We live in a world marked by constant change. We are linked in time, place and space to individuals around the globe. In a country as culturally diverse as Canada it is inevitable that
issues of globalization and multiculturalism surface in educational realms. As educators it is
imperative that we provide our students with opportunities to explore global and multicultural
concepts as they impact them on local and international levels. The study of these concepts lends itself more easily to social studies curricula. Thus, an examination of Saskatchewan social studies curricula at the middle level over a period of time (1978- 1999) served as a tool to
determine the impact globalization and multiculturalism have had on the curriculum. The review of the literature revealed the following issues: both global and multicultural education are difficult to define, resulting in difficulty implementing both these concepts in the classroom.
Both concepts became more prominent in Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. While globalization and multiculturalism are different concepts, they do contain commonalities. These commonalities were used to determine the impact globalization and multiculturalism have had on the curriculum. Four main stages were found to exist that describe the common elements of the two concepts: equality, awareness, critical response and empowerment. Content analysis methodology
was used to accurately interpret the curriculum documents that were analyzed, while grounded
theory served as a framework for conducting the research. Key word counts were performed,
followed by an examination of the word in the context it was placed in. Once examinations of all
the curricula were conducted for each grade and year separately they were analyzed individually
and then together. The findings revealed the following themes: the 1978 curriculum was not
influenced by globalization and multiculturalism, and while the 1987/88 and 1999 curricula do
embrace elements of globalization and multiculturalism they only do so in certain stages of the model- mainly awareness and equality. In the conclusion, implications on education and suggestions for future research are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:SSU.etd-07142009-143715 |
| Date | 05 August 2009 |
| Creators | Facci, Manuela Caterina |
| Contributors | Kalyn, Brenda, Lemisko, Lynn, Barrett, M.J., Cottrell, Michael, Balzer, Geraldine |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-07142009-143715/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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