This fonds consists of approximately 3,950 photographs in slide, print and negative formats, approximately 29.7 meters of textual material, 2 reels of microfilm, 1 audiocassette and 1 video reel. Approximately 450 photographs depict school facilities across the Northwest Territories, as well as other community buildings from the Northwest Territories, such as hospitals and churches. The remaining photographs are from the School Program and Development Division or the School Support Division. The collection from the School Program and Development Division consists of approximately 1,944 35-mm negatives, 138 slide images and approximately 828 reproductions of archival images. The communities of Fort McPherson, Fort Smith and Fort Franklin are represented, as well as images of elders, traditional games and activities. The reproductions of the archival images include photographs of the Perry Expedition, as well as images from the Department of Interior-Yukon and Northwest Territories Branch, which consist of images from throughout the arctic, primarily from the Keewatin Region. The images from the School Support Division consists of 871 slides that depict the following communities: Inuvik , Trout Lake, Jean Marie River, Snare Lake, Yellowknife, Fort Wrigley, Rae Edzo, Tuktoyaktuk, Tungsten, Fort Franklin, Coral Harbour, Pelly Bay, Coppermine, Pine Point, and Hay River. In addition, there are 80 slides with an accompanying audio cassette and manual from a unit entitled "Our Students, Our Future: Shaping Education in the NWT." This unit was developed in 1990 and includes images that depict students and education related activities in the Northwest Territories. Furthermore, there are 64 black and white photographs with accompanying negatives of historic buildings and sites in Fort Smith. The photographs were taken in 1986 by Chris Hanks, Sub arctic Archaeologist for the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre while he delivered an anthropology course for the Renewable Resources Technology Program at Thebacha College in Fort Smith.
The textual records generated by the Administration Division, later renamed the Directorate, consist of material dated between 1966-1989. These records consist of policy and planning files, Board of Education files, correspondence, service agreements between the department and school boards, finance reports from residential schools and school boards, reports on hearing impairment, school health projects and special needs, in addition to various committee reports and general language files. There are also files from the Baffin Board of Education, Fort Smith Region, Kitikmeot Region Education Association and the Keewatin Region Education Authority.
The bulk of the textual material was created and/or accumulated by the School Programs Development section and its predecessors the Program Services, Programs and Evaluations Branch, Education Programs and Evaluation and Linguistic Programs, which were all part of the Administration and Directorate Division, Department of Education. The records consist of administrative files, correspondence, committee reports, policy and planning files, reports and minutes from meetings; Special Education records, School program files and Linguistic program files, including workbooks, readers and curriculum material. In addition, there are records from the Assistant Director of Education regarding school policy, procedures and directives, Inuit education, pupil residences and vocational training. There are also records and files from the following: Continuing and Special Education Division, including files from Adult Education, Apprenticeship Training, Life Skills, Home Management, Vocational Training for the Handicapped, and Social and Housing Education; Advanced Education division, including files regarding the In-Service Training Program and literacy promotion; records from the Tree of Peace adult education program; records from the Director of Education; Education Recruitment; and the Professional Improvement Committee. The remaining textual material is from the Central Registry and consists of files from the Director of Education (70 block), School Programs (72 block), School Services (73 block) and College and Continuing Education (75 block). The records from the Director of Education includes files on general education, curriculum development, teacher training, conferences, aboriginal language courses, school policy, schools and residences and Superintendent of Education files for the regions. The records from School Programs and School Services consist of correspondence, publications, policies and procedures relating to school programs, curriculum, teacher evaluations, conferences and school services files. The records from the College and Continuing Education Services relate to adult education centres and programs, vocational programs, continuing and special education, group courses, conferences and workshops. In addition, there are two microfilm reels containing records from the Central Registry from the following program areas: Director of Education (70 block) and Assistant Director of Education (71 block).
This fonds also includes daily student attendance records from St. Patrick's Separate School and Sir John Franklin High School that date between 1953-1970 and were transferred directly from the schools in 1980, Treaty Member and Inuit Identification Lists, miscellaneous reports, publications and one video reel documenting "Life in a Student Residence, Grollier Hall, 1976."
This fonds also includes approximately 2 meters of published reports, curriculum resources, teaching guides, newsletters, magazines, pamphlets, published anthologies, manuals, education kits, storybooks, workbooks and handbooks created by the Department of Education dating from 1973 to 1993. The material covers a wide range of topics including teaching aides for elementary school children (workbooks, storybooks, teaching guides, kits, etc.), a large collection of Pik magazines, brochures and kits on child abuse, sexual assault and alcohol and drug awareness, apprenticeship brochures, nutrition guides and a children's cookbook, curriculum guides on science, civics, social studies and health, a needs assessment report on alternative programs for special needs, a review of Akaitcho Hall, a report on the 1971 Olympiada event, and many aboriginal language storybook readers. There is also a Social and Housing Education Program in the Mackenzie District summary from 1969.
