President’s Message: Winter 2025

This fall, our thoughts lie with our Alberta colleagues who have been faced with a number of concerning actions by the provincial government restricting access to books, increasing oversight of controversial guest speakers and topics in the classroom and, of course, a prolonged strike and use of the Notwithstanding Clause to send teachers back to work without a new collective agreement. These kinds of actions are echoed throughout Canadian classrooms and are deeply concerning to SSENC members across the country. Our democracy rests on the high quality education of our citizens. While citizenship education should be the responsibility of all educators, it is the special domain of social studies to engage students in the discussion of human rights, to present opposing viewpoints and to give students the skills they need to navigate democratic decision-making in a pluralistic society.

We know that not everyone has the opportunity to attend a fall social studies conference, but we hope that the articles in this issue of Salon will give you that little boost that you need instead. We have brought together a number of excellent resources in both French and English that we can heartily recommend, including:

• A detailed chronology of Canada’s air war
• New educational resources developed by SSENC in partnership with the Samara Centre for democracy on their new resource: Group Chat.
• An unforgettable opportunity to visit and learn at Juno Beach
• A guide to Heritage Fairs – a national showcase for history education
• Free resources from Elections Canada to spark meaningful conversations
• The Write for Rights campaign from Amnesty International

Teaching social studies is not an easy job, but we hope that by sharing resources, inspiring each other and making connections, we can continue to help our students learn about the past, engage with the present challenges and hope for the future together.