The Intersection of Modernity, Globalization, Indigeneity, and Postcolonialism: Theorizing Contemporary Saskatchewan Schools

Abstract

Viewing education as a contested site in the intersection of modernity, indigeneity, globalization, and postcolonialism, we explore relations between Aboriginal peoples and public schools in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Posing a profound challenge to provincial policy underpinned by global educational culture, indigeneity constitutes a manifestation of localism and diversity and is one of the main dynamics mediating the homogenizing forces of globalization in Saskatchewan's schools. Saskatchewan educational policy is a manifestation of hybridity, typical of the globalization process and integral to a wider postcolonial reconciliation project designed to serve a legitimating function for Canada and Saskatchewan. This hybrid education policy is buttressing indigeneity's demand for recognition and is facilitating the subaltern claim to represent, in cultural and epistemological terms, an alternative to globalized modernity. These local developments have global relevance because Saskatchewan's educational landscape parallels international jurisdictions with similar Indigenous histories, demographic imperatives, educational challenges, and postcolonial prospects.