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African Elders’ Critical Teachings (ElderCrits)

In Search of New Educational Futures

by George Jerry Sefa Dei (Author) Grace Garlow (Author) Ilar Haydarian (Author) Alessia Cacciavillani (Author) Paul Banahene Adjei (Author) Danica Vidotto (Author)
©2026 Textbook XXII, 204 Pages
Series: Counterpoints, Volume 569

Available soon

Summary

This book explores how the cultural knowledge of Indigenous African Elders and educational practitioners can transform education in Canada and beyond. Drawing on research in Ghana, South Africa, and Canada, it examines how Elders’ wisdom rooted in Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies, and axiologies offers vital insights for creating inclusive, just, and decolonized educational systems. Elders are moral educators, knowledge keepers, and community leaders whose teachings challenge colonial assumptions in schooling and redefine ideas of discipline, learning, and responsibility. Their lessons call for repairing education to nurture wholeness, respect, and relational accountability. The book invites readers to reconsider what counts as knowledge and who is authorized to teach.

Biographical notes

George Jerry Sefa Dei (Author) Grace Garlow (Author) Ilar Haydarian (Author) Alessia Cacciavillani (Author) Paul Banahene Adjei (Author) Danica Vidotto (Author)

George Jerry Sefa Dei, PhD, is a Full Professor of Social Justice Education and Director of the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Paul Banahene Adjei, PhD, is a Full Professor in the School of Social Work at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Grace Garlow is a teacher and interdisciplinary researcher whose work centers on culturally responsive education. Ilar Haydarian is a law student at the University of Western Ontario with an academic background in equity and social justice education. Alessia Cacciavillani holds a Master of Education and is currently a teacher candidate in Ontario. Danica Vidotto, PhD, is an educator and researcher at the University of Ottawa.

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Title: African Elders’ Critical Teachings (ElderCrits)