Official language minorities and geographic perspectives: Ontario's dual approach to curriculum development

Since the enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights in 1982, the federal government has recognized Canadian citizens' right to have their children educated in their first official language (French or English), including in settings where a minority of the population speaks that language. As a case in point, Francophones (a term commonly used to describe people who speak French as their first language, and/or speak French in the home) have gained a degree of autonomy in developing curriculum for its French‐language schools in Ontario, a majority English‐speaking province. Ontario has two distinct versions of curriculum: an English‐language version (ELV) for use in English‐language schools and a French‐language version (FLV) for use in French‐language schools. Drawing on a qualitative content analysis, this paper explores the two language versions of the curriculum through the lens of the grade 9 Issues in Canadian Geography course. The study of geography examines the nature of patterns and connections between different places and peoples, and the ways places are transformed through cultural and linguistic processes. The analysis provides insights into the ways and the extent to which Ontario's dual approach to curriculum development supports the socio‐spatial and spatial‐linguistic perspectives and experiences of Francophones as the province's official language minority population. The dual approach is theorized as a curricular core‐periphery dynamic, whereby elements of the French‐language version are peripheralized in relation to the perspectives and priorities of an English‐language dominant core.