CURRICULAR RELEVANCE IN NUNAVUT AND ITS EFFECT ON STUDENT SUCCESS

Back to Page Authors: Benjamin Willis-Leake

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Keywords: culture, curriculum, design, relevant, achievement

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Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to determine if there was a relationship between the cultural relevance of the Grade 10 curriculum used in Nunavut secondary schools and student success. The present study sought to answer the following research question: How do grade 10 students’ success rates in Nunavut vary across the grade 10 curriculum based on the cultural relevance of each course taught, as examined across the “cultural relevance” ratings done by teachers, student support assistants, and students? To explore the relationship, the author of the present study asked participants from three groups (teachers, student support assistants, and students) to assess the curriculums of six Grade 10 subjects taught in Nunavut. Participants assessed each of the curricula for its cultural relevance on a scale of one to ten and provided any additional comments regarding the curriculum as well. Once the surveys were completed, the cultural relevance of each subject was compared to the students’ average mark in that subject to determine what, if any, relationship existed. The study’s findings showed a strong relationship between the cultural relevance of the curriculum and student success from the perspective of student support assistants and a weak relationship between the two variables from the perspective of teachers. The results suggest that teachers, who were non-Inuit, could not accurately assess the curriculum for its cultural relevance. The study also found that Inuit participants were less likely to criticize the curriculum or offer ways to improve it even though they assessed the curriculum as lacking cultural relevance. Both of these findings imply that when developing the curriculum to be culturally relevant, it should be done primarily by Inuit people with non-Inuit acting in supporting roles.

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