Critical reflection in the secondary classroom: anti-oppression education

Abstract

This thesis argues that schools are sites where an ideology of colonialism is reproduced through the roles of the institution, the educators (and their education), the students and the absence of an integrated community. The researcher uses an anti-oppressive pedagogical approach in a secondary school classroom in Northwest Ontario to incorporate Indigenous rights education into existing curriculum. This research was modeled after a participatory action research framework to allow flexibility and input from participants. A curriculum unit based on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was developed and implemented in a secondary school classroom; data was collected during the unit, through a questionnaire, a post-unit focus group, and an interview with a Native Studies teacher. The research findings support the need for the integration of Indigenous content in the Ontario public school system at the ministry, board, teacher education, and school levels.