Combining the Views of Both Worlds in Inuktitut: place-based science education in Qikiqtani

• Main Authors: Lewthwaite, Brian, McMillan, Barbara
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: Canadian Council on Learning 2010
• Subjects: Baffin Island; Canada; Nunavut; Baffin; inuit; inuktitut
• Online Access: https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/34488/2/201009LewthwaiteMcMillanFullReport.pdf

This report summarizes several phases of a multiphase science education development project occurring between April, 2004 and November, 2009 in three Inuit communities in the northern Qikiqtani (Baffin Island) Region of Nunavut, Canada. The project, in its entirety, is motivated to assist Inuit school communities in achieving their aspirations for science education. The project's overall focus is on: 1. establishing the current situation in science education in Kindergarten through to Grade 7 in the Qikiqtani communities, 2. identifying developmental aspirations for stakeholders within the communities and potential contributors and constraints to these aspirations, 3. implementing mechanisms for achieving identified aspirations, 4. evaluating the effectiveness of such mechanisms, and 5. providing suggestions for further development projects established to assist Aboriginal, especially Inuit, communities in achieving their goals for curriculum, in particular, science education. This project attempts to "combine the views of both worlds" in science education for Qikiqtani students; that is, it combines the knowledge, practices, values, beliefs and ways of knowing of both the community of scientists and Inuit culture. Equally, it also combines the views of both worlds in achieving these goals through two process development frameworks: Urie Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological model (a model that identifies teacher attributes and the environment in which they work as determinants on development) and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ, Inuit ways of knowing and doing). This report focuses upon an evaluative overview of all phases of the development project and the efficacy of this "two-way" model in fostering school development, especially in the area of science education.