In post–World War II Canada, black women’s positions within the teaching profession served as sites of struggle and conflict as the nation worked to address the needs of its diversifying population. From their entry into teachers’ college through their careers in the classroom and administration, black women educators encountered systemic racism and gender barriers at every step. So they worked to change the system.

Using oral narratives to tell the story of black access and education in Ontario between the 1940s and the 1980s, Schooling the System provides textured insight into how issues of race, gender, class, geographic origin, and training shaped women’s distinct experiences within the profession. By valuing women’s voices and lived experiences, Funké Aladejebi illustrates that black women, as a diverse group, made vital contributions to the creation and development of anti-racist education in Canada. As cultural mediators within Ontario school systems, these women circumvented subtle and overt forms of racial and social exclusion to create resistive teaching methods that centred black knowledges and traditions. Within their wider communities and activist circles, they fought to change entrenched ideas about what Canadian citizenship should look like.

As schools continue to grapple with creating diverse educational programs for all Canadians, Schooling the System is a timely excavation of the meaningful contributions of black women educators who helped create equitable policies and practices in schools and communities.

Funké Aladejebi is an assistant professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto.

Funké Aladejebi's profile page

• Runner-up, English-Language Book Prize

"With this engaging study, Funké Aladejebi fills important gaps and silences in Canadian black women's herstories and in the documentation of their transformative pedagogical work despite systemic barriers. Schooling the System is a critical text for understanding Canadian education and Canadian society – and a fascinating read!" Annette Henry, University of British Columbia and author of Taking Back Control: African Canadian Women Teacher's Lives and Practice

“Schooling the System is a beautiful détente between scholarship and storytelling. Why didn’t we know this part of Canada’s education history? We were waiting for the genius of Funké Aladejebi to tap the rich treasure troves of Black Canada’s education historical collections, share the lived experiences of the twenty-six women who entrusted her with their stories, and connect the dots for us. Well done, Aladejebi.” Canadian Journal of History

"This meticulously researched book tells the stories of black women educators who were called upon for their labour as cultural mediators in schools that defined themselves as multicultural but who confronted enforced invisibility by systems that remained rooted in white supremacy. These are the histories we must know if we are to work towards antiracist education in Canada." Kristina R. Llewellyn, University of Waterloo and author of Democracy's Angels: The Work of Women Teachers

"Schooling the System: a history of Black women teachers, narrates the upliftment, empowerment, and advancement of black women educators under a system of institutional gendered racism and discrimination in Ontario. It can be enjoyed as a recreational read, an academic text for teacher education students, or a tool for professional development in schools." Canadian Journal of Education/Revue Canadienne de l’éducation

"This groundbreaking book – the first of its kind – studies educators' narratives within a complex history of segregated and separate schools, teacher shortages, and a growing immigrant student population. Well researched, absorbing, and timely, Schooling the System is a reminder that black women specialize in the wholly impossible." Karen Flynn, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and author of Moving Beyond Borders: A History of Black Canadian and Caribbean Women in the Diaspora

"This manuscript is definitely a welcome critical race intervention into the history of education and beyond. Schooling the System makes a major contribution to both the history of education and African Canadian history." Ontario History