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Indigenous Perspectives in the Alberta Science Classroom: the factors that impact how teachers incorporate Indigenous perspectives in their science classroom
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- Author / Creator
- King, Christa
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In Alberta, there has been renewed focus on the integration of Indigenous perspectives in the classroom within curricular and teacher quality documents. While research has been done to explore how and why Indigenous perspectives should be included in the classroom, there is a lack of research linking this action with the factors that impact teaching practice. This study explores the factors that impact how teachers incorporate Indigenous perspectives in the science classroom. To explore these factors, a mixed methods approach was taken. Participating high school teachers were asked to respond to an online survey which explored their epistemic beliefs of science. Once the survey was completed, teachers read through constructed teaching scenarios which described different ways in which Indigenous perspectives could be incorporated into a science classroom. Teachers wrote answers to two questions regarding these scenarios. The final step in data collection was a semi-structured interview. The data collected from the three parts of the study were analyzed separately and together to construct findings. It was found that there were several factors which impact teachers’ practice and perception of Indigenous perspectives in the science classroom. These included the context that teachers taught in, their epistemic beliefs of science, and goals that they had of teaching. Recommendations from these findings included actions that could be taken by the individual teacher, school districts, governing bodies, and post-secondary institutions.
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- Graduation date
- Spring 2020
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Education
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- License
- Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.