ATA group works to address issues of race

The Status of Racialized Teachers working group is actively seeking input from members about their professional experiences. Teachers who identify as racialized are invited to attend the Diversity, Equity and Human Rights (DEHR) conference at Barnett House on April 27 and 28. One of the sessions is a facilitated listening circle that will help shape Association services and supports to meet the needs of racialized teachers. To sign up, speak to your local president.

History of the working group

At the 2020 Annual Representatives’ Assembly (ARA), resolutions were approved to enable a study and report to explore the need for a committee on the status of visible minorities within the profession. Staff conducted a literature review and collected information through interviews with teachers from diverse ethnocultural backgrounds.

Research shows a longstanding difference between the population of racialized people in Alberta and the relative population of teachers from the same ethnocultural groups. According to the most recent (2016) Canadian census data, 23.5 per cent of Albertans identified as being members of a visible minority and 6.5 per cent identified as Indigenous. By comparison, the Association’s latest (2023) Member Opinion Survey found that only 5.4 per cent of respondents identified as members of a community of colour and 3.6 per cent identified as Indigenous. So although 29.5 per cent of all Albertans identified as members of a racialized community, only nine per cent of teachers identified as such.

At the 2021 ARA, the assembly approved the formation of a working group to explore the status of racialized teachers. The term racialized was chosen as a title for the working group as it describes how people come to be the subjects of discrimination, oppression and violence based on their physical appearance and ethnocultural backgrounds.

Today’s working group

Visible minority and Indigenous populations are the fastest growing demographic groups in Canada and Alberta, but comparative growth is not seen in the relative population of these groups in the teaching profession. There is a persistent diversity gap between the teaching profession and the general population, and Alberta’s teaching workforce remains predominantly white. This disparity is a significant concern of the Status of Racialized Teachers’ working group.

The frames of reference for the Status of Racialized Teachers outlines the group’s goals as follows:

To study and advise the Diversity, Equity and Human Rights Committee on matters of concern regarding racialized teachers
To make recommendations to the DEHR Committee concerning Association policy related to racialized teachers
To make recommendations to the DEHR Committee concerning the work of the Association and supports related to racialized teachers
To receive representations from education partners and friends of public education as appropriate
To represent the Association, as authorized, with groups and at events concerning issues of interest to racialized teachers

This committed working group is populated by co-chairs Rick Kremp (district representative for Central North) and Fitz Sherman from the Battle River Local. Cecil Hall, Rupi Bergamin and Kenny Yeung, all from Calgary Public Teachers’ Local No. 38, make up the rest of the group. ❚