History exams lacked substance

Re: “Story of Us and Quebec’s history course” (Opinion, April 13)

I am somewhat amused by the Quebec concern over the content, or lack of such, in the CBC-TV series Canada: The Story of Us.

I taught high school history for 20 years and remained involved with social studies in other functions for another 15 years. In the Quebec and Canada history course, dating back to the mid-’70s at least until I retired in 2001, there were never any final examination questions on the Acadians, the English-French wars in North America, not even the Plains of Abraham. All a student had to understand about the Amerindians was that one group had been nomadic while the other was sedentary.

Jumping to the 20th century and the world wars, the final exam would only question the conscription crises, the growth of industry and the role of women. There were no questions on causes, participation, victories or losses — no Vimy, no Dieppe, no Holocaust — no fighting, no death.

These topics were in the teaching materials and covered by most teachers, but as they were never asked on the all-important final examination, they often got much less attention than deserved.

It seemed obvious to me that some group in the education ministry was out to mould young Quebec minds. It’s nice to see that maybe they are failing.

Jerry Dunn, Laval