Di Niu
According to Asante (1991), Afrocentricity is linked to education “from an African worldview.” In language instruction, this concept corresponds to the concept of ethnicity (Van Herk, 2018). However, the black community includes not only African communities, but also communities with African ancestry from the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States. When it comes to the “sense” of this sociolinguistic phenomenon, more actions in the real educational system may be required – Africentric Alternative School is one example.
Clearly, Africentric Alternative School is an innovative educational sociolinguistics model in Canada. In a multilingual context, it reshapes traditional understandings of African heritage. Despite some challenges, the active participation of the local African heritage-based community demonstrates the success of this model. In general, this school model reconstructs the identity of local people involved in this heritage. It turns out that the community-emphasized aspect of Canadian multilingualism is demonstrated in this case. Furthermore, various communities have pledged their support for the construction of this new school model. Similar educational innovation may be required not only for African heritage communities but also for other ethnic communities. Crump (2014) also claims that the introduction of LangCrit represents the recent success of critical language and race theory research. Because it comes from a critical perspective, the LangCrit helps to structure the design of the school curriculum as well as the sociolinguistic vision. This reconstructed vision should, indeed, be double-counted.
Moreover, Giddings (2001) discovers that incorporating Afrocentric content into the school curriculum is effective. African heritage-centered education contributes to the multicultural context in Canada through the useful critiques of these scholars. This innovative educational institution has the potential to redefine the power of communal culture in the pursuit of educational justice. There appears to be an emphasis on “common value” in Canadian multilingualism. The Africentric Alternative School is a brilliant example of educational inclusivity, particularly in the curriculum that conceptualizes this vision. That being said, what matters is not only the knowledge of African heritage but also the process of legitimizing African sociocultural production.
In my opinion, the construction of such an educational institution is a “communal request.” This request formalizes the integration of African heritage into the mainstream of Canadian education. Naturally, I think about the various Chinese cultural centers in Canada. In comparison to the Africentric Alternative School’s initiative, Chinese heritage-based centers may need a little more courage to initiate this type of “communal request” – to preserve minority culture (other than English and French languages in Canada). This request should be regarded as an urgent need to be incorporated into the scope of Canadian multilingual culture. Nonetheless, cultural conflicts (or misunderstandings) remain along this path to a relatively optimal state in multilingualism – a critical vision should be emphasized.
Finally, the Africentric Alternative School represents a novel perspective on conceptualizing African heritage-based communal culture in the context of Canadian multilingualism. This insight – about respect and common value – is embedded in the “mainstream” of Canadian educational reform.
Question: What is your own opinion about the Africentric Alternative School?
Reference
Akua, C. (2020). Standards of Afrocentric education for school leaders and teachers. Journal of black studies, 51(2), 107-127.
Asante, M. K. (1991). The Afrocentric idea in education. The journal of negro education, 60(2), 170-180.
Giddings, G. J. (2001). Infusion of Afrocentric content into the school curriculum: Toward an effective movement. Journal of black Studies, 31(4), 462-482.
