Section 11.1 of the Alberta Human Rights Act: Implementation, Reactions, and Legacy

Authors

  • Alix Esterhuizen Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary
  • Dianne Gereluk Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v10i19.186447

Keywords:

education policy, parental choice, politics and education, sexual orientation

Abstract

Introduced in 2009, Section 11.1 of the Alberta Human Rights Act required schools to provide prior written notice to parents when classroom activities deal explicitly with religion, human sexuality, or sexual orientation. Parents then had the right to request their child be excluded from that portion of study. In the first province-wide assessment of this legislation, we analyzed contextual documents and surveyed practicing teachers to determine if, and to what extent, they have altered or removed any curricular materials as a result of Section 11.1. We found that teachers’ internalization of this legislation became manifest beyond what was required of the formal policy intentions or procedures.

 

Author Biographies

Alix Esterhuizen, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary

Alix Esterhuizen completed her Bachelor of Education degree at the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary and her Master of Arts in Political Studies at Queen’s University, specializing in political theory and Canadian politics. Her work focuses on morally polarizing issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion, legalized euthanasia, and polygamy, how we ought to legislate them in view of Charter rights and freedoms, and the intersection of such issues in educational policy. She is currently a researcher at the Werklund School of Education and a high school social studies teacher with the Calgary Board of Education.

Dianne Gereluk, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary

Dianne Gereluk received her doctorate of philosophy at the Institute of Education, University of London in 2003. Upon returning to Alberta, Dianne Gereluk served as Chair of Leadership, Policy and Governance specialization at the University of Calgary from 2011-2013. In 2013, Dianne Gereluk was appointed as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs in Education at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary.

Dianne Gereluk has been a prominent advocate for education at the local, provincial, and international levels. She is a regular commentator on CTV, CBC and Alberta Primetime on current debates in education in Alberta. At the provincial level, she has sat on the Alberta Education External Advisory Committee and the Teacher Education Certification Committee for the Province. She has further been interviewed by leading international media that include: The Guardian, Times Higher Education Supplement, and BBC 4.

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Published

2019-08-08

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 19 (2019)

Section

Articles

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