Ontario high schools get high marks for Canadian history classes
Required Grade 10 history and civics classes earn higher rating than other provinces
Ontario stands at the top of the class for its strong Canadian history curriculum in the latest ratings by this country’s history education watchdog — and we trounced Alberta, whose fuzzy timelines and lack of a compulsory high school history credit landed it dead last.
Ontario’s rich Grade 10 history credit course — so jam-packed the report suggests it be spread over two years — plus its mandatory half-course in citizenship helped earn it a mark of 82 per cent on the Canadian History Report Card, to be released Monday by Historica Canada, a group that promotes awareness of Canadian history.
Also strong were British Columbia (81 per cent), Quebec (80) and Manitoba (80). However, Alberta scored just 62 per cent and Saskatchewan 69 per cent, in a report that calls for schools to work harder to help students understand their country.
“We tend to be lacking at either the front end — recent history — or the back end before 1867, but we’re getting better, which is important because understanding history helps you understand why we are the way we are,” said Historica president An- thony Wilson-Smith.
If anything, Ontario’s Grade 10 history course tries to cover too much, he said; “from the early 1900s to now — both world wars, the great influenza epidemic, the injustices done to immigrants like the Chinese who didn’t get the vote till 1947 . . . let’s think of that scope! It would be better spread over two years.”
Canadian schools have pulled up their educational socks since 2009, when Historica’s last report card handed out failing grades to five provinces and territories, with two more squeaking by with only 50s.
This report card looked at history curricula from Grades 4 to 12 to see how well they balance the teaching of timelines with deeper themes like diversity, gender, aboriginal peoples and national identity — and from a range of perspectives, from global to local, social to national. It also measures how well each province teaches students to think about history using the six “historical thinking concepts” that have to do with historical significance, considering evidence, examining continuity and change, cause and consequence, looking at broader historical perspectives and the ethical dimension. Wilson- Smith said Canadian schools are moving beyond the perspective of European settlers to include First Nations, women and non-European immigrants’ perspectives, and consider more than just military and economic milestones by discussing ethics and social responsibility.
Historica also consulted classroom teachers, and some in Ontario expressed their frustration at having little time for a deep look at events such as the FLQ crisis, the Cold War, the Korean War, the Indian Act, residential schools, the Montreal Massacre, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, OPEC crisis, the Oka crisis and the Meech Lake Accord, said Historica’s program manager, Bronwyn Graves.
History teacher James Stewart of Bishop Strachan School, a consultant on the report card project, said, “Students love history when it is taught well. I find students are continually fascinated by the history of the First and Second World Wars, particularly the former. They are completely unaware of the contribu- tion made by Canada and are startled by the horror of the slaughter. It’s a huge awakening for them.”
Stewart also tries to make history relevant. Two years ago, he had his students send tweets to the new U.S. ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman, about what he should know about the countries’ joint history.
Heyman responded, which Stewart said gave students a thrill.