Teacher candidates in the EDPJ 2000 Science & Technology in Primary Junior class participated in Visions of Science’s “Equity in STEM Instruction in Ontario Classrooms” workshop with an additional “Hair & Hustle” module, learning how Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy can be woven into daily STEM lessons and align with the Ontario curriculum. 

At 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education, teacher candidates are continually invited to rethink what teaching and learning can look like in today’s diverse classrooms. A recent workshop “Equity in STEM Instruction in Ontario Classrooms”, featuring the interactive Hair & Hustle module offered a powerful example of how Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy (CRRP) can transform STEM education. 

Partnering for Change: Visions of Science
Course Director, Nadia Qureshi, partnered with Visions of Science, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing equity in STEM. Visions of Science guests Jawahir Mohamud, Manager of In-School Programs & Partnerships, and Ali Raza, Senior Specialist in Curriculum Integration, facilitated the workshop. 
Visions of Science works with schools, families, educators, and community partners to increase access to STEM learning for Black and racialized youth from low-income communities. Nadia shared “As a researcher in science education, I have investigated the ways in which equity and anti-racism impact student experiences in science learning. The findings show incorporating equity and anti-racism is foundational to meaningful science experiences for Black and racialized youth. So, organizations like Visions of Science are excellent resources to introduce teacher-candidates to in their journey.”

Centring Equity in STEM Learning
The session focused on how Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy (CRRP) can be meaningfully integrated into everyday STEM teaching while remaining aligned with the Ontario Science Curriculum. Teacher candidates explored how STEM is not confined to labs, but instead exists in everyday life and lived experiences. 
Through Visions of Science’s adaptable 30-minute modules, participants saw how equity-centred lessons can be seamlessly embedded into classroom practice.  

Learning Through "Hair & Hustle"
The highlight of the workshop was the hands-on Hair & Hustle module. Teacher candidates were challenged to create their own hair care products using accessible, everyday ingredients such as coconut oil, shea butter, aloe vera, avocado oil, and glycerin. This activity opened the door to rich scientific inquiry, from exploring solute and solvent interactions to understanding protein structures in hair. Crucially, it also grounded science in culturally meaningful contexts. 

Bridging Science and Identity
For teacher candidates who may feel uncertain about teaching science the workshop was transformative. It reframed science as something familiar and accessible. 
By connecting concepts to everyday practices like hair care or cooking, participants began to recognize that they have always been engaging with science, even if it wasn’t previously framed that way. This realization builds confidence while expanding what counts as scientific knowledge. 
“When students see their identities reflected in what they learn, it fosters a deeper sense of belonging and curiosity,” Nadia reflected.  

Voices from the Classroom
Teacher candidates also reflected on the workshop’s impact: 

“I really enjoyed the Hair & Hustle workshop. As a hijabi, it reminded me how important it is to take care of and maintain the health of our hair, even when it’s covered… The inclusion of different hair textures made the activity feel reflective of the diversity in the room. It was practical, accessible, and empowering.” 
—&�Բ�����;Huda Ali, PJ Teacher Candidate 

“This workshop introduced me to a creative way of interacting with science… Hair care is a critical part of Black culture, identity, and pride. This experiment demonstrated how culturally responsive approaches can meaningfully integrate diverse backgrounds into teaching and learning.” 
—&�Բ�����;Nimo Jimale, PJ Teacher Candidate

Looking Ahead
Workshops like this invite future educators to reimagine STEM as a space where science, culture, and identity intersect. By embedding equity into the foundation of teaching practice, 91��ɫ teacher candidates are equipped to create classrooms where every student can see themselves as scientists. 

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Vidya Shah and Carl E. James

Carl E. James, the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education at 91��ɫ, and Vidya Shah, a professor in the Faculty of Education at 91��ɫ, are referenced in a discussion on the misunderstanding and fear of critical race theory and the need for voters to pay close attention to local trustee races as they affect systems of education. “The theory explores race and racialization and is one of several theoretical frameworks that explain how racism is built into our structures and systems,” said James and Shah.

Read the full article in the

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James didn’t bat an eye. “We’re asked that all the time. It’s a good place to start. But the fact that one would ask the question is interesting. Would a Black person ask a white person what it’s like to be white? Do we assume that a Black person would understand what it means to be a white person? If so, why does the Black person understand, but not vice versa, despite the fact that the two grew up in the same place, read the same material, watched the same TV shows, attended the same university?

He paused, then answered his own question. “Something’s wrong with the system. Something’s wrong given that the information we all end up with is so different. We have to know what the other person’s understanding if we’re going to survive in this world.”

However, gaining an understanding of Black people today is not necessarily achieved by taking a workshop on anti-Black racism. “I’m deeply skeptical of that training,” says Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Professor Andrea Davis. “It tends to position Blackness as a problem that needs to be solved. Although the discourse appears to be coming from a liberal perspective of ‘How can we help?,’ it’s really asking ‘How can we intervene so that these problems don’t overwhelm the fabric of our society?’”

Both academics have explored Blackness throughout their careers. James holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in addition to cross-appointments in graduate programs in Sociology, Social and Political Thought, and Social Work. Davis specializes in literatures and cultures of the Black Americas and holds cross-appointments in graduate programs in English, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies.

Both James and Davis have recently been appointed to leadership positions at 91��ɫ to assist the University to build a more equitable and inclusive community. In August 2020, James was appointed senior advisor on equity and representation to the University, as part of the Division of Equity, People and Culture. In September 2020, Davis began her term as special advisor on an , a position developed within the dean’s office in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

In order to move forward, both scholars believe we must go back – back to the roots of anti-Black racism and the slavery that began in the Americas in the 1500s.

“We need to think of the world as we’ve come to accept and understand it,” James explains. “We need to reflect on the colonial system, which was developed and supported by capitalism. We need to consider capitalism’s relationship to the enslavement of Africans, displacement of Indigenous peoples, the indentureship of Asians, and the immigration programs by which racialized people, even with governments’ reservations, were allowed to enter Canada."

While Black slavery was abolished in Canada (in 1838) and in the United States (in 1865), Davis notes that the racism that was born of slavery became deeply entrenched in society. “We’re talking about an institution that was embedded in the foundations of what we now understand as democratic societies. [Racism] was formed out of the framework of social relationships established over centuries of enslavement.”

She adds that while Black people became ‘free,’ the social systems created by slavery ensured they “would not be able to enter into full participatory citizenship, or economic, social and cultural freedom. Society shifted to a different kind of relationship with Black people, but that society still assumed their inferiority. And this is what we’re still seeing in the 21st century.”

“We pride ourselves on social justice at 91��ɫ, but we have to remember we’re not exempt from racism. Our leadership and our entire community need to realize that our role is not just to educate, but to reflect on what we can do better.” – Andrea Davis

The case of George Floyd, a Black man killed in May 2020 during an arrest in Minneapolis after a store clerk alleged Floyd had passed a counterfeit $20 bill, is a case in point.

“Young Black people have been taught by their parents that they should carry themselves in a certain way, and be polite and demonstrate to society that they have value,” Davis explains. “But they’re increasingly saying, ‘That’s untrue. We’re still disproportionately killed by the police.’ George Floyd was polite. He begged for his life. He said ‘please.’ He called the police officers ‘sir.’ And he still died. So now you’re seeing, on the streets, a pushback against this idea that if Black people try hard enough, they’ll be able to participate equally with others.”

But James, Davis and Sheila Cote-Meek, 91��ɫ’s vice-president, equity, people and culture, see an opportunity for positive change – and they believe 91��ɫ has a special role to play.

James believes 91��ɫ has welcomed Black people and has made progress in increasing academic programs focused on Black issues. “For years, a significant number of Black students have attended 91��ɫ, specially many who are first generation in their families to attend university. One of the attractions to the University had to do with the fact that Black students were able to find other Black students to collaborate with and to gain support.”

He believes more work is needed, however. “While 91��ɫ has had in place some academic programs that appeal to Black students – like Latin American and Caribbean Studies and now the Black Studies Program initiated by Dr. Davis – more can be done, which I think 91��ɫ recognizes.”

James and Davis welcome 91��ɫ’s commitment to increasing the number of Black faculty members. It is expected that this will help to launch courses that focus on the experiences of Black people. James, an esteemed author, has a new book on this topic: Colour Matters (University of Toronto Press, 2021), a collection of his essays that examine various aspects of Blackness.

“91��ɫ was built on values of social justice and equity. When an institution sets out core values like that, then we need to live them. We need to hear more from Black faculty, students and staff around anti-Black racism that exists on our campus… and we have a responsibility to respond.” – Sheila Cote-Meek

Cote-Meek, a sociologist who is Anishinaabe from the Teme-Augama Anishnabai, feels universities hold the keys to change. “No other kind of organization has what universities have in academic freedom: the ability to explore issues – often difficult ones – and to create space to have open dialogues about issues like anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism.

“91��ɫ was built on values of social justice and equity. When an institution sets out core values like that, then we need to live them. We’ve heard and need to hear more from Black faculty, students and staff around anti-Black racism that exists on our campus… and we have a responsibility to respond.”

Davis urges action: “Moments come and go. We have to seize this moment. We need to move ahead on increasing the representation of full-time Black faculty, providing more diverse curricular offerings for our students that centre on the study of Black cultures, knowledge and Black ideas beyond just anti-racism courses.

“We pride ourselves on social justice at 91��ɫ, but we have to remember we’re not exempt from racism. Our leadership and our entire community need to realize that our role is not just to educate, but to reflect on what we can do better.”

The Office of Vice-President Research & Innovation continues to contribute to the to improve and expand initiatives that aim to address anti-Black racism, and further the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion across the entire University, especially in the research, innovation, and knowledge mobilization domains. To support this work, the University has undertaken a series of consultations with students, faculty, instructors, staff and other community leaders at 91��ɫ on anti-Black racism and to identify ways to address systemic barriers within the institution.

For more information on James, visit his and the Jean Augustine Chair website. To learn more about Davis, visit her and the YFile article about her . To read more about Cote-Meek, see the announcement, in YFile, of her .

91��ɫ’s Organized Research Units are stellar resources as well: ; and  .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91��ɫ, follow us at ; watch our new , which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.

Paul Fraumeni is an award-winning freelance writer, who has specialized in covering university research for more than 20 years. To learn more, visit his .

Article originally published in the November 5, 2020 issue of "," a special edition of YFile publishing on the first Friday of every month, showcasing research and innovation at 91��ɫ.

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