Introduction

This chapter introduces and contextualizes the book as a whole. The text focuses on the Canadian context of educational policy in relation to bias-free teacher hiring in Ontario, Canada’s most populous and diverse province. Although Ontario is touted as one of the most diverse regions in the world, teachers across the province do not reflect the diversity of its demographics (Abawi & Eizadirad, 2020; Abawi, 2018; United Way, 2019). Equity and inclusive education policies have mobilized around the practice of bias-free hiring protocols to diversify the teacher demographic. Although the aforementioned Ontario Ministry of Education policies as well as Board-specific policies that shall be discussed in Chapter 5 cite bias-free hiring as best practice, there are no references as to the research, the methods and ways in which such practices will enhance teacher demographic representation. By calling for bias-free hiring, equity, and inclusive education policies effectively remove the necessity of acknowledging and troubling the centrality of race in teacher hiring.