Anita’s Plight: Challenging Low Expectations for a Black Girl in a Montreal High School

Authors

Lerona Dana Lewis Dr., University of Ottawa Faculty of Education, Ontario, CanadaFollow

Abstract

In this paper, I examine how a Black adolescent girl in a Montreal high school contests low teacher expectations that resulted in her being directed to a vocational program (Formation à un métier semi-spécialisé, FMS) in her high school. The FMS program prepares children for entry-level careers, defined in the Quebec curriculum as semi-skilled jobs. I (re)present her account in the form of a narrative found poem that explores how the use of found poetry as a heuristic device improves understanding of the school practices impacting the student’s placement in the FMS program. The found poem offers a critical reading of her resistance as she tries to remain likable to power brokers who can determine her future. It also contributes to research on how a Black girl in high school may experience adultification when the child, parent, and school relationship is unproductive. This original research ultimately fills the knowledge gap by providing examples of everyday mundane Montreal school practices that can result in the exclusion of Black children from the regular academic school pathways that lead to a high school diploma. While broad implications cannot be drawn from this single case, the paper concludes with recommendations for, and further questions about, school practices that can support Black girls' dreams for themselves.

Keywords

Black girls’ education, found poetry, Montreal High School, education inequality, vocational program

Author Bio(s)

Lerona Dana Lewis is Bilingual (French/English) Assistant Professor in Black Youth Studies. She serves on various Black community organizations and service organisations in Montreal Quebec. She is the lead researcher on community-based action research projects. Please direct correspondence to leronadana.lewis@uottawa.ca

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge and thank the LaSalle Multicultural Resource Centre for their permission to publish research from the data collected as part of a Heritage Canada Research Project.

Publication Date

5-31-2025

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2025.7156

Recommended APA Citation

Lewis, L. D. (2025). Anita’s plight: Challenging low expectations for a Black girl in a Montreal high school. The Qualitative Report, 30(5), 3665-3685. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2025.7156

ORCID ID

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9038-456X