Adapting to Diversity: Where Cultures Collide: Educational Issues in Northern Alberta

In this article, we report a case study of educational issues in northern Alberta. Using interviews and observations, we provide the different perspectives held by educators, students, parents, and community members about the goals and purposes of schools, the curriculum, and the language of instruction. Practices in the schools tended to maintain the status quo: a southern approach to education, with an emphasis on a provincial curriculum and English as the language of instruction. These schools did not reflect the realities of northern communities, such as a concern for Aboriginal languages, in spite of policies that provided for local control.