The Silence Between the Lines

Stories of Survival in Independent Schools

Abstract

This article explores the lived experiences of racialized educators within Canadian independent schools through a narrative inquiry framework. Drawing on interviews with three racialized faculty members, the study illuminates the often-silenced realities of assimilation, internalized colonization, and the absence of culturally sustaining pedagogies in independent educational spaces. Positioned within a three-dimensional narrative space, each participant’s story is examined through a decolonial lens informed by Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2017). The findings reveal a troubling pattern of institutional omission, where racialized identities are rendered invisible in both curriculum and school culture. The study also offers reflexive insights from the researcher’s own position as a racialized educator working within the same system. This work aims to disrupt dominant discourses of meritocracy and multiculturalism in independent schools, while calling for relational ethics and decolonial practices that can more authentically center equity in these privileged educational contexts.