Canadian Social Studies - No. 1 - Teaching Aboriginal perspectives: An investigation into teacher practices amidst curriculum change

Oct 15, 2026

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Study examines how five experienced Alberta social studies teachers interpreted and responded to a curriculum initiative requiring students to view social studies through multiple perspectives representing Aboriginal (and Francophone) communities. Findings show teachers often treated multiple perspectives as offering alternative viewpoints, yet frequently resisted creating classroom space for Aboriginal perspectives and rarely engaged them directly. The paper argues these resistances may reflect a collective memory legacy that limits recognition of the relevance of Other perspectives and proposes alternative ways teachers can conceptualize the mandate.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

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Teaching Aboriginal perspectives: An investigation into teacher practices amidst curriculum change

Curriculum shift toward marginalized perspectives

Alberta’s Social Studies program and policy framing

Challenges and resistances in classroom practice

Study design: teacher understandings and engagement

Canadian Social Studies, Volume 46, No. 1 Teaching Aboriginal perspectives: An investigation into teacher practices amidst curriculum change David Scott University of Calgary This paper reports on a study exploring ways in which five experienced teachers interpreted and responded to a curricular initiative in Alberta calling for teachers to help students see social studies through multiple perspective lenses representing Aboriginal (and Francophone) communities. Over the course of the study, which focused primarily on how the research participants integrated Aboriginal perspectives in their teaching, the teachers generally interpreted and practiced the teaching of multiple perspectives as providing students with alternative viewpoints on contemporary issues. Of note were teachers’resistances to affording room for Aboriginal perspectives, and a general absence of engagements with these perspectives in the classroom. I argue that these resistances may stem from the legacy of a collective memory project that has worked to foster a historical consciousness that makes it hard to perceive, as well as acknowledge the relevance of engaging‘Other’perspectives. In response, I draw attention to perspectives unique to Aboriginal traditions and communities and then offer possibilities for how teachers could alternatively conceptualize and take up this curricular mandate. Increasingly, curricular initiatives across Canada emphasize the need to teach social studies from the perspective of peoples who have been traditionally marginalized in, or excluded from, national narratives told in schools. This shift in outlook reflects a move away from engaging students with any singular conception of a national past, integrating multiple perspectives in the telling of Canada’s stories of origin, its histories, and the movements of its people. One jurisdiction where this policy shift has been most pronounced is the province of Alberta where a social studies program of study introduced incrementally from 2005 to 2010 calls for teachers to engage the twin pillars of citizenship and identity through multiple lenses of diverse communities. Specifically, the program asks students to “appreciate and respect how multiple perspectives, including Aboriginal and Francophone, shape Canada’s political, socio-economic, linguistic and cultural realities”(Alberta Education, 2007, p. 2) . The new program states that for historical and constitutional reasons, an understanding of Canadian citizenship and identity requires an understanding of Aboriginal and Francophone perspectives, experiences, and their “particular needs and requirements”(Alberta Education, 2007, p. 4) . Although the Alberta Social Studies Program of Studies is not distinctive in asking teachers to address multiple perspectives when teaching social studies, the program may be unique in naming, specifically, the communities whose perspectives are to be engaged. Interestingly, the program does not name the dominant (White/Euro-centric) perspective on which these two new perspectives are to be added (den Heyer & Abbott, 2011) . This curricular initiative departs from traditional approaches to social studies whereby elite descendants of white Anglo-Saxon protestant settlers sought to impose and have people conform to their particular vision of Canadian identity (Osborne, 1997; Stanley, 2007) . In contrast, the Alberta program restores Aboriginal and Francophone people, communities, and their diverse perspectives to a permanent seat of national deliberations around the future of Canadian Social Studies, Volume 46, No. 1 the country. Scholars speaking to the potential of this curricular shift in Alberta argue that rereading and reframing stories of the nation will open up a space to cultivate care and attention towards groups formally positioned as ‘Other,’while also broadening the range of responses available to meet issues of concern in our national and global communities (den Heyer & Abb

FAQs

What curriculum initiative does the study focus on in Alberta?

The study focuses on Alberta’s social studies program directive that asks teachers to help students understand citizenship and identity through multiple lenses of diverse communities, including Aboriginal and Francophone perspectives.

How did the teachers generally interpret “multiple perspectives” in their teaching?

Teachers generally interpreted and practiced multiple perspectives as providing students with alternative viewpoints on contemporary issues, often through inquiry about globalization-related topics.

What resistances did the study identify regarding Aboriginal perspectives?

The study reports teachers’ resistances to affording room for Aboriginal perspectives, alongside a general absence of meaningful engagement with these perspectives in classroom instruction.

Oct 15, 2026

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