In our fifteenth episode of Public Good, Shannon and Stephen are joined by Dr. Sean Carleton

Dr. Sean Carleton is a settler scholar and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of History and Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation. Dr. Carleton’s research examines the history and political economy of colonialism, capitalism, and education in Canada. He holds a BA and MA in History from Simon Fraser University and a PhD from the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies at Trent University. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including Lessons in Legitimacy: Colonialism, Capitalism, and the Rise of State Schooling in British Columbia published in October 2022 by UBC Press. You may also recognize Dr. Carleton’s name as he frequently comments on issues related to history, Indigenous-settler relations, and education for CBC, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian, Toronto Star, CTV, APTN, Global et. al. He is also a Contributing Editor with Active History, an Associate with the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History, and a founding member of the Graphic History Collective.

In this episode we speak to Dr. Carleton about his new book, Lessons in Legitimacy. This interview invites criticality about the history of public schools in BC, and the complicity of public schools in upholding settler colonial capitalism. Dr. Carleton places Public Schools, Day Schools, and Residential Schools into the same analytical frame in order to challenge the progressive narrative about public schools. "Critically understanding public schooling," he says, "can help us ask different kinds of questions and perhaps come up with different kinds of solutions". We hope this episode will encourage complexity about public education advocacy. If we think of public education as a good, which public is it good for?