NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Dehcho Region

Tags: social sciences

Objective(s): To work with Deh Gah Elementary & Secondary School at Fort Providence, Northwest Territories to evaluate the Deh Gah School: On the Land Education initiative.

Project Description: The objective of this research project is to work with Deh Gah Elementary & Secondary School at Fort Providence, Northwest Territories to evaluate the Deh Gah School: On the Land Education initiative. A K-12 public school with a predominantly First Nations population, Deh Gah School is the only school in the NWT to operate on a year-round basis and offer extensive experiential land-based programs, immersion programs and multiday river trips. Stages of the evaluation research process include collaborative planning of the research, identification of sample questions for project evaluation, project data collection and project report completion. Dependent upon the phase of evaluation research process, the following activities will be undertaken including: 1) teleconference meetings with Deh Gah School; 2) on the Land Education to discuss collaborative planning of the research project; 3) determine types of data to be collected including collection of data to determine whether there is an increase in attendance and/or graduation rates or student performance (to be provided by Deh Gah School administration); 4) data collection; 5) identify names of participants to be interviewed to be identified and provided to researcher; 6) observation of Deh Gah School: On the Land Education and activities; 7) interviews with Deh Gah School: On the Land Education staff, students (former and present), parents, Elders (if applicable) and administrators to document their experience and hear their perceptions of Deh Gah School, On the Land education model; 8) documentation of specific strategies used for student supports; 9) documentation of how, if any, Deh Gah School: On the Land Education reflect Indspire's seven foundational guiding principles for educational practice; and, 10) final report review and completion. Research results will be mailed to participants via email or to mailing address should participants choose to provide their mailing address. Research results will be made available to Deh Gah School, Aurora Research Institute, community and others via electronic copy. Results of this study may be published in professional journals, presented at conferences and on Indspire’s website. Final report to be provided to Deh Gah School: On the Land Education and to be available on Indspire Nurturing Capacity website. View at http://indspire.ca/for-educators/nurturing-capacity/projects/. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from September 8, 2016 to December 31, 2016.