School engagement among aboriginal students in northern Canada: perspectives from activity settings theory

Educational disengagement is a public health concern among Aboriginal populations in many countries. It has been investigated previously in a variety of ways, with the conventional focus being on the children themselves. Activity settings are events and places, theorized in terms of their symbols, roles, time frame, funds, people, and physical location. According to the theory, particular behaviors and experiences are shaped by different configurations among these elements. This study explored how activity settings theory might provide new insight on school engagement.

Ethnographic study was undertaken at a grades primary to 12 school in a remote First Nations community in Canada's Northwest Territories. We collected data through interviews, focus groups, archival material, and field notes from 7 months of participant observation. An activity settings model acted as template for data collection and interpretation.

Different aspects of the school's physical layout, routines, procedures, transport systems, mix of people, and rules were able to be systemically assessed and classified as either creating or eroding engagement.

This study applies an activity setting analysis to school engagement, thereby allowing researchers to investigate the dynamic and nested nature of context or environmental influences on engagement. It provides grounded observations that invite direct opportunities for action on dimensions that teachers and practitioners might not otherwise "see."