THE MONTHLY GLEANER | SEPTEMBER 8 - OCTOBER 8, 2022 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 5 BY NEIL Armstrong DR ANDREW B. Campbell wants every student in his class to know that he sees them and to feel that they belong. He encourages fellow educators to do the same because of the inequities in schools. The Jamaican Canadian was recently named among six exceptional individuals welcomed by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto to new or returning faculty positions for the 2021-2022 academic year. Campbell, who has almost 30 years of experience as an educator, began as a continuing teaching stream appointment at the rank of assistant professor in leadership for racial justice in teacher education in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning. “It’s an exciting time, it’s a courageous time because as the title says racial justice, but I’ve been doing the work of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for years. So this is not new for me,” he said, noting that someone recently congratulated him for “now officially doing”what he has always done. Describing his appointment as a new leg of the journey, Campbell says it allows him to have a “seat at a bigger table”and“a more accessible seat”, which includes being a part of the hiring teams. “I am a part of teams now that are saying give this person access or let me speak to that person to hear what they have to offer.” The educator says he intends to continue being his authentic self and vows not lose himself in the new space. The veteran educator received a PhD in educational leadership and policy from the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education in 2014. His scholarship and teaching focused on anti-racist pedagogy and diversity in educational leadership. Affectionately referred to as Dr ABC, he is well known to the OISE community for his leadership on advancing anti-discrimination work in teacher education, and recently received OISE’s 2022 Award for Excellence in Initial Teacher Education. He has been a sessional lecturer at OISE since 2017, offering courses in anti-discrimination education, leadership and diversity, educational change, urban education, and black educators. Since 2021, he has also served as academic coordinator for the junior/intermediate teacher education cohorts in the master of teaching programme. Dr ABC previously taught at Queens University, The University of the West Indies, Niagara University, Seneca College, and Durham College, in addition to past experience as a classroom teacher and administrator in Jamaica and The Bahamas. “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. From I was a child growing up I had examples of good teachers that I wanted to be like: my grade-one teacher Ms Smikle, grade-three teacher Ms Allen, grade-five teacher Ms Hamilton, [and] grade-nine English teacher Ms Reid.” In 1995, when he graduated from The Mico University College as a young teacher, Campbell says he started to find himself in spaces where he could share his own pedagogy with his colleagues. “Teaching teachers and educational leaders is a dream come true because I’ve always wanted to do this and I’m doing it.” The ebullient educator says he was doing advocacy work before he knew the word ‘advocacy’, because he knew that“sometimes, someone has to speak up for somebody else”. He advises teachers to make sure that they intentionally see all the students in their classrooms. “Being in Canada and being in the school system, I realize that there are inequities. Every classroom is not the same, every school board is not the same; every child in school is not treated the same way. There are inequities because you’re immigrant, you’re excluded because you’re 2SLGBTQ+, because of ageism, shadism, or sizeism,” said Campbell, noting that this differential treatment equates to less than and exclusion. As an alumnus of Kingston College, he has a message for students just entering high school: “Dream bigger and wider and higher than the barriers and the borders you see now.” If he had the opportunity to address new teachers at his alma mater, The Mico, Campbell says he would tell them that there is a student that needs them. “There is a student out there who needs your kind of teaching. They are going into a profession where children, parents and community will be looking to them and it’s okay to feel that level of responsibility and accountability because we are dealing with people’s lives. We can make and break people’s children; we need teachers who are going to make people’s children see all the possibilities.” Campbell’s private tutoring business, Teachable Moments with Dr ABC, offers workshops in equity, diversity and inclusion in leadership. He has authored two books: TeachableMoments with DR.ABC: A Spoonful for the Journey and The Invisible Student in the Jamaican Classroom. Educator Andrew Campbell wants all students to feel valued CAMPBELL ‘I am a part of teams now that are saying give this person access or let me speak to that person to hear what they have to offer.’
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