The Quebec Board of Black Educators: An Innovator
THE QUEBEC BOARD OF BLACK EDUCATORS:AN INNOVATOR
Etching Educational Success
Edina Bayne and
Professor Clarence S. Bayne JMSB,Concordia University
National Council of Black Educators of Canada
And
Multiculturalism and Citizenship Canada
December 1995
Revised April 1 2009
PREFACE
The Quebec Board of Black Educators (QBBE), founded in 1969, is innovative in both its structure and its programming. The QBBE itself is the innovative framework within which all its other innovations were created. The most important of these innovations are the DaCosta Hall Summer School, the Bana Program and the 17 Point Agreement, a result of the PSBGM Parity Committee's study of the problems affecting Black students. This paper will present these innovations against the backdrop of the various environmental changes which triggered modifications in programming, over the thirty-six (36) year history, (1969-2005) of the organization.
In the process of addressing the needs of Black students, the QBRE evolved as a natural by product of the skilful and dynamic negotiations that were taking place with different levels of government, colleges, and universities. It was unique in that it was created for Blacks by Blacks to address problems that Blacks were facing. The nucleus that struggled to establish the organization and its first innovation, DaCosta Hall were: Dr. Clarence Bayne, Dr. Leo Bertley, Mr. Oswald Downes, Ms. Ivy Jennings, and Mr. Roosevelt Williams. Ms. Marion Lowe McLean and Ms. Mary Robertson completed the contingent. Dr. Bertley emerged as the leading researcher and spokesperson for the grouping in the early seventies. It was his loyal support and tenacity that helped the group to overcome the, competitive rivalries of anti-establishment activists, mistrust, apathy, and racism that it had to confront during the QBBE’s formative years.
The DaCosta Hall Program was created to remediate and enrich the educational performance of high school students, to facilitate admission to the new college system(CGEPS), and to Concordia and McGill Universities; and to ensure the success of those students who chose to study at any of the above mentioned universities. Its uniqueness derives from the fact that the personal development of the individual was one of the main focuses of the program. The concern, caring and warmth of the teachers created a closeness between them and the students. Mr. Ashton Lewis, a past president of the QBBE, is quick to point out that, "teachers show genuine concern about the future of the students and the day to day problems they face. Teachers talk with, and listen to the students". Today students and observers of QBBE express the desire to have this summer school type of mentoring all year round.
When the DaCosta Hall Program opened its doors in July of 1970, all the necessary elements for its successful operation were in place. Teachers, facilities, supplies, guaranteed placement and scholarships had already been secured through relentless negotiation. Young, Black males from the first and second year of the Program benefited from the Annette Hill Scholarship at McGill. McGill and Concordia Universities, and Dawson College were willing to waive the normal entry requirements to DaCosta Hall graduates because they recognized the calibre of the educational environment out of which the students were graduating.
In 1972, through the initiatives of Garvin Jeffers, the Bana Program was started. The thrust of this elementary level program was prevention of academic deficiencies, and cultural development of the Black child. A few years later, Mr. Jeffers again secured a grant for a remedial program for elementary level students. This program was named after the famous Black medical doctor, Charles Drew. In 1976 the QBBE Liaison Committee was established to negotiate with the PSBGM and other educational institutions. Its initiatives ultimately led to the creation of the PSBGM/Black Community Liaison Committee, and numerous other significant changes within the formal school system of the PSBGM.
THE COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT
The member organizations of the Black Community Council of Quebec (BCCQ) collaborated with the QBBE in the planning and development of the Bana program. While the BCCQ was not involved from the inception of Bana, never the less, it is of particular importance to note that the joint responsibility for programming by the two organizations was to later become a focal point of conflict.
The QBBE had wide support for the DaCosta Hall and the Bana programs because the Black community was impressed with the fact that the organization was trying to solve some of the problems that Black youths were experiencing. White educators gave their support because the QBBE was solving problems that had frustrated their efforts in the school system. It was partly because of its relevance, that during its conflict with the powerful and credible BCCQ that community members continued to adhere to the QBBE, lending support financially and in terms of human resources.
INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMING
DaCosta Hall Program
The name Dacosta-Hall is a combination of the names of two Black Canadians , Matthew DaCosta, a member of Samuel de Champlain’s exploration group during the 1600's, and William Hall, a decorated World War II veteran. Thus the name is symbolic of Black ability, achievement, belonging and contributions to the Canadian mosaic.
DaCosta Hall is the first program undertaken by the QBBE. The initial session ran from July 2 to August 14, 1970. It was conceptualized to operate parallel to the formal education system as an extension to the school year during which students had an opportunity to qualify for college (CEGEP). The learning environment was designed to be more supportive of the Black student.
Even though this "school" was set up to function until problems were corrected, or until the formal school system had changed, this was not to be so finite a process. It is now, not only a permanent summer program of the QBBE, but it is a bona fide, fully accredited summer school in which students can attain credits accepted by the PSBGM, Students can also write the Quebec Ministry of Education(MEQ) supplementary exams and obtain their credits. There is keen interest and excellent attendance by participants in the Black history session, which are offered within the cultural component of the program as a non credit course.
The goals of the program were and still are:
1. to provide students at the Grade 11 level with sufficient academic credits to be admittedto university.
2. to instill a sense of Black pride and identity in the students as a motivating facto for theirsuccess through life.
3. to begin the enrichment of Black students from Grade 8 to 10 so that they could be removed from the practical classes.
High school students from Grade 8 to 11 are the target group because they were the potential dropouts just moving through the system. Due to the urgency of their situation, priority was given to Grade 11 students, who attained a less than average academic standing.
Structure
The administrative unit comprised of a Principal, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, and Volunteer General Assistant. The Principal was the chief administrator of the project, while the secretary and assistant performed several supportive tasks. The Volunteer functioned both as a student supervisor between classes and as a substitute teacher.
Human and Physical Resources
Teachers were actually employed from within the formal education system, and were paid directly by the PSBGM from budgets provided by the DGEC. The PSBGM assigned Montreal High School as the location for the first program. There was also an entente with Vanier College to secure placement for ten (10) students completing their entrance credits. Selby and Lafontaine Campuses of Dawson College were made available as subsequent locations for the program. Dawson College for a number of years provides the QBBE with space to house its offices. It continues to be the location for the DaCosta summer school.
The success of the program is anchored on the insistence of the administrators that teachers be qualified and competent. The teachers hired to the program were all Black, and certified in the Province of Quebec. They were community minded individuals who had contributed to the Black Community in general, and to the QBBE in particular. This quality turned out to be a key element which helped to sustain this program when it later faced financial difficulties.
Former Students Recalling the Experience
There is no better measure of the success of this innovation than the participants who lived the experience. 7hey are best able to measure the various elements and the general effect on their educational success and their lives as Black people.
Not all of the students who were part of this program followed the traditional academic route to success. Some opted instead to go into business. One such student has been operating a successful business for more than twelve (12) years. The following are stories of some of the students that followed the traditional academic route:
Mr. Linton Garner, a native of the U.S.A. came to Canada in 1964, at the tender age of 11. Garner lived in La Salle, in virtual isolation because very few Black families resided in La Salle.
Research conducted in the high schools of Montreal identified Garner as a student with borderline marks, but with great potential for university. He was advised and encouraged to pursue the sciences, but instead he chose to do a general arts degree, majoring in sociology.
Garner was glad for this "Black experience". Having come from the U.S. and having experienced the isolation of living in La Salle, this was a great source of support and inspiration for him. He developed a concern for the community that led him to conceptualizing the West Island Black Community Association (WIBCA). He has served on various special committees, including the Corbo Commission and the Consultative Committee for Intercultural and Inter racial Relations for the City of Montreal, as its secretary.
Garner, who speaks both official languages, worked for four years at the Regional Council Health and Social Services, as Regional Coordinator on Accessibility to services for the English Speaking community, prior to being appointed in 1993 as Advisor to the General Management of the Montreal Urban Community (MUC), on Inter cultural and Inter racial relations.
Mr. Clifton Ruggles, born in Montreal of Micmac and Black parents, attended the DaCosta Hall Program in 1970, the year of its creation. He had recently graduated from Northmount High with aspirations of a better life than that of his parents; he believed that a better life could be attained outside the ghetto.
This prograin helped to open his eyes to the contribution of Blacks to history, Canadian and world wide, while providing him with his first encounters with Black professionals as role models.
The late, Mr. Ruggles was a former head teacher at Options II, an alternative school. He is actively involved in consultation towards the establishing of literacy programs for the Black community. He is a freelance writer for the Montreal Gazette, and he also taught at Concordia University.
Mr. Cecil Roach, who is a graduate of the program, became a teacher in the very system that had presented so many obstacles to Blacks in the sixties. He served as the President and Chairman of the Executive Council of the BCCQ., During his tenure the organization made very meaningful progress. Mr. Roach moved to Toronto to teach English at the Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute..
Ms. Paulette Spence entered the program in 1979, three years after arriving in Montreal from Jamaica. Says Spence, “ I was a good student, studied hard, had excellent grades, hut I had no direction. "
The system directed Ms. Spence to study nursing instead of tackling the rigours of studies in law. The program provided the information, guidance and support that was necessary. Spence who has obtained a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from McGill University, still has aspirations of pursuing studies in Law.
In 1991, Ms. Spence helped to establish, and was coordinator of the "Hot Line" and Legal Clinic at the BCCQ. She had worked with the Jamaica Association of Montreal and at the time was working jointly with the Cote des Neiges Black Community Association and the MUC Station 31, as Police Liaison Officer for the Black English speaking community in Cote des Neiges. This represented a collaborative effort to improve police/Black community relations.
Cyril Tynes was an excellent student but lacked direction. Three weeks of the program was enough to trigger the following comment from Tynes: "Being a Black Canadian, it was the first time in my life that I attended an institution of learning where all the students were Black, most of them from the same background, albeit West Indian, and every single teacher, male and female, was Black ". The program thus proved important to the restoration of individual dignity and pride.
At that time, Mr. Tynes was the only Black, male worker in Youth Protection at the Centre City offices of Batshaw Social Services.
There are many other successes that have not been mentioned, but there are also failures. There are many students whom, for whatever reason, the program did not reach, students in whose lives there has been little visible manifestation of the benefits of the program.
BANA AND OTHER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROGRAMS
The name Bana is the Swahili word for child. This innovation, the counterpart to the DaCosta Hall program, was the brain child of Mr. Garvin Jeffers. It was set up as a enrichment and development program to serve elementary level students.
Two years after the creation of DaCosta summer school, Bana was created and the initial pilot was run out of Coronation School with G. Jeffers as the Principal, founder, creator. The program was organized around the integration of recreation and academic activities. The plan of action was that the QBBE would conduct the academic component, and the Cote des Neiges Black Community Association would supply the personnel for the coordination of the recreational component. From the outset Bana was a partnership between community groups. In reflection, it was unique then, and is still be unique today.
However, the program evolved to be a combination academic, recreational, SEL and sense of community learning conducted exclusively by the QBBE. It is closely connected with the PSBGM, like its sister program, DaCosta Hall Summer School. The two main goals of this project are to motivate students to learn, and to address the academic and cultural needs of elementary age students so that a more confident Black child would return to the formal school system. The children are presented with Black role models and engage in activities that emphasize their culture and history. The program began in 1972 at Bedford, Somerled and Cecil Newman Elementary Schools, as well as the NCC. In 1974 two other schools, Coronation and Parkdale, were added to the list of schools offering the program.
In 1976, there was another off shoot of the Bana program, the Charles Drew project, created and developed by Jeffers and ran out of Outremont High School along with DaCosta Hall. The prograrn was designed to develop an academic profile of the child, and to analyze the reasons for his/her academic under development. The Charles Drew project attempted to respond to the needs of the children; needs to which the schools were incapable of responding in a culturally sensitive manner. The project was discontinued due to lack of funding.
Contrary to speculation, this shift from English to French immigration did not affect the prominence and effectiveness of the QBBE. The Organization was at the forefront again, having developed an excellent working relationship with the Association des Enseignants Haitiens de Quebec(AEHQ), helping to implement strategies to ensure the educational success of our Black youth.
Some Major Accomplishments
Contrary to common perception, these challenges did not relegate the QBBE to a seasonal organization offering only summer programs. The accomplishments of the QBBE have been numerous, over the thirty-three (33) years of existence of the organization. It has managed to cause, an increase in the hiring of teachers, and in the placement, of principals and vice¬ principals. Black history made its way onto the list of accredited courses, as a Grade 10 two credit course, at several high schools. The organization has played a major role in the restructuring which led to the formation of the MCIMR Department at the PSBGM, and in the appointment of Carlos Keizer as the first Black psychologist with the PSBGM. It has influenced the election of Black commissioners, and hiring of Black and other liaison officers. It forced the relaxation of the seniority ruling when there was to be a major retrenchment. There is not a single Black principal or vice principal who has been appointed or promoted in the last seventeen years, who does not owe his or her position or retention in that position to the initiatives and lobbying or ground work of the QBBE. In addition, the QBBE has also successfully negotiated with the PSBGM for positions for Blacks as janitors, and as other support staff.
As in earlier years, enthusiasm, persistence and consistency mark the organization continued influence at the level of the PSBGM/Black Community Liaison Committee. Though many other community organizations were added to this committee, their attendance was sporadic, their contributions limited, and they finally slid into the background at this level, choosing to show a greater presence in the front line services within the schools.