Arctic Yearbook 2014
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Questions were crafted to understand how each goal was being met:
1. What are NWT and Nunavut students learning about residential schools through the new
module?
2. How is this learning affecting their thinking and their behavior?
3. Can secondary school education about residential schools influence the following:
•
Improve intergroup relationships?
•
Enable students to critically reflect on their own attitudes and behaviors?
•
Encourage students to consider responsibilities towards each other and towards
the community?
The research design was a formative program evaluation, carried out during the territorial module’s
pilot in 2012-2013.
The research design relied on a pre and post-test survey of 2036 students and 14 teachers before and
after the new residential school module was taught, followed by student sharing circles/focus groups
involving 89 students across the two territories. Teachers were surveyed prior to their teacher
training, and again after they had taught the module for the first time. Students were surveyed prior
to the module beginning, and again upon its completion. Surveys were not a test intended to capture
what information students had retained, but looked at elements of community engagement, critical
thinking, and ethical decision-making.7
Daitch