Post-war+challenges

Usha's comments in Blue.

Your name: Elena Hynes

**//__Lesson Design__//:** **Key Learning:** Students will walk away with an understanding of the "headway" made by the end of WWI through the contributions of various social and political movements both during and after the war. They will understand that while the there was slow provincial and federal response to the many problems of Canadians, there were also bold advances made for returning veterans, women and workers. Well framed key learning. **Critical Challenge:** Decide through discussion and debate about several "blurbs" (taken from primary source documents representing diverse Canadian voices) the answer to the following question, and then share the group's answers with the class. "Was Canada a more prosperous and equitable place to live after World War I? Why or why not?" **Skills Required for Summative Assessment Task**: The critical challenge will help students become familiar with primary source documents and their treatment. They will learn to read such things in a critically-minded way, keeping in mind the diverse motives and biases that exist in any publication, advertisement, personal letter, etc. Good - this will obviously connect directly to the publication they need to create - the newspaper spread. Portal of Historical Thinking: Continuity and Change **Intellectual Tools:** //Background Knowledge:// Students will need to have been introduced to the historical content concerned, including troop demobilization issues, the lack of social programs for both returning veterans and now-unemployed women, the lack of redress for workers grievances (including minoritized workers), and the slow government response to women's issues. They must also however be introduced to the surge of agency undertaken by these groups following WWI to advocate for equity and social justice. Expectations Addressed: Students will.... 1) analyze the contributions of various social and plitical movements in Canada since 1914 2) analyze the changing responses of the federal and provincial governments to social and economic pressures since 1914 Good - but also please cut and paste the specific expectations from the curriculum documents that will be addressed by this lesson. //Criteria for Judgment:// In order to participate in the critical challenge, students must first define and understand the meanings of both "equitable" and "prosperous". The challenge can, of course, allow for varying interpretations of these terms, especially since group debate is involved in the challenge. Replace the above terms "equitable" and "prosperous" with "better". Yes - but you need to have a sense of what the criteria are ahead of time so you can make sure the discussion stays focused. I wonder, though, whether "more equitable" and "more prosperous" __//are indeed//__ the criteria for what might be better framed as a broader question - e.g. "Was Canada a __//better//__ place to live...?" What do you think? //Thanks Usha! I tried out replacing "prosperous" and "equitable" with "better" during the demonstration of my mental set today (it's a mini-version of the main activity in my lesson) and it actually stimulated more and varied discussion than I anticipated for the original terms. I think I will be re-framing my criteria for the critical challenge in this way. Great to hear! // //Habits of Mind:// As part of this lesson, student will cultivate open-mindedness to others opinions and critical-mindedness in handling primary sources. Yes - but this is likely too many to explicitly address in any given lesson. Keep it manageable for yourself - pick 1 or 2 maximum. //Critical Thinking Vocabulary:// Students will need to be able to understand the terms: Analysis, Bias and Criteria. Same as above re: likely too many. **Initial Reading and Assessment of Textbook Treatment of the Topic**

Name of Gr. 10 Textbook examined: Canada: A Nation Unfolding (2000)

Name of more "scholarly" source examined: Prentice A. Bourne P. "Canadian Women: A History" Harcourt Brace and Company, Canada. 1996.

__Your Initial Thoughts:__ The textbook gave a fairly decent overview of post-World War I events and challenges. The focus was largely on politics and social issues. There is a fairly healthy amount of attention paid to Canada in an international political context (as a member of the League of Nations, our attempts to assert our autonomy from Britain, our role in the attempted suppression of communism in Russia). I thought the text did a fairly decent job of encouraging a view of history through several perspectives and that is encouraged some critical thinking, especially when it comes to analyzing primary sources. There was a lack of information regarding aboriginal issues, race relations between white Canadians and African-Canadians as well as newcomers to Canada, and francophone/anglophone relations. The "scholarly source", //Canadian Women: A History// had some more varied perspectives and distinct voices to be heard in terms of Canada's continued poor treatment of 'enemy aliens' and the slowly developing struggle for Canadian women's rights. I also noted that it examined (albeit not always very deeply) the topics neglected by the textbook. Both texts did quite a good job of examining some major themes directly related to the end of WWI such as demobilization, veteran's economic and social challenges, labour struggles and the fallout from the conscription crisis. Thanks for your assessment, Elena. I think your focus on the voices of Canadians from this time period in order to unearth various perspectives would certainly enrich the textbook's treatment of the topic.

Critical Challenge: Students would be organized into discussion groups with a different handout for each group detailing several short "blurbs" or quotes from Canadians of the post-war period. The passages would discuss the then-current state of Canada (politically, socially, economically) in various ways, positive, negative and neutral. The voices of these individuals would include those of returning veterans, women, African-Canadians, francophones, workers/union labourers, newcomers to Canada, politicians, journalists, etc... The students would read these quotes together and collectively decide on their answer to the following question through discussion and debate: "Was Canada a more prosperous and equitable place to live after World War I? Why or why not?" Each group would then share their answer with the rest of the class. The critical question at the core of this task ( "Was Canada a more prosperous and equitable place to live after World War I? ) is very well framed. It is clearly a "critique the piece" and will clearly require criteria for "more prosperous" and "equitable". I think the process you are suggesting (reading about various perspectives or reading primary documents from a variety of perspectives) is a strong approach that has historical thinking at its core. Nicely done.

