Dear Ms. Hercules,
It was with great pleasure that I learned of your upcoming visit! My students and I love having guests in our classroom, and it is with great excitement that we await the breath of fresh air your great experience and knowledge will bring. I have struggled for the last few days over the way in which I can answer your question, “What does every Canadian need to know today? It is with great humility that I will do my best to answer, but please be advise that it is neither a question that I believe can be taken lightly, nor one that has a single answer. It is rather, just like Canada itself, complicated, varied and, in large part, open to individual experience and interpretation. There is no simple answer, no exact formula, but rather, in my view, a myriad of different answers that come together through underlying themes of respect and critical thinking (for our past, present and future).
Certainly, curriculums, PLOs and approaches to teaching in Canada will and have, changed over time. The details of how and what we teach in Canada reflect complicated socio-political, geographic and economic factors. If you are curious about specific curricular information for British Columbia for example, please consult the BC ministry of education (http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/welcome.php). Regardless of the specific curriculum or PLO however, I believe that there is a place through out Canadian education for a learned respect of the peoples, places, histories and cultures that have shaped and re-shaped this country. The need for example, to recognize this land as Indigenous territory is, in my opinion, fundamental to a Canadian education. As Canadian educators, I believe it is our responsibility to ensure future generations better understand the Aboriginal presence within the Canadian landscape and, in doing so, become better able to understand the complex and multifaceted position of immigration in Canadian identity.
As a nation, made up of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and immigrants, we, as Canadians, place great importance on our diverse cultural and linguistic heritages. While somewhat problematic, we also take pride in our “Multiculturalism” and “Bilingualism” (policies adopted in 1971 under Trudeau). We are a nation that takes pride in its diversity and this, must be reflected in our teaching.
Canada is, in my opinion a nation not just of pleases, sorrys and thank yous, but a nation that, still to this day, is struggling to find its identity. While Canadian identity may never be a clear cut idea, I believe that the individual stories of our students, of all our citizens, must be granted an equal place within our collective identity and, as such, we must teach our students to critically question and share what it means to them to be Canadian.
I am sorry (oh how Canadian of me…!) that I could not deliver you with a clear-cut answer, but hope you find the information I have provided useful. If you have any further question please do not hesitate to ask.
Sincerely,
Renee Wild