Why Does Saskatchewan Need Accessible Science Programming?

In creating this initiative, I kept returning to the concept of accessibility in high school science education, and it quickly became the focus of my vision. The A.S.L.E.E.P. Initiative addresses science accessibility in two forms: first, in providing low-cost resources to demonstrate and weave together scientific concepts in Saskatchewan science curricula, and second in utilizing Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) to support teachers that incorporate elements of experience-based learning into their lesson plans. I have been fiercely passionate about rural communities since childhood, particularly in the northern part of my province where access to most resources is an increasingly devastating struggle. I grew up in a marginalized community, by definition, but the vulnerability of my home town was offset by its relatively close proximity to a large urban centre and the middle class socioeconomic status of its inhabitants. I remember being hungry for science-related opportunities; it wasn't until much later, as a graduate student in the city near my hometown, that I realized there were plenty of opportunities for young students and I just hadn't been able to access them.

I think that it can be difficult to step back and assess whether your home was / is "marginalized" - referring to differential access to resources, public services, funding, and education (4). It's not a happy term, and it carries a negative connotation that we don't willingly want to associate ourselves with. However, it's important to take a step back when we discuss access to resources and critically think about Saskatchewan and how our population dynamics influence access to educational tools and resources. Saskatchewan is a unique province because we have a low population - our latest consensus puts us at 1.174 million people - but only about half (~600,000 people) of the people in this province live in a medium (> 30,000 people) or large (> 40,000 people) urban centre. Most of us live in Small Town Saskatchewan, made up of small (< 30,000 people) cities, towns (< 5,000 people), and villages ( < 500 people). Together, we are the largest populous in Saskatchewan - but because we are spread across an immense geographical area, so too are our resources.

I don't look back at my home town and see the images evoked by the words marginalized community, but I do remember having a hard time accessing things that I now take for granted living in Saskatoon. Our town had a hard time for a decade holding onto a physician, and we were often travelling upwards of 30 minutes to try and see a doctor when we were sick. The hospital hasn't been open for at least 15 years, and two years ago my father drove himself to two different emergency rooms trying to find someone able to help him when he dislocated his shoulder (he hurt himself curling, for all those interested). My home was incredibly fortunate in a number of regards - we had a beautiful and bustling community centre where we gathered for perogies and Ukrainian dancing at Malanka, passionate small business owners that supported our community's sports teams, and dedicated educators that invested all of their free time into providing robust after-school sports clubs. But, like many small communities, my home often struggled to find new teachers when positions became available. Sometimes we didn't have a staff member free to teach certain courses, like Calculus in my senior year, and we rationed the resources in the chemistry lab /biology lab /physics lab /geography classroom /social sciences classroom /Grade 7 home room /health sciences classroom /sexual education classroom (all the same classroom) because we only had a microscope or two left working /there were only two dissection kits for the entire class /the biological stain is getting old and doesn't work very well /we only had enough chemical left for a demonstration. While we had thriving volleyball and football programs, there wasn't a robust interest in the idea of supporting drama clubs, extra-curricular science projects, or teaching electives like Indigenous Studies, A.P. or I.B. courses, or Law (to name a few). Teachers, like most sane human beings, like to be able to go home after upwards of 10 hours in their places of work, and teachers in small towns more than deserve some down time. Cities, in my experience and opinion, have the advantage of healthy extra-curricular programs supported by several schools, private businesses, and/or federal labs for their students to tap into to explore their science hankerings and ambitions. I wanted nothing more growing up than to be able to tap into the resources I started supporting as a mentor during the early stages of my academic career.

My experiences growing up in a rural community culminated into a strong desire to support students as they explore and grow in science. As a new initiate to the educational outreach field, I found myself most drawn to programs that mentored youth, encouraged them to think critically, and presented them opportunities to experiment and apply skills they had acquired during unique science experiences. The A.S.L.E.E.P. Initiative was an outreach initiative I created for myself upon recognizing that the programs that I was getting involved with weren't necessarily experiences easily accessed by students living in small towns like the one I grew up in. I wanted to see the same calibre of science experiences and opportunities that I had begun to be invested in available to rural students in situ, in their homes and in their schools. I wanted to find a way to bring science to rural students, bring Inquiry Based Science Education opportunities to students, bring the physical tools needed to perform experiments and participate in science demonstration to students rather than relying on limited travel funding to bring the students to the tools /experiments /experiences /demonstrations.

VISION: i. Show science instead of telling science. There is a considerable disconnect between memorizing scientific terms or simply attending a science class, and doing science or experiencing phenomena (1). Experience is an important learning tool that helps to solidify understanding and expand knowledge. Inquiry based science education (IBSE) develops students’ skill sets in the areas of inquiry and problem solving. A deeper understanding of science phenomena is achieved when students are given the opportunity to explore their curiosity and engage with their learning environment (2). ii. Support student-lead inquiry projects. “Inquiry learning provides students with opportunities to build knowledge, abilities and inquiring habits of mind that lead to deeper understanding of their world and human experience. Inquiry is more than a simple instructional method. It is a philosophical approach to teaching and learning, grounded in constructivist research and methods, which engages students in investigations that lead to disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding” - Saskatchewan Biology 30 Curriculum (3). iii. Focus on rural. Education is a tool to marginalization in small communities, wherein “marginalized” refers to differential access to resources, public services, funding, and education, or actions perceived to reinforce a lesser stature and maintain a group at society’s periphery (4). Many rural communities in Saskatchewan fit this definition when you simply factor in geographical location creating barriers to educational resources. Small communities a distance away from urban centres cannot incorporate educational resources and science programming into their youth’s educational experience with the same ease as urban centres because science costs money, and our publicly funded school system is not an infinitely deep financial purse (5).

At A.S.L.E.E.P., we support educational equity - we strongly believe that science experiences shouldn't require access to urban-based facilities to be a reality.

The Government of Canada has identified education as a means of reducing marginalization (6); in Saskatchewan, this requires supporting small rural or remote communities and Indigenous populations, particularly in the North where road conditions and sparse populations lend to difficulties accessing more than just educational resources - like clean water, health care resources, and amenities including proper housing and access to nutritious food (6,7). My ultimate goal and vision for the ASLEEP Initiative is to create excellent educational resources and demonstration materials to excite and engage youth from communities much like the one I grew up in. I strive to ensure these resources align with outcomes & indicators of Saskatchewan curricula and are easily incorporated into the framework of pre-existing lesson plans and adaptable for meaningful student-lead research projects. I hope to provide these educational resources at low or zero cost to rural and remote communities, including arranging instructional demonstrations or workshops to support teachers as they themselves continue to develop as scientists.

REFERENCES:1. Waldrop, M. Mitchell. 2015. “The Science of Teaching Sciences.” Nature 523 (7560): 272–74. doi:10.1177/019263655704122614.2. 2. Curriculum, Saskatchewan. 2017. “2016 Saskatchewan Curriculum 30.”3. van Uum, Martina S. J., Roald P. Verhoeff, and Marieke Peeters. 2016. “Inquiry-Based Science Education: Towards a Pedagogical Framework for Primary School Teachers.” International Journal of Science Education 38 (3). 4. Taylor & Francis: 450–69. doi:10.1080/09500693.2016.1147660.4. Government of Canada. Last modified 2017.http://international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/human_rights-droits_homme/inclusion.aspx?lang=eng5. Government of Canada. Last modified 2011. 5. “Vulnerable Populations”. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environmental-workplace-health/environmental-contaminants/vulnerable-populations.html 6. Statistics Canada. Last modified 2015. “Aboriginal Peoples: Facts Sheet for Canada”. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-656-x/89-656-x2015001-eng.htm#a8 7. National Collaborating Center for Aboriginal Health. 2011. “Access to Health Services as a Social Determinant of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Health”. Online Report. https://www.ccnsa-nccah.ca/docs/determinants/FS-AccessHealthServicesSDOH-EN.pdf