Ontario science and tech curriculum shifts focus from Indigenous framework to economy, educators say

Advocates for Indigenous education are voicing concerns over the Ford government's decision to prioritize economy over an Indigenous teaching framework in the latest elementary science and technology curriculum. 

The new curriculum for the upcoming 2022-23 school year was announced in March. The Ministry of Education says it modernized the curriculum from its previous 2007 iteration to align with the province's economic needs, with an emphasis on preparing students for the skilled trades.

But the new curriculum detracts from Indigenous perspectives, said Robyn Michaud, an Indigenous education teacher with the Thames Valley District School Board and a lecturer at Western University.

"Everything was through multiple perspectives and looking at it through an Indigenous decolonized lens. They've taken that out, and replaced it with single expectations peppered throughout the document," said Michaud, adding that it appears the province is paying lip service to Indigenous people but not making meaningful changes. 

A Globe and Mail report found that just three weeks before the release of the new curriculum in early March, Education Minister Stephen Lecce's office directed Ministry of Education staff to delete language that included having students examine knowledge systems of various cultures and analyze the contributions from people with diverse experiences. 

The report examined 900 pages of revisions and concluded that those expectations were condensed and generalized to having students analyze science and technology contributions from various communities, without making Indigenous science a part of the broader core values of the curriculum. 

The Anishinabek Nation and the Kinoomaadziwin Education Body (KEB) expressed disappointment with the changes, saying they were not supported by the evolution of the field of Indigenous Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). 

"Advocates for Anishinabek education have long fought for the recognition of our learning systems," said Anishinabek Nation Southeast Regional Deputy Grand Council Chief James Marsden, education portfolio holder for the Anishinabek Nation. "To remove this framework from the Ontario Curriculum is a regressive decision and dishonours our partnership."

The Anishinabek Nation invited the Ministry to a meeting to advocate for the inclusion of the expectations. 

When asked by CBC News, the Ministry of Education did not say whether or not it would take that meeting. 

Teaching points not enough, educators say

Ministry spokesperson Grace Lee provided examples of learning expectations related to Indigenous perspectives from Grades 1 to 8, saying the new curriculum includes more than the former Liberal government's. 

Examples include the Grade 6 expectation to learn about the importance of biodiversity in supporting Indigenous agriculture around the world. 

Grade 4 students will learn about the importance of First Nations, Métis and Inuit geological knowledges in the selection of rocks and minerals. 

And Grade 8 students will learn about First Nations, Métis and Inuit knowledges and values about water, connections to water and ways of managing water resources sustainably. 

But without linking Indigenous and Western science as the overarching theme, those expectations only go so far as to maintain the status quo, and skirt around teachings on decolonization and climate change, Michaud said. 

"By avoiding that, they're creating such a dangerous situation because you cannot ignore what's going on with the environment," she said. 

"The government has responded saying, 'Oh, but we have an expectation on Indigenous farming techniques' or whatever and it becomes this check box where it should be a mindset. It should be everything that underpins everything we do in science, not just standalone expectations." 

'An industrial cog in the school system'

Educator Tobie Loukes teaches art, fashion design and Indigenous studies with the Toronto District School Board. She also facilitates the First Nation, Métis and Inuit additional qualification course for teachers across Ontario through York University. 

It's important for Indigenous educators to teach Indigenous perspectives in the STEM fields, she said, especially at the elementary level. 

"In the science curriculum, Indigenous youth need to see themselves as scientists and see the acknowledgement of their ancestors as scientists and creators of innovative technologies, such as astronomy, building, inventing and ecological food sovereignty practices such as the Three Sisters and other intercropping and polyculture systems," said Loukes.

Loukes said she questioned whether the focus on getting students into well-paying jobs made sense, in light of the climate crisis. 

"I think that completely overlooks the entire dilemma of our planet right now. If we're only focusing on industry, then where is the human race going to be?" she said.  

"It's been acknowledged that these Indigenous perspectives in science and technology, we need to learn more of that in order for all of us to have (a future) on this planet, because we're destroying it. It just makes me think of that industrial cog in the school system, just being exactly like a factory and shooting out kids into the workforce in order to grow our economy. But we're not going to have an economy, because we're not going to have a human race, if we don't start valuing Indigenous perspectives."