On Thursday, Feb. 23, Wagner College welcomed Theresa J. Canada, professor of education and educational psychology at Western Connecticut State University, who delivered the 2023 Black History Month Scholar’s Lecture
Her lecture addressed the topic, “The Psychological Impact of School Desegregation: Then and Now,” based on her 2018 book.
That book, “Desegregation of the New York City Schools: A Story of the Silk Stocking Sisters,” explores the use of young black and brown children to eliminate segregation in an urban public school to meet the challenges of equal education opportunity in the North during the mid-twentieth century.
Author Theresa J. Canada, herself part of the experiment, tells the story of the desegregation of P.S. 6 ― an elite New York City public school ― through the narratives of seven of the girls who desegregated the school. While all of the names within each narrative have been changed, the book follows the author as well as the stories of her elementary school classmates.
Theresa J. Canada is a professor of education and educational psychology at Western Connecticut State University. Her research focuses on inclusive education, early childhood, women administrators in higher education, and urban education She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Rochester, her M.A. and M.Ed. degrees at Columbia University’s Teachers College, and her doctorate in education at the University of Rochester. She is the author of several book chapters on education.