Equity and Inclusive Education applied to the Social Studies Classroom

"It is never too late to give up your prejudices."

--Henry David Thoreau, Walden 

"Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zorastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the Mystery, unique and not to be judged."

--Rumi

This almost goes without saying, but people like it when they can relate to their environments and what they're learning. Inclusive education can heighten student and even parent engagement and a good teacher should be trying to get to know their students and their students' backgrounds anyways. I love incorporating things into the classroom that I know about students e.g. making reference to jokes or music they like or acknowledging their background. For example, if I know that many of my students are Muslim, I know not to bring any gelatin or Jello products as treats because they are not halal. 

The Ontario Equity document states that when students see themselves reflected in their studies, they are more likely to stay engaged and find school relevant. Learning about different cultures around the world and in Canada through the Social Studies curriculum can help students feel more connected to the world around them. Taking care to acknowledge the many groups that contributed to the formation of Canada can help students see that the multiculturalism they may take for granted had not always been present in Canada. 

It was through the efforts of many diverse individuals and groups that gave us all the privileges we experience now as Canadians. Teaching students that Canadian culture is complex and varied rather than homogenous can also give students a greater appreciation for others who may be Canadian, but express it differently than they do. Developing empathy for others is part of the “Attributes” section of the Citizenship Education Framework, and inclusive education can aid in its development.

Even if you teach in a school where the population is homogenous, such as in a rural area, it is still important to acknowledge and teach about Canada's diversity. Why? Well, on the off chance those students ever leave that community, say for postsecondary education or to travel, they will still be familiar with cultural diversity and sensitivity.

How Could This be Incorporated into a Social Studies Unit?

I think inclusive education could be integrated into the Grade 6 unit “Communities in Canada, Past and Present” because one of main objectives of the unit is to look at different groups that contributed (and continue to contribute) to Canada’s identity in the past and present. A1.2. requires students to evaluate the contributions of various ethnic and religious groups in the formation of the Canadian identity and of course, the A2 Inquiry expectations will allow students to investigate cultural groups in Canada further. 

Depending on how the teacher wanted to organize the unit, the student may be able to do a project on an ethnic or religious group of their choosing (maybe even their own if they desired) to learn about how community members before them influenced the life they have today. Not only that, but their investigations about why certain groups chose to immigrate to Canada gives students a greater global consciousness and can help them relate these situations to modern events e.g. Syrian refugees coming to Canada.  

Primary Documents in the Social Studies Classroom: Not just for scholars anymore!

Whether this is accurate or not, whenever I think of a historian, I can't help but think of a man or woman in a tweed suit, with big glasses poring carefully over yellowed documents in the backroom of some library or government office, using tweezers to turn the pages so as not to disrupt the integrity of the primary sources they're investigating. However, thanks to an increasing amount of resources being put online and the increased knowledge of restoration and preservation of artifacts, you don't need that PhD and tweed suit to investigate the past in a hands on way! Students, even students as young as primary grades can have encounters with the past through primary documents.

Primary documents are an interesting and fun way to make history come alive for students. Rather than reading about events that happened through a textbook (and thus a historian’s interpretation of that event), students can piece together for themselves what happened and even assess multiple resources about the same event to try to find “the truth” or at the very least figuring out what most likely happened. 

Why Should Students Read Primary Documents? 

Primary documents help students develop the ability to analyze the value of resources, asking questions like: what is a credible source? Is this document written by a credible source? What does the author have to gain (if anything) by producing this document? Considering the vast amount of content students must parse everyday in the Internet-age, being confident in assessing primary documents is a useful skill (especially considering so many "studies" put online that are neither peer-reviewed, nor properly executed).

Primary documents also allow students to work on essential language arts reading strategies, such as making inferences, predictions, and connections. In a textbook, the author will usually explain an event explicitly and lay out step-by-step how various groups may have been affected. While it is useful to have that clarity, primary documents can be used in conjunction with the textbooks for students to compare and contrast the official narrative of the textbook with the narrative they read in primary documents.  

How Could Primary Documents be Incorporated into a Unit? 

How I would like to incorporate primary documents into a social studies unit in a classroom of my own would be through early explorer narratives and diaries for the Grade 5 “First Nations and Europeans in New France and Early Canada” strand. Looking at excerpts from the diaries of Cartier and Champlain can give a more insight into how rough the journeys across the Atlantic really were, and can give an interesting view of the European perspective of first contacts with the First Nations. 

I think of that exchange between Iroquois chief Donnacona and Cartier after Cartier and his men had erected a cross claiming the land for France as a good excerpt to read. Cartier’s account is far from an objective account, and students can have the opportunity to compare and contrast the description of this exchange in their textbook and in Cartier’s diary. They can also develop their predicting, inferencing, and empathy in imagining what they perspective looked and felt like to Donnacona. 

"Hey, you don't mind if we set up a giant cross and kidnap your sons do you?"
First encounter 1534. Retrieved from
https://jacquescartier1534.wordpress.com/first-encounter-with-people-in-1534/

There are also other interesting (read: depressing and appalling) sections of the journal that describe Iroquois people being kidnapped to be taken to France to show the King what Cartier had discovered. If students read that and then read how those situations are described in textbooks and official narratives, which mention nothing of forcible seizure and make it appear like Iroquois trotted happily onto Cartier's boat, waving goodbye to their family, excited for the adventure, it will certainly be food for thought. There's a link to the journal here, but there are also nicer translations available in print form. 

These narratives can be linked to Language Arts, looking at both reading texts and media literacy. Explorer narratives and adventure novels were historically very popular genres with strict conventions that portrayed aboriginal peoples in specific ways. This can be an introduction into the portrayal of aboriginals and other minorities in the media historically and today if you chose to use social studies as a starting point for conversations in other subjects.  

Let me know ways you'd like to use primary documents in the classroom or how your students feel about these more hands-on historical investigations!

Environmental Education in Ontario Social Studies

"The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives."
--Proverb

Environmental education in the social studies is increasingly essential given recent developments in climate change research and the difficulty in distributing resources to an ever-growing global population. Students need to develop green habits that they can share with others and carry on into adulthood. 

Environmental education gives students a greater connection to local and global communities, helping increase their sense of place and involvement. It enhances critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in the process. Environmental education is linked with field work, which develops valuable skills and can be connected with other disciplines, giving students a more interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary education. With the proper educational framework, students can move from awareness to action in regards to caring for the environment. 

Environmental education is also beneficial because it has connections to other ministry initiatives, such as the inclusion of aboriginal history and culture into the curriculum. It also is in alignment with Foundations for a Healthy School framework, which emphasizes a healthy physical environment and supportive social environment for successful learning. On average, children like to be helpful and feel like their actions are important, and by having them participate in environmental initiatives in the school and the larger community, it can give a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that they are making a positive impact in the world.

What Might it look like in a Classroom?

Environmental education and field study could be aligned with the grade 7 Geography curriculum through the A2 inquiry expectations, where students must “guide investigations into the impact of natural events and/or human activities that change the physical environment.” Students could look at their local community and investigate through analyzing maps, climate graphs, and census data how the environment has changed in their local community over time, and how these changes occurred e.g. did the building of a dam change the local habitat, has there been a decrease in availability of arable land due to new housing developments, etc. 

Apart from developing their data analysis and spatial skills, this inquiry could be supplemented with visits to various natural habitats or historic sites in the area to compare and contrast how humans lived in this area before and how they live now. This incorporates many skills and concepts of both Geography and even History, while addressing Environmental education in a hands-on way. 

Remember too that Environmental education allows a great cross-curricular opportunity with Science, as Environmental education and stewardship is a major component of the Ontario Science curriculum as well. There are many ways to bring up the environment when teaching students, we do all live on Earth so it's kind of hard to avoid really. Any of the Social Studies strands could theoretically involve Environmental education; it's just time to get creative and see what you can do to incorporate those values and concepts.