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Image credit: Government of Canada,
Department of Justice
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SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Ottawa
As the only officially bilingual province in Canada, New Brunswick holds a unique position regarding history education and collaborative curriculum development. In this province, it is as if we stand between two linguistic divides—with one foot firmly planted in English-speaking Canada, and the other confidently placed within a French-speaking world. This is because, unlike other provinces and territories in Canada, New Brunswick maintains two distinct education systems that are separate and equal. This distinction is not just a privilege, but a right: a right that is firmly embedded within our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As indicated in section 16.1 of the 1982 Constitutional Act of Canada:
(1) The English linguistic community and the French linguistic community in New Brunswick have equality of status and equal rights and privileges, including the right to distinct educational institutions and such distinct cultural institutions as are necessary for the preservation and promotion of those communities.
2) The role of the legislature and government of New Brunswick to preserve and promote the status, rights and privileges referred to subsection (1) is affirmed.In this sense, education and cultural identity operate hand-in-hand. For each linguistic group, school is not simply about “making the grade,” it is about preserving and promoting social responsibility to two linguistic communities. This educational philosophy is supported by the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET), as well as the Council of Education Ministers of Canada (CEMC). More specifically, the Pan-Canadian French as a First Language Project (2002, 2012) of CEMC clearly articulates this belief. It recognizes that language is not just a communication tool, but also a thinking, learning, and identity-building tool (CEMC, 2002, p. 3).
How such dynamics play out within New Brunswick’s social studies curriculum, is through respect for regionalism and diversity. Regionalism, in that New Brunswick joins with like-minded provinces to share curriculum resources; and diversity, in that the province’s two curriculum narratives reflect distinctions within New Brunswick’s linguistic communities.
So, the prospect of adopting a common history curriculum for all of Canada is really not possible—from a subjective point of view. Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms insures for the preservation and promotion of two distinct cultural identities within New Brunswick, with two distinct perspectives on the Canada’s past. These distinctions are unique to the history of the place where we live.
Diversity
You will notice that I have qualified my response to Samantha’s op-ed by selecting the word “subjective.” In so doing, I am referring to the prospect of a common national narrative that would serve as a common teaching and learning canon for all of Canada. This is what I find problematic; for as we have witnessed over and over again, common national narratives, by way of their very nature, become exclusionary. Take for example, the recent CBC production of Canada: The Story of Us, which drew heavy criticism for the histories that were left out. Another example is Canada: A Peoples’ History, which Margaret Conrad (2001) has so eloquently slammed as exclusionary of Atlantic Canada. I agree with her when she argues that “My history includes the Atlantic Provinces.”
I believe that adopting a common national narrative will simply lead us into yet another “History War” about what students need to know about Canada’s past. Such battles over grand narratives are fruitless, and undermine diversity in history education. Consider, for example, the historical perspective of New Brunswick’s provincial identity. As with other jurisdictions within Atlantic Canada, provincial identity is taught in grade 3. New Brunswick, however, supports two distinct narratives on provincial identity, shaped by two distinct linguistic communities. This distinction is not simply a matter of translation; it is a matter of historical experience.
Likewise, on a national level, the historical perspective of Francophones within Canada cannot be summarized as same for all. New Brunswick’s French linguistic community, for example, does not share the same colonial experiences as other Canadians—and even within this community there exist regional distinctions between Brayons and Acadians. Within the complex world of linguistic and cultural divides, settler colonial interactions with Indigenous peoples were not historically the same either. In the building of such national narratives as A Peoples’ History and The Story of Us, these are the voices that are too often lost. These are the voices that can be found, however, through place-based history education.
So if adopting a common national narrative is not realistic for Canada, what is? I believe that sharing place-based curriculum resources (not just textbooks—as is currently the case), and adopting national standards of Historical Thinking, are two realistic avenues for collaboration. That is why The Historical Thinking Project is so important for Canada’s social studies curriculum. Historical Thinking represents a significant paradigm shift in how we design Canadian History curriculum in Canada.
The six concepts of Historical Thinking, as defined by Canada’s Historical Thinking Project, provide educators in every province and territory with a common conceptual language for historical inquiry. More importantly, as both Heather McGregor (2017) and Peter Seixas (2006a) have pointed out, these concepts of Historical Thinking provide learners with opportunities for “making sense of who they are, where they stand, and what they can do as individuals, as members of multiple, intersecting groups, and as citizens with roles and responsibilities, in relation to nations and states, in a complex, conflicting-ridden, and rapidly changing world” (McGregor, 2017, p. 9, cited from Seixas, 2006a, p. 21).
Yet, while most provinces and territories can boast that they have already adopted the six Historical Thinking concepts in theory, how students and teachers actually employ these concepts—in real-life practice—is still a matter for further investigation. As Peter Seixas (2017) has recently noted, now more than ever, when Canada as a nation is moved to reconciliation for past wrongs, we require a common conceptual language for understanding the historical experiences that have brought each of us to where we are today.
Regionalism
In the region of English-speaking Atlantic Canada, the provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, have been working together since 1993 to establish a shared social studies curriculum. This has been an initiative of the Council of Atlantic Ministers in Education and Training (CAMET). Their objective is threefold: 1) to improve the quality of education for all students through shared expertise and resources; 2) to insure that the education that students receive across the Atlantic region is equitable; and 3) to meet the needs of both students and society (CAMET, 1999). The resulting Foundations document for Atlantic Canadian Social Studies was first published in 1999. It predates Peter Seixas’ Benchmarks of Historical Thinking (Seixas, 2006b), and authors credit their inspiration from the 1994 Curriculum Standards for Social Studies in the United States (CAMET, 1999, p. 1). Since this first publication, however, the Atlantic Canada Foundations document has been revised to adopt Seixas’ (2006b) six concepts for Historical Thinking. While the current curriculum framework continues to evolve as a collaboration-in-progress, it provides a valuable model for standardization (as Samantha Cutrara has already pointed out), because it shows how provinces and territories can work together (as a region) to adopt a common methodology for historical inquiry.
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By grade 9, all English-speaking students learn that
Atlantic
Canada is interdependent—and functions as a unified regional
community within Canada. Image credit: Government of New Brunswick,
Department of
Education and Early Childhood Development
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New Brunswick’s French linguistic community
The social studies curriculum for New Brunswick’s French linguistic community is distinctively different from that of the Anglophone world. It does not draw from the Atlantic Canadian framework, but rather a pan-Canadian framework for cultural appropriation in French-speaking schools in minority settings (CMEC, 2012). Guided by Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Province of New Brunswick affirms a legal responsibility to maintain distinct and equal educational institutions for two linguistic groups.
As already discussed, French language educators in this province recognize that language is much more than a communication tool: language also serves as a tool for learning, thinking, and identity-building. How this philosophy plays out in the primary level social studies classroom, is that New Brunswick’s French-as-a-First-Language schools have not been so quick to adopt Peter Seixas’ (2006b) six concepts for Historical Thinking. Instead, Francophone educators favour a model for Historical Consciousness that more closely resembles a taxonomy that Catherine Duquette (2012) has proposed for historical thinking.
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Francophone educators in New
Brunswick favour a model for Historical Consciousness that more closely
resembles Catherine Duquette’s (2012) taxonomy for historical thinking. Image
credit and copyright: Province of New Brunswick, Department of Education and
Early Childhood Development (Francophone Sector).
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New Brunswick’s French linguistic community represents approximately one third of the province’s entire student population. It shares a unique historical experience that is distinguished as Acadian. Acadia historically represents a geographical area that includes present-day New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Currently, the town of Caraquet (located on the Acadian Peninsula in northern New Brunswick) claims the honour of being the “Capital of Acadia”. Acadians trace their colonial history back to 1604, when the first attempted permanent French settlement in North America was established on Saint Croix Island (near present-day St. Stephen).
Significant benchmarks in Acadian history include The Great Deportation of 1755-1759, the 19th century Acadian Renaissance, and 20th century Language Rights. These historical experiences (among many more) have led New Brunswick’s French linguistic community to develop a curriculum that features a uniquely Acadian perspective on the past. The resulting primary level key-stage learning outcomes focus on societal organization, change, and diversity. This approach is place-based—progressing outward from a student’s classroom (Kindergarten), to their family (grade 1), community (grade 2), region (grade 3), province (grade 3/4), Atlantic region (grade 5) and nation (grade 6).
New Brunswick’s French-as-a-First-Language social studies curriculum is well steeped in Acadian history. It draws heavily upon timelines, as a way of contextualizing the past, and identifies specific vocabulary that students are expected to master at specific grade levels. By grade 12, as Marc Robichaud (2011) has found, students demonstrate a well-established sense of their Acadian identity (even if they have not studied Acadian History in grade 12). Marc Robichaud has also found that the narratives students adopt are very different from those of their French-speaking counterparts in Quebec. Acadian students remember the past as a triumphant “long march to equality” (Robichaud, p. 68, cited from Godin & Basque, 2007 , p. 44):
Dans un monde où les grands récits ont la vie dure et où de nouveaux mythes délogent les anciens, les jeunes francophones sondés par cette étude perpétuent l’image d’une Acadie ébranlée par 1755 mais qui depuis se reconstruit à sa façon (Robichaud, p. 69).By grade 12, as Marc Robichaud’s findings suggest, French-speaking students within New Brunswick have learned that they are part of an Acadian diaspora—that transcends provincial borders and functions as a unified regional community within Canada.
How can uniqueness be found within Canadian History curricula?
The duality of New Brunswick’s education system has much to offer the rest of Canada. In responding to Samantha Cutrara’s question: How can uniqueness be found within a collaborative Canadian History curriculum? I give you the example of my province, where collaboration can lead to common methodologies for historical inquiry. At the same time, uniqueness is upheld in New Brunswick through respect for regional and linguistic diversity.
New Brunswick’s example demonstrates that, on a national level, we need not adopt a common national narrative for Canadian History—that by its very nature becomes exclusionary; we can, however, adopt a common national language for historical inquiry. The Historical Thinking Project provides educators with a starting point for such collaboration, but it is only a starting point. More empirical research is required at an academic level, as to how these Historical Thinking concepts are employed in students’ places of learning (both in the classroom as well as the community): What are the national narratives that students construct? Are there distinctions between linguistic groups? Where are the national standards for assessment in history education? And how does Historical Thinking specifically prepare students for 21st century citizenship?
Dr Cynthia Wallace-Casey is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Ottawa (The Making History Education Research Unit). She is currently investigating difficult knowledge, national narratives, and Historical Thinking in history museums. Her academic work can be view here: https://uottawa.academia.edu/CynthiaWallaceCasey
Note: The author would like to acknowledge that this work was created on the traditional unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. The treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources, but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik title, and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.
Works Cited:
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2001). Canada: A peoples’ history. Retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISODESUM2LE.html Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2017).
Canada: The story of us. Retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/2017/canadathestoryofus/csou-episodes
Conrad, Margaret (2001). My Canada includes the Atlantic Provinces. Histoire sociale/ Social History 34(68), 392-402. Retrieved from: https://hssh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/hssh/article/view/4515/3710
Council of Ministers of Education Canada (2002). Francisation: Taking stock/ La francisation: Pour une état des lieux. Retrieved from : https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/142/francisation.en.pdf
Council of Ministers of Education Canada (2012). Document de fondemonts pour une approche culturelle de l’enseignement. Retrieved from : http://approcheculturelle.ca/assets/pdf/5456-CMEC-DocumentWeb.pdf
Cutrara, Samantha (2017). East, west, north: Lessons for collaborative Canadian History curriculum. Activehistory.ca. Retrieved from: http://activehistory.ca/2017/12/east-west-north-lessons-for-collaborative-canadian-history-curriculum/
Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (1999). Foundation for the Atlantic Canada Social Studies Curriculum. Retrieved from: https://www.ednet.ns.ca/files/curriculum/camet/foundations-socialstudies.pdf
Duquette, Catherine (2012). The connection between historical thinking and historical consciousness: Proposition of a new taxonomy. Unpublished PowerPoint presentation.
Duquette, Catherine (2015). Relating historical consciousness to historical thinking through assessment. In K Ercikan and P Seixas (Eds.), New directions in assessing historical thinking (pp.51-63) New York: Routledge.
Godin, Sylvain & Basque, Maurice (2007), Histoire des Acadiens et des Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick. Tracadie-Sheila : La grande marée.
Government of Canada (1982). Canadian charter of rights and freedoms: Part I of the Constitutional Act, 1982. Retrieved from: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/Const_index.html
McGregor, Heather (2017). One classroom, two teachers?: Historical thinking and indigenous education in Canada. Critical Education 8(14), 1-18. Retrieved from: http://ices.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/186182
Robichuad, Marc (2011). L’histoire de l’Acadie telle que racontée par les jeunes francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick : construction et déconstruction d’un récit historique, Acadiensis XL(2), 33-69.
Seixas, Peter (2006a). What is historical consciousness? In R.W. Sandwell (Ed.), To the past: History education, public memory, and citizenship in Canada (pp. 11-22). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Seixas, Peter (2006b). Benchmarks of historical thinking: A framework for assessment in Canada. Retrieved from: http://historicalthinking.ca/sites/default/files/files/docs/Framework_EN.pdf
Seixas, Peter (2017). Culture, civilization and historical consciousness. Public History Weekly: The International Blogjournal. Retrieved from: https://public-history-weekly.degruyter.com/5-2017-41/culture-civilization-and-historical-consciousness/
The Historical Thinking Project (2017). Retrieved from: http://historicalthinking.ca/
Ville de Caraquet (2017). Caraquet offers a much-envied quality of life. Retrieved from: http://www.caraquet.ca/en/town/caraquet-offers-a-much-envied-quality-of-life
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