Portuguese-Canadians
 Approximately 411,000*
 70% in Toronto, Montreal, Kitchener & Vancouver
 30% (122,000) Canadian born and over 15*
 23% (93,000) under 15*
 11% (43,000) between 15-24*
(Statistics Canada, 2006 Census, catalogue no. 97-562-XCB2006012)
Portuguese Ethnic Origin,
by CMA (2006 Census)
Toronto
Montreal
Vancouver
Kitchener
Hamilton
London
Ottawa/Gatineau
Winnipeg
….
Halifax
188,110
46,535
20,335
19,500
17,095
12,465
12,045
10,305
…..
1,825
Source: Statistics Canada (2008). Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada
Highlight Tables, 2006 Census. Cat. N. 97-562-XWE2006002
Portuguese-Canadian
Strengths
 Stable, established community
 Levels of poverty lower than
average
 High levels of home ownership
 Less likely to report suffering
racism
 Most consider their lives as
having improved in Canada
(sources: Matas & Valentine, (2000); Nunes,
(1998, 2003); Ornstein, (2006); Statistics Canada,
2006 Census, catalogue no. 97-562-XCB2006012)
Portuguese-Canadian
challenges
 Concentrated in unskilled construction,
manufacturing and service occupations
 Significantly lower average incomes
 Disproportionately fewer individuals earning in
upper income brackets
 Lowest education levels of any minority, including
the First-Nations
 Youth dropping out in disproportionate numbers
Sources: Toronto Board of Education Reports from 1970 to 2004; Brown,
(2006); Giles (2002); Matas & Valentine, (2000); Nunes, (1998, 2003; 2004, 2005);
Ornstein, (2006); Santos, (2004); Statistics Canada, 2006 Census, catalogue no.
97-562-XCB2006012.
Population 15 or more by selected ethnic origins and
highest level of schooling (2006 census)
Canada
24
Greek
Ukrainian
English
German
Norwegian
French
Italian
Dutch
Haitian
Vietnamese
Latin Am. N.i.e.
West Indian
Sri Lankan
Guyanese
Canadian
Jamaican
Black
Portuguese
North American Indian
14
30
16
15
14
14
14
13
14
13
12
13
11
11
11
11
11
10
9
9
22
21
23
21
23
27
22
26
33
24
18
25
23
27
22
27
38
39
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
2
3
2
2
2
2
2
3
2
7
2
100%
NO certificate diploma or degree
High school certificate or equivalent
Some post-secondary below Bachelor's
University certificate diploma or degree at bachelor's level or above (except Graduate degree)
Graduate Degree
Compiled from Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population, Statistics Canada catalogue no. 97-564-XCB2006007.
Ornstein, M. (2006, April 04). Moving the watermill: Collectively addressing the needs of Luso-Canadian
“At-Risk” youth. Paper presented at a meeting with Chief Justice of Ontario Roy McMurtry & the
Portuguese-Canadian National Congress, University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall, Toronto, ON.
Ornstein, M. (2006). Ethno-Racial Groups in Toronto, 1971-2001: A Demographic and Socio-Economic
Profile. Toronto: York University, Institute for Social Research.
Ornstein, M. (2006, April 04). Moving the watermill: Collectively addressing the needs of Luso-Canadian “AtRisk” youth. Paper presented at a meeting with Chief Justice of Ontario Roy McMurtry & the PortugueseCanadian National Congress, University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall, Toronto, ON.
Ornstein, M. (2006). Ethno-Racial Groups in Toronto, 1971-2001: A Demographic and Socio-Economic Profile.
Toronto: York University, Institute for Social Research.
Luso-Canadian Youth
and the Dropout Problem
 Entering into 3rd Canadian-born generation
 Proportionately more numerous than Canadian
average
 Dropping out in disproportionate numbers
 Evidence from Ontario, Quebec & B.C.
 Highest dropout rate in Toronto (2005) (43%)
 Predominantly a male phenomenon
 Community concerned with social reproduction of
youth in parents’ marginalized socioeconomic role
Sources: Toronto Board of Education Reports from 1970 to 2004; Brown, (2006); Giles (2002); Nunes,
(1998, 2004, 2005); Ornstein, (2006); Santos, (2004).
Questions
 Why are Portuguese-Canadian youth dropping out in
disproportionate numbers?
 What influences have contributed to their decision
regarding entering college or university?
 What factors have prevented Portuguese-Canadian youth
from integrating fully into Canadian society?
Portuguese-Canadian Youth
Barriers and Supports Study
 Approach
 Critical Pedagogy & Participatory Research
 Paulo Freire’s (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed
 21 Focus group meetings
 Based on Freire’s “circulos de cultura” (culture circles, or study
circles)
 6 in each of Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg & Vancouver
 50 individual interviews
 10 in each city
 Focus group participants develop questions to be asked in interviews
 Partnership with Portuguese-Canadian National Congress
 Community Advisory Committee
 Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
The Structure of
Underachievement
Cultural, Class &
Linguistic Barriers
School System Barriers
• Streaming
• Biased IQ tests
• Not eligible for ESL
• Poor success in teaching
reading & writing
• Non-reflective curriculum
• Low teachers’ expectations
• Teachers’ stereotyping
• Little value placed on
international languages
& cultures
Dropout and/or
failure to enter
higher education
Strong Family Support System
• Lack of tradition of higher
education
• Canadian-born entering
school system as nonEnglish speakers
• Parents unable to assist
children
• Limited parental experience
with education system
• Lack of role models
• Oppositional identity
• Lower income levels
• Disparaging view of
community & ethnicity (in
Toronto & Montreal)
•Mediates worst consequences of dropping out
•Provides safety net for essentials (but not luxuries)
•Extensive network for securing manual labour employment
•System of reciprocal rights & responsibilities
Question
What are the attitudes of Luso-Canadian youth,
regarding their schools, schooling in general and
post-secondary education?
What role do these attitudes towards schooling
play within this phenomenon?
Attitudes Towards Schooling
 School is difficult
 Many are having academic difficulties
 Curriculum and workload is hard, particularly for those
performing badly
 Lack of parental assistance towards school work and
decisions
You get to high school and I don’t even bother to ask my
parents for help. I have to find other people to ask for
help, straight up; because they don’t know anything.
Toronto non-post-secondary-bound 3 focus group (male)
 Motivation and assistance often comes from an older
sibling, often a female
Attitudes Towards Schooling, cont’d
 Many disengaged from school
 Lack of engagement with schooling
 Boredom
 Don’t see schoolwork as relevant to their lives
 Would like to see more practical courses
I hated school. I started at 8, I couldn't wait till 2:30. I just
wanted to get out of there. And the tutoring was after
school, so I didn't want to stay…. …I just hate doing
schoolwork. School was just not for me. I prefer a hammer
and a nail than a book and a pencil
Toronto 5, Aug. 6, 2010 (male)
Attitudes Towards Schooling, cont’d
 Making money immediately and “starting one’s life” are
regarded as important
 Because parents prioritize children’s immediate needs,
but youth must work for extras
I’m 24, you know. You want to get married, have kids, have your own
house, have a car. You don’t have time to get yourself in debts because
of school.
Montreal, Focus Group (male)
It’s also like a money thing; it’s like, no offence, but Asians come in,
they’ve got their whole high class, Gucci glasses and here I am with my
Payless shoes…. ….and you are just like ‘What did you do this
weekend?’ ‘Oh I spent four hundred dollars on a purse’ and I’m like ‘I
spent forty dollars on my shoes and I feel broke,’ do you know what I
mean?
Vancouver 2, Focus Group (female)
Attitudes Towards Schooling, cont’d
 Many youth working excessive part-time hours
 Some students working 20+ a week
 Particularly those doing badly
 Immediate reward of employment is enticing
(Student previously working two part-time jobs)
I was a lot more tired… one time, I almost fainted once in
class… ...I just started thinking about money… …every cent
went into the bank […] school never came to mind, at the
time.
Toronto 3, Aug. 4, 2010 (male)
Attitudes Towards Schooling, cont’d
 Females don’t have access to good-paying jobs, like males
I know that, with my degree, I can make so much more money…
…I think going to school and knowing that I’ll get paid much
more after influences me more than going to work now and
making, like, $10 an hour
Toronto 6, Aug. 6, 2010 (female)
I will always be able to get by, because I’m a guy. If I can’t get a
good job from school, I can always do construction [because it
pays better]. For my sister, […] if she doesn’t go to school, she’ll
never be able to do construction. She has to do a small job that
pays a lot.
Toronto 5, Aug. 6, 2010 (male)
 Young girls have been affected positively by global equal
opportunity movement, to empower women
 Counters the effects of Portuguese-Canadian stereotypes
Attitudes Towards Their Schools
 School climate (especially peers) can be a negative influence
I'd just come from Mississauga… …I was better than a lot of kids in Toronto. So,
it was like, 'I can do good here...' And then, other students start influencing, and
you started following…. ….everybody wants to be a gangster and all that crap.
Nobody wants to go to class. Everybody wants to make money and smoke
weed, and stuff like that. And then the teachers aren't that good anyways. And
then, you just lose like, lose hope.
Toronto, Feb. 23, 2011 (male)
School wasn't really important. You were lucky if half the students showed up to
class. They were more into partying and doing drugs. It affected and influence
me as well, in a bad way.
Toronto 2, Aug. 4, 2010 (female)
 Feeling that school had abandoned them
I would skip class, and I wouldn't get the phone call until the end of the semester.
So, I never got a phone call asking, 'do you need a tutor?' 'do you need extra
help?' 'why are you skipping class?' 'Is it too hard for you?' I never heard those
questions. It'd just be at the end of the semester, they'd call you in the office, it
would be like 'you're wasting our time and our patience’
Toronto, Feb. 23, 2011 (male)
Attitudes Towards their Schools, cont’d
 Teachers are a crucial source of both positive and negative support
 Many cited individual teachers as having helped them
I had this one teacher in grade 12… …she pushed me to be all I could be. She keeps pushing
me still to be all I can be. I go to her, I trust her. She talks to me, I talk to her. She basically
saved me from nearly failing high school, this year. She called me on all my mistakes, showing
me them, and then told me what I had to do to fix them... ...I would skip a lot, she called me,
she told me to stop. She told me what would happen if I didn't stop. She helped me in school,
whenever I needed it.
Toronto 5, Aug. 6, 2010 (male)
 However, students doing badly reported that teachers had given up on
them
The teachers didn’t really care. They didn’t care at all. Like if you didn’t show up, you didn’t
show up, they weren’t on top of you, they didn’t like encourage you to go to school, it was
just like they had given up
Toronto, May 17, 2011 (female)
Moderator: What do your teachers see you as?
R 1 - A piece of meat…
R 2 - A piece of meat, yeah.
R 1 - And then, once you’re done, you get the f**k out.
Toronto, non-post-secondary-bound 2
 Negative teachers’ attitudes usually attributed to lack of caring or a
personal bias

Not to ethnic or racial prejudice
Attitudes Towards their Schools, cont’d
 Dropouts and the disengaged internalize blame for
their failure
 Even when teachers gave up on them
I was going through a rough time, at that time. They’d
understand if I was feeling down, or stuff at school,
because I just went through some stuff…. …personal
stuff, like, at home, parents getting divorced,
grandfather dying… …they understood, they helped.
They understood when I missed class a few times. But I
kind of went overboard and thy just, they kind of
stopped caring after a while. It was my own fault
because I kept missing too much school.
Toronto 4a, August 5, 2010 (male)
Common Themes Regarding Schools
in Smaller Communities
 Isolation in school
 Distinct from both mainstream and visible-minority peers
 Community Isolated from school curriculum and mainstream
cultural expressions
 Portuguese culture ignored or disparaged
 Perception of not being “white”
in (Vancouver, Winnipeg & Halifax)
I’ve never thought that being a minority was negative… …I
have never really been shunned or put like, there’s no big
racism at our school… …they see that I’m not really white
like them… …but they don’t really acknowledge it too
much, which is a good thing.
Winnipeg, post-secondary-bound 1
The Impact of Caring Teachers
 Interviewee: At X school they didn't really help you too much,
they didn't really wanna help you. They just, like, if you get in
trouble, they just [yelled] 'go to the office. I don't wanna deal
with you.' But, when I went to Apple program, (Alternative
school) they were really supportive and they would really wanna
help you. […] In the Apple program I just had like an epiphany
that I just need to change… …it just hit me that, if I just focus my
mind and put my skills to work, then I can do it….
 Interviewer: Was that due to anything that the school did?
 Interviewee: yeah, like… …just the support. I just realized that,
people are there for me. It's not just me thinking in my head that,
everybody's against me, that it's me against the world. It's not
like that. People are there. If you need help, you can just talk to
them and they'll help you.
 Toronto, Feb. 24, 2011 (male)
Attitudes Regarding
Post-Secondary Education
 Post-secondary education is not always recognized as a good
investment
 Particularly by some drop-outs/pushouts
I can go to college and spend a lot of money and then be the same
way like I was in High School… …I might slack off… …Or even go to
college, pay all this money and then there's no jobs available... ...I
heard that its more difficult right now to get a career than jobs.
Toronto 3, Aug. 4, (male)
 College is perceived as easier and more accessible
 Motivators for entering post-secondary education
 To get a good job and make more money
 Especially for women
 To beat the negative stereotypes and/or statistics
 Making parents proud
Support Mechanisms
Across Focus Groups and Interviews
 Studying in schools that were perceived to be of good reputation
 Close attention and mentorship by individual teachers (caring
teachers)
 Early assistance with academic issues
 Parents with post-secondary education, or highly-skilled technical
jobs
 Active involvement of parents (especially fathers) favoured
education
 Positive (not negative) motivation on the part of parents
(authoritative, not authoritarian)
 Support of parents for student career choices
 Community involvement anecdotally associated with positive
attitudes towards education
Implications
 School policies and practices







Teachers’ attitudes towards students are important
Focus on discipline should always be second to close mentorship and support
Foster and promote mentorship by individual teachers
Target and promote support to at-risk youth (ex. Who have family breakup)
Actively discourage excessive part-time work
More discussion of the financial return of post-secondary education
Discussion of Portuguese history and culture in high school curriculum
 Anti-racism Education Theory (Dei, 1996)


Portuguese suffering similar institutional racism as visible minorities
Not recognized in anti-racism education theory
 Caste theory (Ogbu, 1978, 1987)


States immigrant groups don’t suffer long-lasting the effects of racist barriers
Portuguese are an immigrant population that is suffering generational underachievement
 Employment Equity

The Portuguese are not included in the Federal Government’s Designated Equity Groups
 Settlement and community programs


Still being used by community up to second and third generation
Do not reflect the needs of Portuguese-Canadian youth
 Youth programs

Need for Luso-specific youth programs
Thank You
 The many youth who contributed their experiences to this
study
 Portuguese-Canadian National Congress
 Abrigo Centre (Toronto)
 Dufferin Mall Youth Services
 Portuguese Associations in Halifax, Winnipeg, Vancouver and
Montreal
 Carrefour Lusophone
 Research Assistants: Sabrina Domingues, Diana Cohen-Reis,
Lisa Santos, Andrea D’Sylva, Gorette Imm, Amanda Nunes,
Michele Greencorn, Melissa Caines