Representations of Aboriginal Peoples in the Quebec History and Citizenship Education Curriculum: Preliminary Findings from Secondary School Textbooks

Abstract

This study examines representations of Aboriginal peoples in the Quebec History and Citizenship curriculum. In recent years, efforts have been made by the Quebec Ministry of Education to increase content about Aboriginal history and culture in order to foster a better understanding and cultural awareness of Aboriginal peoples. Have such efforts succeeded? Employing linguistic intergroup bias theory as a method of analysis, this study analyzes representations of Aboriginal Peoples in the Quebec History and Citizenship curriculum and among secondary school textbooks. An analysis of textbooks used in secondary schools highlights the biased language used by the authors, and provides insight on the ideological impact that such language can potentially have on students. Despite policy efforts to rectify portrayals and representations of Aboriginal peoples, textbooks used in the Quebec History and Citizenship curriculum continue to maintain stereotypes. This article ends by suggesting that the Quebec History and Citizenship curriculum ought to be rewritten with a concerted effort to eliminate those biases.