![]() "When a student finds a teacher (who is) like him or her … they can also make them dream more about their future. My presence here is also an advantage to a school (that) has Black students," said Ouandji, whose first language is French. "It is good for them to see a Black teacher among the other teachers at the school because it is good for the environment of the school to have diversity of cultures. She knows how important it is for Black students to find the same connection with their educators and other African Nova Scotia professionals. It took about three years for Ouandji to find connections in the African Nova Scotian community in Cape Breton a connection with people who share her history and experiences. "When I first came to Canada, I was in Montreal and at the University d'Ottawa (University of Ottawa), there was still a large Black community," she said. Or how few Black students would be at the school. Originally from Cameroon, Africa, the science educator knew she was moving to a small city but hadn't anticipated how small the Black community would be - especially the Black French community. Rosine Ouandji has been a chemistry teacher at Centre Scolaire Étoile de L'Acadie in Sydney for 12 years. "It's very disheartening … that here we are in 2023 and, like, we have to ask ourselves how far have we really come to make Black representation a priority?" "It can be hard to be the only Black teacher in the room," she said. Francis Xavier University in culturally responsive pedagogy, which she is currently doing, that she had other Black instructors.įor Tobin, she hasn't seen much improvement in the representation of African Nova Scotian educators in schools. It wasn't until she started her master of education at St. NICOLE SULLIVAN/CAPE BRETON POST - Nicole SullivanĪ graduate of Cape Breton University's bachelor of education program, Tobin had some Indigenous instructors but none that were Black. Rosine Ouandji teaches Grade 12 chemistry on Wednesday at Centre Scolaire Étoile de L'Acadie. I really saw myself in her and I wanted to be like her one day." If I didn't have Lynn, I don't think I would have become a teacher. "That's why I think representation is so important. She was living it," said Tobin, who teaches Grade 1 at Harbourside Elementary School in Whitney Pier. "She was kind of doing culturally relevant pedagogy before it was even a thing that people talked about. The Sydney woman is the only one of her siblings to have had a Black teacher and it was that year in Crawford-Carter's classroom that made Tobin start thinking about a career in education. Tobin grew up in Whitney Pier and is the youngest of six siblings.
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