Canadian Social Studies (Journal)
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Remembering Roger I. Simon: A Pedagogy of Public Possibility
Get PDFRoger Simon\u27s scholarship bequeaths to theorists, teachers, and curators across Canada and beyond a theory of education that opens up responsibilities to past and present others. Writing the call for papers, we were struck by the deep and generative quality of Simon\u27s legacy, which is mirrored in the diversity of papers included in this issue. The papers gathered for this special issue address many of the difficulties that he dared educators to hold in mind. What Simon opens are big questions for education in a time more often consoled by the promise of solutions, best practices, and evaluation. These are questions about the interpretive quality of knowledge, the meaning of responsibility, justice, and the role of pedagogy in the reparation of historical trauma. Indeed, Simon lived with questions as the ground of his pedagogy, and in their articulation, he leaves behind an absence that is brimming with potential to make social and historical knowledge matter
In Defense of Simulating Complex and Tragic Historical Episodes: A Measured Response to the Outcry Over a New England Slavery Simulation
Get PDFA slavery simulation that took place as part of a field trip for students of a Hartford junior high academy led a father to file a human rights suit against the school district, and for one official to comment that simulations of complex and tragic human phenomena have "no place in an educational system." In light of these conclusions, this paper explores this case in the context of other similar simulations in order to offer a more measured response to using them in classrooms, one that balances the value of such simulations with the hazards they present for teachers and students
"\u27I am Canada\u27: Exploring Social Responsibility in Social Studies Using Young Adult Historical Fiction"
No full textThis paper explores educating for democratic citizenship with a focus on the intersection between reading and values, specifically the nurturing of social responsibility. Using a pre-designed framework for teaching for social responsibility, excerpts from a young adult historical fiction series are used to consider learning possibilities in the social studies classroom
How Turkish Middle School Students Use the Internet to Study Social Studies
Get PDFThe Internet has become one of the most common educational tools used by teachers and students in social studies education worldwide. Although there are extensive studies on how the Internet is used by teachers as an instructional tool in social studies classes, less work has been done to explain how students themselves use and interact with Internet sources to study for social studies classes. The purpose of this research is to investigate how Turkish middle school students use the Internet to study and do their social studies homework. Fifty-seven middle school students completed an open ended questionnaire in one of Northern Turkey\u27s larger cities. The results show that this group of Turkish middle school students use the Internet extensively, both to gather information for their homework and for non-academic purposes such as playing games, using social media and downloading music and films
Was Columbus a Hero? A Study of Students who have been Confronted with Multiple Historical Narratives
Get PDFThis paper compares two attempts by the author to teach two different grade 12 world history classes to think historically. Both classes were presented with a similar assignment that revolved around the conflicting historical accounts of Christopher Columbus. However, the second group of students was also provided with direct instruction about the nature and construction of historical accounts. In the end, this second group of students demonstrated, on average, a more sophisticated understanding of the study of history. These results correspond with a growing body of research, which suggests that historical understanding can be taught by carefully crafted lessons
Teaching Aboriginal perspectives: An investigation into teacher practices amidst curriculum change
Get PDFThis paper reports on a study exploring ways in which five experienced teachers interpreted and responded to a curricular initiative in Alberta calling for teachers to help students see social studies through multiple perspective lenses representing Aboriginal (and Francophone) communities. Over the course of the study, which focused primarily on how the research participants integrated Aboriginal perspectives in their teaching, the teachers generally interpreted and practiced the teaching of multiple perspectives as providing students with alternative viewpoints on contemporary issues. Of note were teachers resistances to affording room for Aboriginal perspectives, and a general absence of engagements with these perspectives in the classroom. I argue that these resistances may stem from the legacy of a collective memory project that has worked to foster a historical consciousness that makes it hard to perceive, as well as acknowledge the relevance of engaging ÔOther perspectives. In response, I draw attention to perspectives unique to Aboriginal traditions and communities and then offer possibilities for how teachers could alternatively conceptualize and take up this curricular mandate
The Unofficial Federal School Curriculum in Canada: Issues and Implications for Quebec Education
Get PDFThis study seeks to address the ways in which the federal government has influenced elementary and secondary education throughout Canada. By producing teaching and learning material that is neither provincially sanctioned nor provincially focused, are federal agencies crossing constitutional jurisdictions in ways that compete with provincially prescribed curricula? While scholars have considered federal involvement in education from an administrative and legal standpoint, they have done less to examine the actual teaching and learning material produced by federal departments and agencies. Such teaching and learning material represents an unofficial federal curriculum in Canada aimed at promoting a pan-Canadian shared sense of identity. Using the Quebec Education Program as a case study for comparison, this study suggests that the material in many instances conflicts with the aims and intentions of provincial curricula
