A Historical Exploration of Internationally Educated Teachers - Jamaican Teachers in 1960s Alberta

Oct 15, 2026

This paper examines the immigration and credentialing experiences of Jamaican teachers in Alberta during the 1960s, using teacher narratives and archival research to clarify how historical context shapes issues of internationally educated teachers. It argues that bureaucracy can simultaneously constrain and enable credential recognition and that this duality is crucial for policy makers reforming current credentialing processes. The study is situated within a larger SSHRC-funded project on immigration and racialization, highlighting African Canadian professionals who obtained employment in credentialed fields.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

The immigration and credentialing experiences of Jamaican teachers in 1960s Alberta

Research purpose and policy implications

Theoretical and methodological orientation (oral history)

Study participants and interview context

A HISTORICAL EXPLORATION OF INTERNATIONALLY EDUCATED TEACHERS: JAMAICAN TEACHERS IN 1960S ALBERTA1 Jennifer Kelly and Dan Cui, University of Alberta This paper examines the immigration and credentialing experiences of Jamaican teachers in Alberta during the 1960s. Using teacher narratives as well as archival research the paper aims to develop a historical understanding of issues related to internationally educated teachers and how this historical understanding can inform the contemporary theoretical and policy debates on credential recognition. Contrary to an understanding that locates teacher credentialing only in the present day and a one-sided critique of its bureaucratic nature, we argue that historical analysis reminds us that bureaucracy can be both constraining and enabling. An understanding of this duality is of crucial importance for policy makers to rethink the contemporary credentialing process for internationally educated teachers. Our research on Jamaican teachers is a part of a larger SSHRC funded project, Racialization, Immigration and Citizenship: Alberta 1900-1960s, which explores how processes of immigration and racialization affected the social formation of African Canadian communities in Alberta. Sociological literature on immigrants of African descent has all too often concentrated on blue-collar workers or refugees with a consequent overemphasis on immigrants as always needy; as always accepting from rather than contributing to Canadian society. This case study of Jamaican teachers attempts to fill this lacuna by highlighting experiences of African Canadian professionals who were able to immigrate to Alberta in the 1960s and gain employment in a profession certified in their country of origin. The experiences of these 1 This research project was funded by a Social Science Humanities Research Council Standard Research grant. Thanks to Mary Victoria Tanye and Ben Moses for research assistance. internationally educated teachers highlight middle-class immigrants of African descent; a social category often lost in research. More importantly, this paper will link an empirical historical study of teacher immigration and teacher credentialing to current debates on the recognition of professional immigrants and their qualifications within Canadian society. Questions are raised as to what were the immigration experiences of these teachers? What forms of teacher education and certification process did Jamaican teachers have to go through in the 1960s? How did the credentialing process affect their lived experiences in Canada? How were their individual immigration and credentialing experiences linked to the social, political and economic changes atthe macro level of Albertan society? What are the implications of this historical exploration of Jamaican teachers for the current debates on teacher certification of internationally educated teachers? Theoretical/Methodological Orientation Since much of the knowledge concerning teachers from Jamaica and the Caribbean in the 1960s has been traditionally marginalized in historical documentation and literature, oral history was chosen as an initial methodology for the project. According to Ritchie (2003),―Oral history collects memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews…Recordings of the interview are transcribed, summarized, or indexed and then placed in library or archives‖(p. 19). Besides its strength in making knowledge public, this methodology allows people who have been marginalized to be seen and heard. As Ritchie (2003) argues,―not until the 1970s did a new generation of American historians begin writing history ‗from the bottom up‘‖(p. 23) . In combination with open-ended semi-structured interviews which allow for themes, not highlighted by existing literature, to be identified by participants, our project is about using oral histories to reconstruct knowledge ―from below.‖ As E.P. Thompson (1981)

FAQs

What does the paper investigate about Jamaican teachers in Alberta during the 1960s?

It examines their immigration and teacher-credentialing experiences in Alberta in the 1960s, including how these processes connected to broader social, political, and economic changes.

How does the study explain the role of bureaucracy in teacher credentialing?

It challenges the view that credentialing is only restrictive in the present day, arguing that historical analysis shows bureaucracy can be both constraining and enabling.

What research methods does the paper use to reconstruct these experiences?

It uses oral history as an initial methodology and combines it with open-ended semi-structured interviews to identify themes and multiple perspectives from participants.

Oct 15, 2026

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