SJE :: George JS Dei :: Social Justice Education at OISE

George JS Dei
Professor

phone: (416) 978-0460
email: george.dei@utoronto.ca

Department: Social Justice Education

Research Overview

Dr. Dei's teaching and research interests are in the areas of anti-racism education, development education, international development, indigenous knowledges and anti-colonial thought.

Academic History

PhD. (1986) University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Department of Anthropology.
M.A. (1980) McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Department of Anthropology.
B.A. (1978) University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Departments of Sociology and Archaeology.

Teaching Overview

Dr. Dei has taught the following courses at OISE:

Principles of Anti-Racism Education
Modernization, Development and Education in African Contexts
The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
Advanced Seminar on Race and Anti-Racism Research Methodology in Education
Indigenous Knowledge and Decolonization: Pedagogical Implications
Franz Fanon and Education: Pedagogical Possibilities

Representative Publications

Books

2011 Indigenous Philosophies and Critical Education. New York: Peter Lang.

2010 Teaching Africa: Towards a Transgressive Pedagogy. New York: Springer Publishing.

2010 Fanon and Education: Thinking Through Pedagogical Possibilities. New York: Peter Lang [co-editor, Marlon Simmons].

2010 Fanon and the Counter-Insurgency of Education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers .

Chapters in Books

2012 “Revisiting The Intersection of Race, Class, Gender in the Anti-Racism Discourse”. In. Valerie Zawilski (ed.). Inequality in Canada: A Reader on the Intersections of Gender, Race and Class. London: Oxford University Press. 2^nd edition.

2012 “Addressing Marginalization Inside Education: Racialized, Immigrant and Aboriginal Youth”. In. Kate Tilleczek and Bruce Ferguson (eds.). Marginalized Youth and Contemporary Educational Contexts. [with Anneke Rummens]

Research Grants and Contracts

Research Fundings:

2011 SSHRC/GRG Small Scale Grant (2011-12), $1,300 for on-going study on: "Traditional Chieftaincy in Ghana: Tensions of Change and Modernity in Leadership and Governance”

2010 SSHRC/GRG Small Scale Grant (2010-11), $1,933 for a study on: "Traditional Chieftaincy in Ghana: Tensions of Change and Modernity in Leadership and Governance”

2009 SSHRC General Research Grant, $129,219 for a 3-year study (2010-2012) on: "African Proverbs, Folktales and Story Forms: Lessons for Education in Pluralistic Contexts.”

2007 Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat grant, $75,000 for a study on: " Teaching Discipline, Respect and Character Education: What Can be Learned from Schooling in Pluralistic Contexts”.

2007 SSHRC/GRG Small Scale Grant (2007-8), $1400 for a study on: "Plant Medicine and Traditional Pharmacology: The Case of Ghana.”

Team Projects:

2006 The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat Grant, $425,000 for a research on: “Multiple Literacies Through Diversity: Kindergarten – Grade 6.” [Principal Investigator: Professor Marie Josee Berger, Dean Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa.

2005 Ontario Ministry of Education funded project, $8,000 on: “Towards an Equitable Education for Black/African-Canadian Students in Ontario Schools”. Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Ontario.

Honours and Awards

2009 Nile Valley Foundation Learning Centre Commission Award, Edmonton, Alberta.
2008 Fellow, Centre For School and Community Science and Technology Studies (SACOST), University of Education, Winneba, Ghana
2008 Associate Graduate Faculty. Faculty of Social Work, School of Graduate studies, Wilfred Laurier University, Ontario, Canada.
2007 ‘Distinguished Visiting Professor’, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos State, Nigeria]. September 17 – 24.
2007 Canadian Alliance of Black Educators Award for ‘Excellence in Education and Community Development”. Presented at the Ghana Golden Jubilee/Bi-centennial celebration of the Abolition of British Slave Trade, Toronto, March 3.
2006 Planet African Television Award for ‘African Renaissance”. Presented at the Planet African Television Awards Gala, Toronto, October 21.
2005 University of Toronto Black Alumni Association Award for ‘Excellence in Education”. Presented at the Second UTBAA Awards Gala, Toronto, October 21.
2005 ANKH Ann Ramsey Award for ‘Intellectual Initiative and Academic Action’. Presented at the luncheon of the Annual International Conference of the Association of Nubian Kemetic Heritage, Philadelphia, U.S., October 1.

Professional Activities

2011-present Member, Board of Trustees for National Scholarship Fund [formerly Harry Jerome Scholarships], Black Business and Professionals Association (BBPA). Toronto, Ontario.
2011-present Distinguished Fellow, The Molefi Kete Asante Institute, a nonprofit, independent think-tank based in Philadelphia, US to advance the cause of global African development.
2009-present Editorial Board Member of Journal: Postcolonial Directions in Education. Horizons, Maltese Multimedia Publishing House, Maltese.
2008-present Member, Board of Advisors. University of Toronto Black Alumni Association.
2008-present Editorial Advisory Board Member of Journal: Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education. Edmonton, Canada.
2008-present Editorial Board Member of Journal: Handbook of Cultural Politics and Education. Sense Publications.
2007-present Editorial Board Member of Journal: Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education. New York: Routledge.

Keynote addresses, guest speaker, and conference presentations:

2012 Keynote Address ‘Towards a Very Messy Utopia: The Challenge of Anti-racist Education in the 21st century”. Workshop on: ‘Anti-Racism’, organized in partnership with Memorial University’s International Student Advising Office, St. John’s, Newfoundland, March 20.
2012 Keynote Address, “The Coloniality of the African Existence”. The 2012 African Heritage and Black History Month Public Symposium Kwantlien Polytechnic University, Surrey, British Columbia, March 8.
2012 Guest panellist, “Reclaiming Our Tongues in Ancient Ways: What Does It Taste and Sound Like” Panel Circle to be organized by Black Canadian Action Network of Peel (BCAN). Knowledge Bookstore, 177 Queen Street, Brampton, ON. April 26.
2012 Invited paper: “Interrogating Democratic Education” as ‘Global Citizenship Education: Thinking Out Differently”. Panel Session on: “Re-Imagining the ‘Global Citizenship’ Discourse: A View from the contexts of Developing Countries’. Organized by Janice Bernadine Fournillier for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Vancouver, BC, April 13-17.
2011 “African Indigenous Proverbs and the Instructional and Pedagogic Relevance for Youth Education”. Cheikh Anta Diop Annual Conference. Holiday Inn, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, October 7-9.

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