A narrative inquiry into familial and school curriculum making: attending to multiple worlds of Aboriginal youth and families

Abstract

In this paper we draw upon a narrative inquiry alongside urban Aboriginal youth and their families in western Canada; the overall goal of our inquiry was to understand their educational and schooling experiences. Shifting our focus from schools as the only place where curriculum is made, we draw on the conceptualization of children, youth, and families as also engaged as curriculum makers in homes and in communities and in the in-between places of homes and schools. In this paper we explore the multiple curriculum-making worlds of Lane and Donovan, two Aboriginal youth. As part of understanding the multiple worlds and relationships between, and intersections of, multiple worlds, we draw on Lugones' concept of world traveling. We contemplate the importance of understanding lives over time, in geographic places, and social contexts. We wonder how the worlds youth inhabit are shaped by institutional, social, political, and institutional stories, and how these larger narratives shape the ways in which we attend to the lives of youth.

Keywords:

• indigenous
• narrative inquiry
• qualitative research
• schooling
• education

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the youth and their families who became part of this work; the elders for helping us; and the members of the larger research team for their commitment.

Funding

This work was supported by the Alberta Centre for Child, Family, and Community Research and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Notes

1. All italicized text are words spoken by participants, which were recorded between September 2011 and June 2013, or field notes written by us.

2. ‘Aboriginal peoples’ refers to the indigenous peoples of North America; the Canadian constitution recognizes them to be First Nations, Métis and Inuit.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This work was supported by the Alberta Centre for Child, Family, and Community Research and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.