Canadian Social Studies (Journal)
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Guest Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue: Echoes of Terror(ism): International Contemplations and Reflections on 9/11
Get PDFAs the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, we contemplate and reflect on the current social/political imagination of terror(ism) and U.S./Canadian patriotism. For educators seeking to unpack 9/11 and its reverberations, it is important to highlight Islamophobic and anti-Muslim racism, discrimination, prejudice, and violence, as well as to consider Muslim students’ lived experiences. (Re)thinking about whose voices are included (or not) within the nexus of sociopolitical power is an important step toward justice and then rapprochement within and beyond the classroom. We consider this assemblage of articles to be a distinctly communal effort that responds to and attempts to disrupt the (perpetual) echoes of terror(ism) which became amplified by/through the events of 9/11
An Analysis of Orientalist Discourse in an Alberta Social Studies Text Resource
Get PDFThe aim of this paper is to explore how the Alberta Social Studies 30-1 textbook, Perspectives on Ideology (Fielding et al., 2009) can contribute to orientalist discourse in its presentation of Islam, especially with respect to terrorism, extremism, and illiberalism—three concepts that appear in the Alberta Social Studies Program of Study. Using a content and discourse analysis, the study found three central findings that contributed to an orientalist framing of Islam: a lack of nuanced discussion of Islam; positioning Islam as a source of terrorism; and a lack of acknowledgement of wrongdoing following injustices perpetrated towards Muslims in Canada. This study concludes by offering ways in which social studies curricular support materials may interrogate to disrupt orientalist discourse, and challenges social studies educators to critically examine the limitations of some of the most common resource materials at their disposal. 
Echoes of Terrorism in Today’s U.S. Classrooms: A Re-Reading of Media Used to Teach about 9/11
Get PDFNearly 20 years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York, Washington D.C., and Shanksville, PA there is a yearly ritual in a majority of US Schools. On the anniversary each year, teachers and students across the US learn about the attacks and memorialize the events. In many classrooms this is done through witnessing the events much like in 2001 for most of the world – through watching news or documentary footage of the events. In this article I use Hall’s concepts of encoding and decoding as well and socio-cultural theories to read these media representations both in the context of 2001 and again 20 years later to understand how these events are placed into broader narratives of US history. Many teachers today focus on the shock and horror of the events, an approach I argue is problematic as the affective response is emphasized over the historical context and consequences. Instead of using these media to foster collective memory, they could instead be viewed as primary sources to inquire into the historical context of the events and response in the form of the Global War on Terror. This approach would allow students to better understand the events leading to the attacks and the impact that the resulting responses by the US and other Western nations have had on their lives and the lives of others around the globe (e.g., Islamaphobia). After 20 years of conflict after these attacks it is time to both remember the victims of 9/11 as well as understand why it happened and the global toll of the response
Echoes of Terror(ism): The Mutability and Contradictions of Countering Violent Extremism in Québec
Get PDFOur paper examines the latest frontier of the “War on Terror,” countering violent extremism (CVE), non-coercive approaches that aim to prevent “radicalization” that may lead to “violent extremism” or terrorism. We look at the recent implementation of CVE in Québec’s education sector. Based on an analysis of key policy documents and interviews with CVE practitioners, we find that: (1) teachers are responsibilized to safeguard society from the risk of terrorism through being expected to “know the signs” of radicalization and to build “resilience,” (2) students are responsibilized as agents who can influence their peers against violent extremist messaging and toward “prosocial” behaviour, and (3) elements of school curriculum are responsibilized, especially social studies education, to provide students with “critical thinking” skills thought to be lacking among those at risk of radicalization. We highlight the inherent contradictions in CVE, which, in Québec, claims to foster pluralism and inclusivity to combat Islamophobia, but as a modality of the “War on Terror” also targets and stigmatizes Muslim communities. Critical discussion of CVE’s social implications are needed to initiate critical dialogue in Canada over the impact of CVE in social services provision and the risk of securitizing the education sector in Québec
Explicit and Implicit Social Studies: Exploring the Integration of Social Studies Experiences in Two Elementary Classrooms
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Truthing: An ontology of living in an ethic of shakihi (love) and ikkimmapiiyipitsiin (sanctified kindness)
Get PDFWhat’s a poem good for? Pedagogical connections between poetry and Social Studies
Get PDFIn this article, Dr. Wanda Hurren highlights eight pedagogical opportunities that arise when sharing poetry in social studies classrooms. These opportunities are discussed as: aesthetic ways of knowing, contemplation, creativity, embodied knowing, pleasure, pondering, protest, and spirit. Connections between poetry as a way of coming to know things, and the overall goals and rationales for teaching social studies are highlighted. An annotated list of poetry resources that hold possibilities for social studies teaching and learning is included
