Living in a culture of change : an inquiry into the learning experiences of new Sudanese students in Calgary schools

Abstract

Low achievement, low attendance, and high dropout levels characterize immigrant student populations in cosmopolitan Canadian schools. This thesis identifies the lack of understanding in the community in urban multicultural Alberta as the prime cause of the struggle encountered by new immigrant students in school. The thesis incorporates the experiences of six new immigrant students to promote an authentic curriculum of learning and teaching to meet the needs of these learners. It posits that an authentic curriculum is unlikely without input from learners. The method used Hans-Georg Gadamer’s approach to hermeneutics and phenomenology, with the researcher asking the six African participants to share their stories in the African storytelling fashion in which no one dominates the discussion. The conversations were analyzed and interpreted to provide insight into the life-worlds of the participants. Ted Aoki’s multilayered curriculum of curriculum-as-planned, curriculum-as-lived experience and the “zone of between” are seen as a beneficial practice inclusive of all students.