Canadian Race Relations Foundation

In this research study, a team of three researchers and three graduate students from the Department of Secondary Education at the University of Alberta sought to identify issues of ethnocultural difference related to specific curriculum areas considered by experienced teachers as significant for meeting the needs of all Canadian students. The Culture and Curriculum Research Project, examined understand classroom teachers' curriculum and pedagogical responses to issues of race, culture and ethnicity in secondary schools. Eighty-five high school teachers in five cities across the Prairie Provinces who taught a variety of subject areas participated in semi-structured one-on- one audiotaped interviews with researchers.

Many curricular and pedagogical issues emerged from these interviews with Western Canadian teachers. While teachers were generally aware of multicultural diversity in their classrooms and demonstrated sensitivity to the individual needs of students, the attentiveness to the cultural, ethnic and religious differences brought to the classroom by their students varied across subject areas. Teachers spoke about the importance and need for suitable resources for teaching and learning from a multicultural perspective. In some subject areas teachers were aware of the limitations of current resources for addressing the ethnocultural diversity of their students. Teachers in the humanities suggested that their subject areas provided opportunities to address issues of cultural difference. In contrast, teachers in sciences, mathematics, technology and physical education generally assumed the cultural neutrality of their subject. Many teachers expressed concerns about meeting the needs of students who spoke English as a Second Language. Permeating many of teachers' concerns were additional issues of how schools address the students' needs arising from poverty, crime and absenteeism.

Study findings suggest that teachers need support through curriculum policy changes, professional development opportunities, resource development and a supportive school climate in order for them to further expand their horizon of understanding to include the perspectives of cultures previously silent in the curricula of secondary schools.