Becoming an Antiracist Educator: The Life and Work of Timothy J. Stanley (Education)

Becoming an Anti-racist Educator honours the profound influence of Dr. Timothy J. Stanley, a trailblazing historian whose work has transformed how we understand racism, racialization, and historical consciousness in Canada. This timely volume brings together scholars, educators, and activists to reflect on how Stanley’s scholarship and mentorship have shaped their own commitments to antiracist education.

Spanning generations and disciplinary backgrounds, the contributors offer deeply personal and politically grounded reflections that connect Stanley’s insights to the pressing realities of our time—from the toppling of colonial statues to the resurgence of anti-Asian racism and the uncovering of unmarked graves at residential school sites. Together, they demonstrate that antiracist teaching is not just about critiquing systems, but about reimagining relationships to land, history, and each other.

Organized into three thematic sections—Shaping Anti-racist Approaches, Doing History Differently, and Mentorship—the collection culminates in a powerful epilogue by Dr. Stanley, whose voice continues to guide conversations on justice, equity, and historical accountability.

This book is an essential resource for educators, scholars, and community members committed to interrupting racism in schools, museums, universities, and beyond. It offers not only an archive of Stanley’s impact but a roadmap for those seeking to carry his work forward in urgent and transformative ways.

Nicholas Ng-A-Fook is a Professor and former Vice-Dean of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. He continues to address the 94 Calls to Action put forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in partnership with Survivors from the Algonquin First Nations communities. His teaching and research are situated within the wider international field of curriculum studies. As a curriculum theorist, he draws on different life writing research methodologies—autobiography, ethnography, oral history, and narrative inquiry—to co-create, co-support, and co-sustain culturally responsive, relevant, and relational curriculum with school leaders and teachers seeking to serve the public good. He is the host of the FooknConversation podcast.

Mark T. S. Currie is a SSHRC-funded Post-Doctoral Fellow at the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies at Carleton University. His post-doctoral research focuses on small-town communities in southern Ontario, investigating whether community members remember and/or see racism occurring in the town; if they see their town as an antiracist community; and how Whiteness is maintained or disrupted in the memories and perceptions of the town. This post-doctoral research builds on Mark’s PhD in Education, which focused on sociohistorical geographies and enacting antiracisms in downtown Toronto. Mark holds a Master of Arts in Island Studies from the University of Prince Edward Island, for which he investigated postcolonial education and cultural identity on the Caribbean island of Dominica. He also achieved a Master of Teaching from Griffith University, for which he conducted action research on in-class student motivation in a secondary school in Cape Town, South Africa.