Ideas from the Trenches - The Education Gap

There are about 50,000 PhD candidates in Canada, toiling away for years in relative obscurity. This is the second of an occasional series which attempts to turn their research into an hour of radio. In this episode, producers Tom Howell and Nicola Luksic follow the work of PhD student Kimberley Tavares. Initially driven to understand why a disproportionate number of black male youth disengage from the school system, she turns to the experiences of black women teachers and the lessons they hold for improving educational outcomes for all marginalized youth.

Guests (in order of appearance):

Kimberley Tavares, PhD in Education, York University.

Shae Carter, Kimberley's son and grade 9 student.

Malik Lindo-Ireland, Grade 12 student, pursuing post-secondary education in radio and television broadcasting. Active member of the Markham African Caribbean Association.

Tredel Lambert, Grade 12 student, pursuing post-secondary education in illustration. Active member of the Markham African Caribbean Association.

Yvette Blackburn, Grade 8 teacher in Toronto.

Afua Cooper, Poet and historian. Founder and chair of the Black Canadian Studies Association;  James Robinson, Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies at Dalhousie University. 

Patricia Hill Collins, social theorist, teacher, and author of  Another Kind of Public Education and  On Intellectual Activism, among many other books. Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland. 


Kimberley Tavares just graduated with a PhD in Education from York University. Her work and her ideas are featured in this episode.