Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Program
Education
Supervisor
Dr. Rebecca Coulter
Abstract
Acknowledging the continued concerns and calls for the education system to improve how it addresses the changing face of Canada in terms of race, gender, class, language and culture, this thesis focuses on the history and narratives of a single African-Canadian community as a starting point for educators who wish to learn about and make use of marginalized histories in their classroom practice. The information would also prove helpful to those educators who often have difficulty in finding material relating to African-Canadian history and as a result fail to add the stories of black Canadians to the national narrative shared in their classrooms. There is a wealth of knowledge that can be drawn from the material in each section of the thesis, beginning with an exploration of the theoretical frame, which introduces readers to the concepts underlying African-Canadian studies, and provides them with a means of better comprehending the lived experiences of people of African descent in the New World Diaspora. The study also provides a concise history of the first and second generations of the Buxton community, providing access to the evolution of the community from that of a planned refugee settlement, to becoming an active Canadian community. Additionally, the study explores the American South that awaited those who chose to return “home” after the American Civil War. The narratives and the process of restorying provide teachers with concrete examples of how to access and work with historical documents, or take single lives and events and discover connections, as they make sense of the experiences.
Recommended Citation
Bonner, Claudine Y., "This Tract of Land: North Buxton, Ontario, 1873-1914" (2010). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 49.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/49