Ontario public schools have not yet added Indigenous principles in their science curriculum, although significant progress has been made in Indigenous education overall, a new report says.
In spring 2022, the science curriculum for Grades one to eight were altered by the provincial government, removing Indigenous influence three weeks before its release, according to the Still Waiting for Truth and Reconciliation progress report by People For Education.
The report examined changes made since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action for education in 2015.
The original curriculum, agreed upon by Indigenous groups and the government, would “explore real-world issues by connecting Indigenous sciences and technologies and Western science and technology, using ways of knowing such as the Two-Eyed Seeing approach…”
The Two-Eyed Seeing approach provides an understanding of science that includes Western and Indigenous perspectives.
However, the report says the government made a “unilateral decision” to remove that approach from the curriculum and modified it without consultation.
The latest curriculum states students will “analyze science and technology contributions from various communities,” according to the report.
READ MORE: Over 90% of Ontario schools say support is needed for students’ mental health: survey
“Education is what got us into this mess — the use of education in terms of residential schools — but education is the key to reconciliation,” Justice Murray Sinclair, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said in a news release.
“We need to look at the way we are educating children. That’s why we say that this is not an Aboriginal problem. It’s a Canadian problem,” he continued.
In the 2022-23 school year, Ontario’s Ministry of Education allocated $120.5 million in the Indigenous Education Grant to fund programs and initiatives to support the academic success and well-being of Indigenous students, and build the knowledge of all students and educators on Indigenous histories, cultures, perspectives and contributions.
However, the province has not made significant progress in its collection and reporting of race-based and Indigenous student data, and as a result, the report says “it is not clear if funding is being allocated where it is most needed.”
Seventy-two per cent of secondary schools in Ontario reported they offered an Indigenous studies course in 2022-23 compared to 40 per cent in 2013-14, the report says.
Elementary school staff who received training on Indigenous issues increased to 76 per cent in 2022-23 from 34 per cent in 2012-13 and within the same year professional development for secondary school teachers increased to 82 per cent from 34 per cent.
Indigenous language programs also increased between 2012 and 2022, to 13 per cent from four per cent in elementary schools, and to 20 per cent from 11 per cent in secondary schools.
The report was based on an online survey of more than 1,000 Ontario principals, in 1,044 Ontario publicly-funded schools in 72 school boards.
