Giving our past a future
SSENC president, Rachel Collishaw and founding director, Lise Proulx attended the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) forum on “Giving our past a future: Re-building and sharing inclusive narrative(s) for Canada” in Gatineau, Québec.”
The Association for Canadian Studies mission is to increase Canadians’ knowledge of their country and provide platforms for cross-sectoral and multidisciplinary exchanges about the country’s past, present and future.
This event brought together educators at all levels, researchers, public policy makers, graduate students, and museum professionals to network, learn from each other and discuss the future of our shared histories..
Rachel and Lise presented the SSENC Korean War inquiry resources, highlighting the diverse stories and the variety of narratives included in the lessons. Of particular interest were the stories in the secondary lesson: Was Canada’s participation in the Korean War successful? The lesson includes veteran testimony from a diverse cross-section of the Canadian population, designed to help students see people like themselves. They also shared about the little-known stories of French-Canadian participation in the Korean War, including the story of the young journalist, René Lévesque, and his war reporting that brought the wider world to many French-Canadians’ radios and newspapers.
Rachel also shared about the importance of including students, through inquiry and historical thinking, in the building of national narratives, and shared several examples of practical classroom strategies to engage students and listen to their perspectives.
The forum was a great opportunity to hear about challenges and opportunities in history and citizenship education in several provinces and to make connections across the history and citizenship sector. SSENC was able to bring the perspectives and experiences of teachers across Canada to the table at this national gathering.
