Dr. David Scott
Affiliations
Associate Professor
Werklund School of Education, Specialization, Curriculum and Learning
Contact information
Phone number
Office: 403.220.8808
For media enquiries, contact
Clayton MacGillivray
Content and Media Specialist
Email: clmacgil@ucalgary.ca
Twitter: @UCalgaryEduc
Preferred method of communication
Please direct all media inquiries to: Clayton MacGillivray, Content and Media Specialist.
403.220.7310
Background
Educational Background
Ph.D. Curriculum and Learning , University of Calgary , 2016
M.Ed. Curriculum Specialization, University of Alberta, 2009
B.A. Political Science, University of Victoria, 1999
Teaching Certification Social Studies, English Language Arts, Simon Fraser University , 2001
Biography
David Scott is an Associate Professor of Curriculum and Learning at the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education. His research examines how curriculum shapes the ways teachers and students interpret the past, navigate contested public issues, relate to place and community, and imagine possible futures. His scholarship brings together curriculum studies, social studies and history education, Indigenous education, and design-oriented approaches to teaching and learning.
A central focus of Dr. Scott’s work is how educators interpret and respond to large-scale curriculum change, particularly when asked to engage Indigenous knowledges and other perspectives historically marginalized in schooling. Working collaboratively with Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Holders, educators and community partners, he also studies Treaty education and the ways historical sites and public commemorations function as informal sites of curricula. He is a co-lead of the Teacher Education Cluster within the SSHRC Partnership Grant, Thinking Historically for Canada’s Future.
Before entering university teaching, Dr. Scott taught in Japan, British Columbia, Québec and Alberta. These experiences continue to inform his interest in how curriculum is interpreted across linguistic, cultural and geographic contexts.
Research
Areas of Research
Dr. Scott’s research is guided by the overarching question of how formal and informal curricula shape the ways people understand the past, participate in social and political life, and orient themselves toward possible futures.
His research approaches curriculum as a public and relational practice operating across policy, classrooms, teacher education, historical sites, and commemorative landscapes. Through empirical, conceptual and collaborative studies, he examines how teachers and students engage contested histories, negotiate curriculum change, encounter Indigenous knowledges and relationships, and develop creative responses to complex educational challenges. Across this work, he is particularly interested in the ethical and civic purposes of education: whose experiences, stories, and perspectives are recognized, and what responsibilities curriculum creates among people, communities, and places.
This research program comprises four intersecting strands: history and social studies education; curriculum change, citizenship and public life; Treaty education, place and relational responsibility; and educational design and possible futures.
- Curriculum studies
- History education
- Social studies education
- Citizenship education
- Historical consciousness
- Curriculum change
- Treaty education
- Indigenous education
- Public memory and commemoration
- Design in education
- Futures in education
Participation in university strategic initiatives
Projects
As part of the new Alberta Teaching Quality Standard introduced in 2022, all K-12 teachers in the province are now required to have a foundational understanding of the implications surrounding treaties with First Nations, as well as legislation and agreements with Métis. In light of this mandate, there has been an expressed interest from the field to gain deeper insights and understandings into the original spirit and intent of Treaty 7 and Métis agreements, as well as the roles and responsibilities of educators leading and enacting Treaty and Agreements education. Drs. David Scott (Werklund School of Education), Tiffany Hind-Bull Prete (University of Lethbridge), and Jennifer MacDonald (University of Regina) have partnered with the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School Division to convene a series of immersive learning sessions with local Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Holders. https://werklund.ucalgary.ca/about/indigenous-education/renewing-treaty-and-agreements
Awards
- Werklund Teaching Excellence Award, Werklund School of Education. 2018
- Award for the Study of Canadian Human Rights & Multiculturalism, Government of Alberta. 2008
Publications
- Teacher as designer: Design thinking for educational change. Scott, D. & Lock, J. (Eds.). Springer. 22-39. (2021)
- Teaching for reconciliation through the lens of ethical relationality: All my relations inquiry. Shergill, S., & Scott, D. . In S. Steinberg (Eds.), SAGE Handbook of Critical Pedagogies, Sage Publications. 587-603. (2020)
- A meditation on current and future trajectories for elementary social studies in Alberta. Scott, D. . One World in Dialogue. 1-15. (2021)
- Reconsidering rural education in light of Canada’s Indigenous reality. In M. Corbett & D. Gereluk (Eds.), Rural Education in Canada: Connecting Land and People (pp. 113-133). Springer. Scott, D., & Louie, D. . In M. Corbett & D. Gereluk (Eds.), Rural Education in Canada: Connecting Land and People, Springer. 113-133. (2020)
- Investigating educational responses to diversity in Brazil during a time of curriculum change. Scott, D., Kawalilak, C., Dressler, R., & de Paiva, W.. Comparative Education Review. 63(3), 377-397. (2019)
- Examining social studies teachers’ resistances towards teaching Indigenous perspectives: A case study of Alberta. Scott, D. & Gani, R. . Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education. 13(1), 167-181. (2018)
- Examining the efficacy of inquiry-based approaches to education. Scott, D., Smith, C., Chu, M., & Friesen, S.. Alberta Journal of Educational Research. 64(1), 35-54. (2018)
- Social studies teachers’ resistance to teaching Francophone perspectives in Alberta. Gani, R., & Scott, D.. International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research. 15(1), 34-48. (2017)
- Examining differing notions of a “real” education within Aboriginal communities. Louie, D. W., & Scott, D.. Critical Education. 7(3), 1-18. (2016)
- Citizenship education and the construction of identity in Canada. Gereluk, D., & Scott, D. . In J. E. Petrovic & A. M. Kuntz (Eds.), Citizenship education around the world: Local contexts and global possibilities, Routledge University Press. 128-149. (2014)
- A place for a more critical form of historical inquiry in social studies classrooms. Scott, D. . Antistasis. 3(1), 15–18. (2013)
- Teaching Aboriginal perspectives: An investigation into teacher practice amidst curriculum change. Scott, D.. Canadian Social Studies. 46(1), 31–43. (2013)
- Trying to make the mission statements of social studies curriculum inhabit my social studies pedagogy and vice versa. Scott, D., & Abbott, L. . One World in Dialogue Journal. 2(1), 8–18. (2012)
- Engaging contested minoritized commemorations: A métissage inspired inquiry into a vandalized bilingual (French-English) stop sign. Scott, D., Gani, R., & Gobran, J. . McGill Journal of Education. 1-23. (2026)
- Defending Francophone and Indigenous perspectives in Alberta’s social studies curriculum: The views of 13 Francophone education stakeholders. Gani, R. & Scott, D. . Alberta Journal of Educational Research. 288–309. (2024)
- Reframing design in education: Proposing a framework to support pre-service teachers in adopting designerly stances. Clark, D. B., Scott, D., DiPasquale, J. P., & Becker, S.. Journal of the Learning Sciences. 1-54. (2024)
- Perspectives on the process of design from education and design fields. Clark, D., Scott, D., & DiPasquale, J. P.. Handbook of Curriculum Theory, Research, and Practice. 763-782. (2024)
- Framing citizenship and citizenship formation for pre-service teachers: A critical review of prominent trends in the research literature. Scott, D., Tupper, J., & Gobran, J.. Democracy & Education. 1-12. (2021)
In the News
- Reacting to the province’s recently introduced legislation aimed at making classrooms politically neutral. CBC: Calgary Eye Opener with Loren McGinis, Angela Knight. (2026)
- Alberta First Nations elders say they weren't properly consulted on new education curriculum. CBC News. (2025)
- Fact checking Jason Kenney’s curriculum conversations. YouTube. (2021)
- Opinion: Alberta's draft social studies curriculum will hinder students. Edmonton Journal . (2021)
- Proposed K-6 curriculum ignores research, resulting in a model unlikely to achieve any of its goals. CBC News . (2021)
More Information
Media:
- CBC Radio (2020, October 22). Proposed curriculum changes in Alberta. Alberta at noon with Judy Aldous. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-1-alberta-at-noon?fbclid=IwAR3Ukye8JLlv_gWtb2rfCNiRmxYDgVKw3z_KG6aSQGt1LxvXZYFt-A1EI88
- Scott, D. (2018, June 18). Why your child will benefit from inquiry-based learning. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-your-child-will-benefit-from-inquiry-based-learning-97245
- Lequitte, H. (2018, June 14). Ou l’introduction d’une nouvelle donne les curriculums? Le Franco. https://www.pressreader.com/canada/le-franco/20180614/281543701631383
- PUC Noticias. (2016). Fruto de parceria, simpósio debate educação e diversidade. http://noticias.pucgoias.edu.br/?p=10560
- Universidade Federal do Goiás. (2016). Simpósio discute inclusão e diversidade na educação. https://www.ufg.br/n/92842-simposio-discute-inclusao-e-diversidade-na-educacao
- Partner Research Schools (WSE). (2016). Towards a new approach for teaching 'other' perspectives: Examining the teaching of Francophone perspectives in Alberta. http://werklund.ucalgary.ca/prs/project/towards-new-approach-teaching-other-perspectives-examining-teaching-francophone-perspectives
- Research @Werklund. (2017). Teaching “Other” perspectives. http://werklundresearch.ucalgaryblogs.ca/teaching-others-perspectives/
- University of Calgary (2015, July 8). PhD student finds connections across classrooms in Canada and Brazil. UToday https://www.ucalgary.ca/utoday/issue/2015-07-08/phd-student-finds-connections-across-classrooms-canada-and-brazil
- The History Education Network/Histoire et Éducation en Réseau. (2013, May 5). Visiting doctoral program report. http://thenhier.ca/sites/default/files/Scott-report.pdf
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