversation shook me.
Each time I replay the scene in my mind’s eye it’s like watching the end of the Sixth Sense. I hear this teacher say, “You should be open to him taking applied-level courses” and I have this gasp-worthy ‘ah ha’ moment.
My memories travel through the last few years. I hover over a montage of moments, revisiting every comment from the last few years with a fresh, startling awareness.
Like Bruce Willis’ character, I experience nothing short of an out-of-body moment – wondering whether I had been oblivious to streaming that had been happening for years.
Looking back, I see my Grade 8 teacher’s suggestion that I take “hands-on” courses was based on her not being able to see past the colour of my skin. Unchecked bias filled her expectations.
Sadly, what that kind of bias and systemic discrimination looks like day-to-day for my children is unclear to me.
As a parent how can we know the actions, conversations, decisions, and comments that should alert us to problematic perceptions?
Especially when those comments often cloak themselves in “niceness”.
It’s not easy to Tell the Difference Between Niceness and Nonsense.
I have heard of, experienced, and posted about stories of Black History Month fails. Black children who have experienced racial violence in our schools. And more stories than I care to think about of teachers doing racist nonsense.
While this stuff is damaging, dehumanizing, and anti-Black, at least it’s (relatively speaking) easy to see and call out.
But how clear is the subtler day-to-day unmaking of our children?
In the case of my son’s teacher, I met with her regularly and listened to the praise she gave my son. I chose to believe she was making a sincere effort to provide him with extra help.
And so here it is — the trouble with anti-Black racism in our schools. What anti-Black racism looks like in practice is so befuddling and inconsistent that it leaves many Black parents questioning themselves.
The self-doubt eats away at our beliefs and our willingness to challenge a system that constantly tells us we are wrong. We have little will to fight the assertions that we are “taking it the wrong way”, “over-reacting” or “making everything about race”.
Anti-Black racism is as insidious as it is exhausting. When it comes to battling anti-Black racism in our schools, the stakes feel high. For a Black student, an academic career filled with overlooked microaggressions, or unchecked bias may have lifelong repercussions.
Black parent after Black parent finds themselves caught up in trying to wade through the system. It feels next to impossible to tell niceness from nonsense. Balancing our desire to believe that the teacher standing in front of us “means well” against our knowledge that the system continues to harm our children. And this teacher is the system.
Positive Results from De-streaming won’t Just Happen
Many readers will sincerely believe that nothing was amiss and that my son’s teacher meant well. Those folks will rush to defend her and remind me that there are good teachers. They will say this entire struggle was all in my head.
But I know that my son’s teacher did not share the high expectations I have for his future. She did not even ask him about his dreams or aspirations. I also know that time and time again the system proves it is content to fail Black children. So my Black child’s experience is not his alone.
Systemic, ongoing issues impact Black students’ safety, academic experience, and overall outcomes. Statistics clearly show that educators encourage white students to take applied courses far less frequently than they do Black students. I am not naive enough to believe my child is somehow above or immune to these issues.
I narrowly avoided getting streamed. Knowing that decades after my own experience, I have to stay on guard to ensure my children aren’t victims of the bias that almost derailed me, is exhausting.
De-streaming Grade 9 is a positive step forward, but it’s not the end. We need more significant changes if we hope to see all of the positive results that are possible from de-streaming.
I truly don’t have the answers, but what I do know is this – if I can be left feeling duped, if I can feel like my constant involvement and vigilance were undermined, and as though despite my watchful and informed eye, I could have failed my son, anyone can.
So, I’ll just be over here getting ready for back-to-school hoping for the best the system has to offer while I resolutely plan to take on the worst.
