A New Logic of Consensus on the Foundations of Science Education in Canada: Resul ts of a Delphi Study of the Expert Community

Abstract

Despite episodes of identifiably Canadian influences on science education, the last six decades of science education in Canada has been a decidedly American experience - particularly from the standpoints of: I) the foundational policy documents that have provided explicit impetus to periodic science curriculum reform in Canada; 2) the principal theoretical foundations, guiding assumptions, and goals of science education, and; 3) the development of curricular frameworks in Canadian provincial jurisdictions. Though admittedly contested, it will be argued here that the Canadian systems of science education operating in the provinces and territories have not had opportunity, historically, to engage with curriculum uniquely designed from a Canadian perspective that supplies broad and respected appeal to the context of Canadian society, its demographics, its geographic diversity, and its geopolitical position internationally.