Canadian literature in Alberta high schools : a survey
Date
1987
Authors
Knutson, Richard Elmer
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
During the late 1970s and early. 1980s, Canadian literature became increasingly important in secondary high school curricula. Alberta introduced minimum Canadian literature content requirements in 1982. This study explored the extent to which those requirements were being met. It also sought to identify teacher characteristics that were related to the meeting of the requirements, and it inquired into the extent to which Canadian literature was being taught in optional courses. The method of investigation was a mailed questionnaire sent to 84 Alberta high school English teachers distributed throughout the province. Of the 73 questionnaires returned, 71 were useable for the purposes of the study. The first conclusion was that, in the majority of cases, Alberta's Canadian literature requirements were not being met. Second, the only teacher variable that was significantly related to meeting the requirements was how recently a subject had taken university English/language arts courses. Third, optional courses in Canadian literature were practically non-existent in Alberta. Even though most subjects were not meeting the requirements, they felt positive about Canadian literature and expressed the desire to learn more about it and to improve their instruction of it.