GRADE 6 RESOURCES

Part A: Curricular Connections and Background

• Understand the concepts of power and authority as it relates to the individual and then move to examine power structures in organizations, locally and globally.
• Examine the distribution of power and authority and the impact on Canada and countries bordering the Atlantic.
• Explore the elements of Canadian citizenship including rights and responsibilities as it applies to the common good, both locally and globally.
• Explore historical and current events as they relate to the areas of study.
• Understand that with the enjoyment of rights come responsibilities.

Grade Six students begin to investigate and understand the meaning of and relationship between authority and power, influence and force. They examine this concept from a personal perspective and then extend their understanding to Canada and countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Students examine the characteristics and traits of leadership beginning with the individual and then extend their understandings to the organizational structure of organizations nationally and internationally.

Students are introduced to the concept of “white privilege” and begin to develop opinions regarding the distribution of power and privilege at a global level. They are asked to think about how they contribute to marginalization and consider their responsibility as a Canadian citizen. Students examine the inequities of power and wealth and learn about the ways in which society organizes itself to protect human rights.

Finally students begin to consider their impact on the global community with their daily decisions and use of resources to support their lifestyles.

This area of citizenship focuses on the student using critical thinking skills in order to better understand, the relationship between geography, resources, culture and historical events. Students compare and contrast situations, processes and structures, within Canada and in countries bordering the Atlantic.

• History and current events are understood through diverse historical perspectives.
• Canada’s history and processes of democracy includes First Nations, Métis, and Inuit governance and perspectives and have contributed to Canadian identity.
• Democracy requires discussion and consideration of alternate points of view in order to find a balance between individual perspectives.
• Citizens value the needs of the collective common good and consider how their actions impact the collective well-being.
• Engaged citizens strive to be knowledgeable, uphold their rights, and act on their responsibilities.
• Decision-making is a complex process with far-reaching impacts.
• Canadian multi-cultural policies challenge citizenship tenets and require consideration of multiple perspectives.
• Inequities of power and authority can accompany diversity.
• There is variance in the distribution of power and privilege that impacts the ability of some citizens to access citizenship rights.
• A deep understanding of democracy is important to become an engaged citizen.

Students will use information to understand:

• The processes of democracy.
• The roles in a democratic process.
• That the democratic process requires participation.
• That with the enjoyment of rights comes responsibilities.
• That diversity in people also leads to diversity of similar experiences.

Inferences to make:

• The democratic process involves discussion and consideration of alternate points of view in order to find the best solution for the greatest common good. Consequently, everyone has a right to be heard and understood. (i.e. individual perspectives on various issues)
• A strong democratic system enhances the significance of all participants and works toward achieving the greatest common good.

• question,
• critically examine,
• consider another perspective,
• consider the responsibilities that changing situations evoke/require,
• advocate, and defend rights and responsibilities of a democracy on a local, national, and global level.

• How does democracy work?
• What is the relationship between multiculturalism and democracy?
• What is the relationship between rights and responsibilities?
• How do my actions influence others? / How do the actions of others influence me?
• How big is my society? How far-reaching is my power and influence?

Sask. Curriculum Outcomes / Student Friendly Outcomes

PA6.1
Examine the relationship between an individual’s power and authority and the power and authority of others. / Examine the relationship between power and authority as it relates to individuals and others.
Indicators:

• Illustrate the forms of power (an individual or a group’s ability to influence): force, authority, and influence (voice) with respect to their personal lives (e.g., force: pushing someone, saying something hurtful; authority: being elected class representative, being invited to act or speak on behalf of the group, inviting others to act or speak on behalf of the group; influence: speak out on their behalf or on the behalf of others).
• Give examples of the forms of power (force: gangs, bullying; authority: leadership of an organization; influence: clergy, charisma) in the local community.
• Determine traits common to individuals who are perceived as effective leaders in a variety of contexts in the local, provincial, territorial, national, or international arena.
• Identify and examine the characteristics of local, provincial, national, and international leaders and organizations in order to:
  • understand how the individuals and organizations identified obtained their power
  • explain how the individuals and organizations identified use influence, force, or authority
  • show the relationship between the power and authority of those individuals and organizations, and the power and authority of others
• Describe diverse ways in which groups and societies, especially those groups involving young people, deal with competing claims for power.
• Explain choices young people must make in reconciling the tensions between the dominant social group and individual choice (e.g., drug and alcohol use; social relationships; academic programs, choice of extra-curricular activities, and career interests).

PA6.2
Analyze the distribution of power and privilege.
Indicators:

• Gather and interpret data from various print and electronic sources, such as graphs, maps, and charts, to illustrate geographic and economic differences among regions in Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean (e.g., mountainous areas: tourism, forestry, and mining; coastal areas: fishing and shipping).
• Suggest reasons for any economic differences among the regions in Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, and speculate on the effects of those differences.
• Investigate the concept of white privilege, and assess the degree to which it exists within Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
• Identify the personal and societal impact of white privilege on individuals and groups within Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

IN6.3
Develop an understanding that global interdependence impacts individual daily life. / Understand that we live in a global community and are interdependent on one another.
Indicators:

• Create an inventory of ways in which daily life is influenced by global interdependence.
• Assess and interpret why people from a selection of countries have chosen, or may choose, to immigrate to Canada.
• Create a multimedia presentation representing the impact of immigration on the worldviews of people (especially youth) in Canada, both indigenous citizens and immigrants.
• Become aware and describe the role of key international agencies in protecting human welfare, especially that of children and youth (e.g., United Nations, UNICEF, UNESCO, Amnesty International, Médecins sans frontières, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, international indigenous organizations, faith-based international development organizations).
• Investigate and represent the contribution of a Canadian individual or organization toward enhancing human welfare in Canada.
• Investigate and represent the contribution of an individual not born in Canada toward enhancing human welfare in Canada (e.g., neighbours, community members).
• Investigate the contribution of an Indigenous Canadian toward enhancing human welfare in Canada.

• Power and Privilege – Understanding differences
• Canada’s policy on Multi-culturalism
• Canada’s policy on Human Rights

Part B: Learning Plan

In this inquiry students will:

• Examine the relationship between power and authority as it relates to individuals and then extend that understanding to analyzing the distribution of power and privilege in Canada and countries bordering the Atlantic.
• Investigate National and global agencies that support human rights
• Understand the impact of the global community on Canada and understand that as Canadian citizens, living in a global community they are interdependent on one another; therefore student choices impact on their local community and the global community.

• Does democracy work?
  • What is democracy?
  • Is democracy ideal?
  • How does the concept of privilege impact democracy? Is there a better alternative?
• What is the relationship between rights and responsibilities?
  • What happens when citizens do not have equal rights and where does responsibility to act lie?
  • How far-reaching are your responsibilities?
• How do my actions influence others? / How do the actions of others influence me?
  • How big is your society?
  • How far-reaching is your personal power and influence?
  • What influences your decision-making?
• Does multiculturalism work in a democratic society?
  • Is affirmation of multiculturalism a right or a responsibility?
  • How do we honour the cultures of people who have contributed to Canada?
  • How does ‘privilege’ impact multi-culturalism?

See Glossary in Part C

Vocabulary

• Authority
• Coerce – Coercion
• Colonization
• Diversity
• Force
• Influence
• Marginalization
• Neo-colonialism
• Oppression
• Pluralism
• Power
• Privilege
• Race – racism
• White privilege

Inquiry 1

What is the relationship between power and authority?
What influences the decisions, choices, and actions that you make?
PA 6.1

Examine the relationship between power and authority as it relates to individuals and others.

Develop understanding of concepts: power and authority and influence.

The following process is designed to check student understanding of the relationship between power and authority. The teacher is trying to draw out the criteria and characteristics for the concepts of power, authority and influence.

What influences your decisions, choices, actions that you make?

• Think of something you recently did that you wanted to do. Why did you want to do whatever it was? What was influencing your decision?
• Think of something that you didn’t want to do or feel like doing. Why didn’t you want to do whatever it was? Why did you do it? What was making you comply with something that you didn’t want to do? What was influencing your decision?

Chart student answers and then begin to categorize reasons for doing or not doing something.
Be sure to raise examples under all categories of power. (coercion, authority, influence)

• Identify other examples of forms of power within their experiences so that they are clear on their understanding of the concepts.
  • Force/coercion: pushing someone, saying something hurtful; eg. gangs, bullying
  • Authority: being elected class representative, being invited to act or speak on behalf of the
  • group, inviting others to act or speak on behalf of the group; power given because of a position eg. leadership of an organization
  • Influence(voice): speak out on their behalf or on the behalf of others); clergy, charisma
• Complete a Frayer Model organizer (four-quadrant grid) showing characteristics, non-characteristics, examples, and non-examples of each form of power noted above.

Developing Leadership Discussion – What are the characteristics of Leaders?

Using the examples generated and charted have students:

• Identify the group organization supporting the various forms of power in the examples cited – structured, non-structured.
• Identify the leaders of the groups and list some of the characteristics of those leaders.
• Categorize traits according to positive and negative.
• Identify what is needed for the leader to be effective.
• Connect to forms of power, look for patterns. Chart for future reference.

Each group must find out the information in the question posed below. Encourage students to present information learned in a variety of modes including speaking, writing, drama, multimedia, or other modes so that all students have an entrance point for demonstrating their learning and understanding.

Divide students into groups and give them a local, provincial, territorial, national, or international context to research.

Choose 3 organizations that are structured and demonstrate some sort of power, authority, or influence. (i.e. Church groups, scouting, guiding groups, political organizations, Red Cross, SPCA, Right to Play, Salvation Army, Idle No More, Outward Bound Canada, Bold Eagle Program, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, others)

In each organization identify the following:

• Name, Mandate or purpose of the organization
• Structure of the organization
  • Leader/head – how chosen, skills, qualifications
  • Representatives – new members, how chosen, qualifications
  • Decision making process
  • How funded
• How the individuals and organizations identified obtained their power
• How the individuals and organizations identified use influence, force, or authority
  • show the relationship between the power and authority
    • individuals within organization
    • individuals outside of organization

• What are the similarities and differences between the organizations?
• What are the characteristics of leaders and organizations?
• Add to chart of effective leadership characteristics

Present findings to class. Develop summary statements and chart for future reference.

• Student (young people) groups and societies to which students belong. (formal and informal)

Identify:

• Name, Mandate or purpose of the organization
• Structure of the organization
  • leader/head – how chosen, skills, qualifications
  • representatives – new members, how chosen, qualifications
  • decision making process
  • how funded
• How the individuals and organizations identified obtained their power i.e. mandated, voted, voluntary
• How do the organizations get people to do things
  • within organization (influence, force, or authority)
  • outside of organization (influence, force, or authority)

• Which kind of power works best to get people to do things? Explain your thinking.
• What kinds of things should people in authority think about when asking people to do things?

Inquiry 2

What is privilege and how does it impact society? What is the relationship between power and privilege?

PA6.2

Analyze the distribution of power and privilege.

The Canadian constitution puts into law the rights and freedoms that Canadians believe are necessary in a free and democratic society. It recognizes:

• primary fundamental freedoms:(e.g. freedom of expression and of association),
• democratic rights (e.g. the right to vote),
• mobility rights (e.g. the right to live anywhere in Canada),
• legal rights (e.g. the right to life, liberty and security of the person),
• equality rights, and
• recognizes the multicultural heritage of Canadians.

More information can be found at: http://archive.is/MY99J

It also protects official language and minority language education rights. In addition, the provisions of section 25 guarantee the rights of Indigenous peoples of Canada.

Process

For all areas of study in grade 6, students will be comparing the Canadian experiences to countries bordering the Atlantic. Teachers are encouraged to identify specific countries and have students study those same countries repeatedly so that students can gain a stronger understanding of those countries. In this inquiry, students begin to understand that not all Canadians experience rights and freedoms in the same way and that there are diversity issues that impact the security of the person and the application of the principal of equality of rights.

Students will need to understand the concepts of unearned advantage, privilege, white-privilege, and neo-colonialism so they can go deeper into the exploration of power, global interdependence and multi-culturalism. Definitions of the words are found in the glossary in Part C. Teachers are encouraged to explore other definitions for use with their students.

Teachers might also want to share with students information on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as they discuss neo-colonialism in other countries.

Canada is a country that celebrates and honours diversity. Canadians have established and declared rights and freedoms found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

• Do all Canadians experience Canadian rights and freedoms the same way? Have students support their thinking with evidence from their own experiences. Compare student responses against the diversity wheel so that students can begin to see areas of discrimination or areas where different treatment can occur.
• What happens when citizens do not have equal rights and where does responsibility to act lie?
• What is the relationship between rights and responsibilities?
• If you see something that is wrong what is your responsibility to make it right?
• Does multiculturalism truly exist in Canada?
  • Is multiculturalism a right or a responsibility?
  • How do we honour the cultures of people who have contributed to Canada?
  • What happens when rights are not equal?
  • How does ‘privilege’ or unearned advantage impact multi-culturalism?

Discuss these essential, over-arching questions with students and chart their answers. These questions will be revisited at the end of the study to see if student thinking has changed.

Canada is a country that celebrates and honours diversity. In this next activity, students will consider differences that can exist in the way students experience similar situations.

For additional information see Peggy McIntosh’s research on privilege. Part C.

White Privilege statements helpful to this inquiry can be found at White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies” (1988), by Peggy McIntosh; Wellesley College, Center for Research on Women, Wellesley MA 02181

Retrieved from: https://web.archive.org/web/20150930025427/http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html

Do all Canadians experience Canadian rights and freedoms the same way? Have students support their thinking with evidence from their own experiences.

Some helpful definitions to explore (See part C for more support)

Diversity: difference, variety

Most often used when referring to race, class, or gender

Prejudice: an opinion that is formed before any knowledge of the individual or situation

Privilege

• an invisible package of unearned assets
• special rights, advantages given to a person or group of people
• special exemptions granted to someone

Privilege operates on personal, interpersonal, cultural, and institutional levels and gives advantages, favours, and benefits to members of dominant groups at the expense of members of target groups.

White Privilege

A system of unearned freedoms, rights, benefits, advantages and access assumed by members of the dominant group in a society. This is usually taken for granted by individual receiving the advantage as they are conditioned not to see it.

For more background information refer to: McIntosh, Peggy. White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Retrieved April 30, 2005 from: http://www.antiracistalliance.com/Unpacking.html#top

Basic Rights Categories

• Education
• Health care
• Food
• Movement
• Free Speech

Opening the door to think about White Privilege

The following discussion explores students’ understandings of the various sections of the diversity wheel on page 19. Have students take some time to look at the Diversity Wheel. In what areas of diversity do they have some personal experience?

Canadians are always talking about celebrating diversity.

• What does the statement ‘celebrate diversity’ mean to students?
• Do Canadians actually celebrate diversity?
• Are all Canadians treated the same?

As students explore the answers to the questions below chart their responses on the diversity wheel. Are there certain areas that are

• Have people made assumptions about students due to their age? Have students share their stories. Teachers may also have personal stories to share.
• Can students think of other areas where people might be judged or have opinions formed before knowing all the information, pre-judged them?
• Who in society might have either an unearned advantage (privilege) or disadvantage over others? Chart students’ answers against the various areas of the diversity chart.

Have students think about who might be able to do these things and who might not be able to do these things.

Some categories to consider might be:

• Clothing – Can students purchase clothing that reflects their fashion or cultural interests?
• Shopping – Are students treated with respect in stores?
• Entertainment – Can students purchase books, magazines, or watch television and see people like themselves represented there?
• Food – Can students buy foods that are common in their culture?
• Housing – Can students live anywhere in their community? Is the housing comparable in different areas that are available to students?
• Clean drinking water – Can students drink the water from their household tap?
• Racial profiling by police – Have students ever been stopped or questioned by police because of the way they look?
• Getting additional training after high school – Will students be able to get additional schooling or training to prepare them for a future job if they want to?
• What other examples of different treatment or experiences can students provide?

Have students search for news articles that highlight inequities in treatment in various sections of the diversity wheel. For each story identify:

• Is there an unearned advantage (privilege) or disadvantage described in the article?
• What area of the diversity wheel is being referenced? Is there more than one area?
• Can students think of any examples where they may have an unearned advantage?
• Compare against the diversity wheel. Are any patterns becoming evident?

• Where do most of the student answers lie within the wheel?

Have students reflect on the original question again:

• Do all Canadians experience Canadian rights and freedoms the same way?
• When looking at the diversity wheel, who has certain power and who has certain privilege? Give evidence to support their thinking.
• Why do students think this is so?
• What action can students take to change this? What organizations exist in Canada that were established by young people? Consider WE Day, Shannen’s Dream and others.

Analyze the distribution of power and privilege

Divide students into groups and assign them a specific country to research and present their findings. Students are studying Canada and countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Since students are learning about power and privilege, teachers are encouraged to choose countries that show similarities and disparities in wealth, power and privilege.

i.e. – England, France, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Ivory Coast.

Have students gather and interpret data from various print and electronic sources, using graphs, maps, and charts.

Examine:

Regions in Canada (mountainous areas: tourism, forestry, mining and coastal areas: fishing and shipping) and selected countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean

For each country have students identify:

• The geographic landscape.
• The economic state of the country (how it makes money).
• The governance model. Who makes the rules/laws? How does the government get its power?
• The lifestyle of the people of the country.
  • Education – Who gets to go to school? What are the costs?
  • Health care – How easy it is to get health care? What are the costs?
  • Jobs – What kinds of jobs are available? How well do they pay?
• Who has power and privilege?
• Who does not have power and privilege?
• Compare answers against the diversity wheel graphic. Do students see any similarities to Canada’s experience?

• How are the economies and lifestyles of the countries the same?
• How are the economies and lifestyles different?

What are the reasons for economic differences between countries?

• How are those without power treated by those with power?
• How do people feel about those who are different? Do not have power?
• How great/significant/strong is the concept of white privilege among the countries?
• Would you like to live in this country? Explain your thinking.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is the government agency that supports immigration to Canada.

• What is the mandate and history of the CIC?
• How many people are choosing to immigrate to Canada?
• From what countries are people immigrating to Canada?
• What impacts Canadian immigration policies?

• Why do people choose, to immigrate to Canada?
• What is the impact of immigration on the worldviews of people – especially youth, indigenous and non-indigenous youth?
  • In this school
  • In this community
  • Province
  • Country

Inquiry 3

How am I connected to the global community?
How far reaching are your responsibilities as a global citizen?
What is my responsibility to protect human rights in a country that supplies goods to support my lifestyle?
IN6.3
Understand that student’s daily lives are connected to countries across the globe/world and consider your responsibilities as Canadian in a global relationship.

• Find out what the term – ‘Global Interdependence’ means to the students – define
• Students will begin to think about how they are impacted and connected to other parts of the world.

Students will understand that many items they use on a daily basis come from outside of Canada. Have students canvas their lunches, clothing tags for food and clothing origins. Identify and map the country of origin of their inventoried items. Chart the location of countries providing the items and calculate the percentage or amount of use by students in the classroom. This gives an indication of the use of global goods by students on a daily basis.

Have students develop a summary statement of their use of items from outside of Canada to meet their needs. What would be their global interdependence rating? 1 – low (little use) – 10 – high (used daily)?

• Make a general statement about how their daily life is influenced by other countries in the world.

• What do students know about the countries that supply their goods?
• What kind of governance is used in the countries identified?
• Given their beginning understanding of privilege and power, what do students think the lives of someone their age might be like in that country?
• What do students think human rights are like for workers who are producing the food or clothing in the identified countries?

Canada and Human Rights

“Canadians expect their government to be a leader in the field of human rights by reflecting and promoting Canadian values.

Canadians recognise that their interests are best served by a stable, rules-based international system. Countries which respect the rule of law tend to respect the rights of their citizens, are more likely to benefit from development, and are much less likely to experience crises requiring peacekeeping, emergency assistance or refugee resettlement missions.

The UN Charter and customary international law impose on all countries the responsibility to promote and protect human rights. This is not merely a question of values, but a mutual obligation of all members of the international community, as well as an obligation of a state towards its citizens.”

This text was retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20140807105633/http://www.international.gc.ca/rights-droits/policy-politique.aspx – July 2014, using the Internet Archive WayBack Machine. Reproduction of this text has not been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of, the Government of Canada.

• What does the paragraph above say to students?
• What do Canadians value? How do you know? What evidence do students have?
• What is the student responsibility as a global citizen and a Canadian citizen to protect human rights in countries that supply student’s basic needs and trade with Canada?

Chart student answers for later reflection.

Research Canadian agencies and the following key international agencies:

• United Nations
• UNICEF
• UNESCO
• Amnesty International
• Médecins sans frontières
• United Nations High Commission for Refugees
• International indigenous organizations (see resources for suggestions)
• Faith-based international development organizations (see resources for suggestions)

Identify:

• The mission and goals of the organization.
• When and why it was created.
• Where this organization is located/based.
• Who the organization serves.
• Who belongs to this organization? How do you become a member? Why would you become a member?
• Accomplishments.
• How do they get funding?
• What kind of power do they employ to meet their mandate? Give evidence to support your thoughts.

Have students develop a group statement as to why these organizations exist.

1. Indigenous Peoples – Reiterate and reinforce that First Nations people were here already and did not have to “come to Canada” as a result of persecution, employment, etc. There were no “push-pull factors” operating on Indigenous people. They were already living and thriving in Canada. (Investigate the contribution of an Indigenous person toward enhancing human welfare in Canada).

2. Born in Canada – Canadian (Investigate and represent the contribution of a Canadian individual or organization toward enhancing human welfare in Canada).

3. Not born in Canada – Immigrant? Not living in Canada (Investigate and represent the contribution of an individual not born in Canada toward enhancing human welfare in Canada (e.g., neighbours, community members).

• Why would people choose to spend their time trying to enhance human welfare?
• What would be the leadership traits, qualities that the person might have?
• You have just inherited a million dollars and must donate it to an organization that supports human welfare. You may choose to divide it among organizations or give to only one. How would you spend the money and why?

• Through an artistic medium (posters, power point, mural) describe the basic rights of a Canadian citizen and the responsibilities connected to those rights.
• Have students prepare a commercial or video clip, spoken word poetry expressing why they believe that with the enjoyment of rights come certain responsibilities. Justify how your rights affect your responsibilities
• Canada is a country that celebrates and honours diversity. Canada is to promote and reflect Canadian values on a global level. What are Canadian values? How do you know? What evidence do students have?
• The Canadian government signed treaties and made commitments to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples. How well has Canada fulfilled its commitments to Indigenous Peoples to honour treaty responsibilities and protect Indigenous human and citizenship rights? What is the student responsibility to protect human and citizenship rights in Canada?
• As a citizen in a country that supports and celebrates diversity and multi-culturalism, what is your responsibility to redress unearned advantage, white privilege, locally, nationally, and/or globally?
• What is the student responsibility as a global citizen and a Canadian citizen to protect human rights in countries that supply student’s basic needs and trade with Canada?

• You are thinking of joining an organization that supports the protection of human welfare. What qualities could you bring to the organization and why should they consider having you as a member?
• What kind of a leader are you? What are your strengths? How do you know? How would you improve your leadership skills?
• Is leadership over-rated? Can our society exist without effective leadership? Explain your thinking.
• Does Canada “walk the talk” when it comes to protection of human rights globally? Explain your thinking.
• Does Canada “walk the talk” when it comes to protection of human rights within Canada? Explain your thinking.

Part C: Engaged Citizens Resources

Understanding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The Charter is founded on the rule of law and entrenches in the Constitution of Canada the rights and freedoms Canadians believe are necessary in a free and democratic society. It recognizes primary fundamental freedoms (e.g. freedom of expression and of association), democratic rights (e.g. the right to vote), mobility rights (e.g. the right to live anywhere in Canada), legal rights (e.g. the right to life, liberty and security of the person) and equality rights, and recognizes the multicultural heritage of Canadians. It also protects official language and minority language education rights. In addition, the provisions of section 25 guarantee the rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

“In 1971, Canada was the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. By so doing, Canada affirmed the value and dignity of all Canadian citizens regardless of their racial or ethnic origins, their language, or their religious affiliation. The 1971 Multiculturalism Policy of Canada also confirmed the rights of Aboriginal peoples and the status of Canada’s two official languages.

Canadian multiculturalism is fundamental to our belief that all citizens are equal. Multiculturalism ensures that all citizens can keep their identities, can take pride in their ancestry and have a sense of belonging. Acceptance gives Canadians a feeling of security and self-confidence, making them more open to, and accepting of, diverse cultures. The Canadian experience has shown that multiculturalism encourages racial and ethnic harmony and cross-cultural understanding.

Mutual respect helps develop common attitudes. New Canadians, no less than other Canadians, respect the political and legal process, and want to address issues by legal and constitutional means.

Through multiculturalism, Canada recognizes the potential of all Canadians, encouraging them to integrate into their society and take an active part in its social, cultural, economic and political affairs.

All Canadians are guaranteed equality before the law and equality of opportunity regardless of their origins. Canada’s laws and policies recognize Canada’s diversity by race, cultural heritage, ethnicity, religion, ancestry and place of origin and guarantee to all men and women complete freedom of conscience, of thought, belief, opinion expression, association and peaceful assembly. All of these rights, our freedom and our dignity, are guaranteed through our Canadian citizenship, our Canadian Constitution, and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Multiculturalism has led to higher rates of naturalization than ever before. With no pressure to assimilate and give up their culture, immigrants freely choose their new citizenship because they want to be Canadians. As Canadians, they share the basic values of democracy with all other Canadians who came before them. At the same time, Canadians are free to choose for themselves, without penalty, whether they want to identify with their specific group or not. Their individual rights are fully protected and they need not fear group pressures.

Our diversity is a national asset. Recent advances in technology have made international communications more important than ever. Canadians who speak many languages and understand many cultures make it easier for Canada to participate globally in areas of education, trade and diplomacy.

Our citizenship gives us equal rights and equal responsibilities. By taking an active part in our civic affairs, we affirm these rights and strengthen Canada’s democracy, ensuring that a multicultural, integrated and inclusive citizenship will be every Canadian’s inheritance.”

This text was retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20130905134202/http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/citizenship.asp using the Internet archive WayBack Machine. This text appeared on the Government of Canada webpage https://web.archive.org/web/20170616021129/http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/citizenship.asp Dec. 20, 2014. The reproduction of this text has not been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of, the Government of Canada.

All websites were accessed November 2017

• Modules on Cultural Safety – http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/csafety/mod2/index.htm
• Flower of Power – http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/courses/csafety/mod2/media/flower.htm
  The Flower of Power is intended to get students thinking about dominant groups in society and our individual places of privilege. It supports the diversity wheel.
• Robin DiAngelo, Critical Racial and Social Justice Education: https://robindiangelo.com
• White Privilege – Unpacking the Knapsack – http://www.antiracistalliance.com/Unpacking.html#top
• White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming To See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies” (1988), by Peggy McIntosh; Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, Wellesley MA 02181
  Retrieved from: https://web.archive.org/web/20150930025427/http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html
• Understanding White Privilege: https://www.cpt.org/files/Undoing%20Racism%20-%20Understanding%20White%20Privilege%20-%20Kendall.pdf
• Trends in Immigration http://www.clbc.ca/files/reports/ihb_section_a.pdf
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights – http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
• Child friendly version – http://www.eycb.coe.int/compasito/chapter_6/pdf/1.pdf
• United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf
• Universal Declaration on the Human Rights of the Child – https://web.archive.org/web/20171014144143/http://www.centersofcompassion.org/universal-declaration-of-rights-for-children.php
• Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child – https://www.humanium.org/en/fundamental-rights/
• Unicef Declaration on the Rights of the Child: http://www.unicef.org/lac/spbarbados/Legal/global/General/declaration_child1959.pdf
• NGO’s – Non Governmental Organizations – https://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos.html
• Oxfam: https://www.oxfam.ca/blogs/general/oxfam-no-3-top-100-best-ngos
• Office of the Treaty Commissioner – www.otc.ca
• First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada –
  https://fncaringsociety.com/who-we-are
• International Organization for Sustainable Development: http://www.iisd.org
• Directory of Indigenous Peoples Organizations – http://earthdirectory.net/indigenous
• World Conference on Indigenous Peoples – http://www.un.org/en/ga/69/meetings/indigenous/#&panel1-1
• First Peoples World Wide: http://www.firstpeoples.org
• Amnesty International – Indigenous Peoples,
• Center for World Indigenous Studies: www.cwis.org
• Directory of Faith-based Organizations; http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/PARTNERS/EXTDEVDIALOGUE/0,,contentMDK:22363829~pagePK:64192523~piPK:64192458~theSitePK:537298,00.html
• The World Bank – www.worldbank.org
• Human Rights Organizations – http://www.humanrights.com/voices-for-human-rights/human-rights-organizations/non-governmental.html
• Youth for Human Rights – www.youthforhumanrights.org
• Facing History and Ourselves. This website has background reading for teachers in a variety of areas. : https://www.facinghistory.org
• Fighting Antisemitism Together (FAST): https://www.fightingantisemitism.ca/
• Shannen’s Dream – https://fncaringsociety.com/shannens-dream

Themes

• Personal and Philosophical: Students will reflect upon:
  • self-image and self-esteem; and,
  • self and life, and on their beliefs and values and those of their society.
• Social, Cultural, and Historical: Students will
  • look outward and examine their relationships with others, their community, and that of the world; and,
  • consider the historical context.
• Environmental and Technological: Students will:
  • explore the elements of the natural and constructed world and the role of technology and related developments in their society.
• Communicative: Students will:
  • consider the role of communication in their lives and the ideas and technologies that help people become effective communicators.

Treaty Education

• TR6: Analyze the concepts, structures and processes which have been developed for the purpose of treaty implementation.
• HC6: Analyze how the movement towards the fulfillment of treaty obligations has positively affected all people in Saskatchewan.
• TPP6: Investigate the role of the Treaty Table and the role of the Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC) in promoting good relations between signatories.

Health

Understanding, Skills, and Confidences (USC)

• USC6.1 Analyze the factors that influence the development of personal standards and identity, and determine the impact on healthy decision making (including cultural norms, societal norms, family values, peer pressures, mass media, traditional knowledge, white privilege, legacy of colonization, and heterosexual privilege).
• USC6.2 Appraise the importance of establishing/maintaining healthy relationships with people from diverse backgrounds who may or may not express differing values, beliefs, standards, and/or perspectives (i.e., people of various ages, cultures, socio-economic status, faiths, family structures, sexual orientations, and cognitive/physical abilities)
• USC6.6 Develop and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and personal standards necessary for establishing and supporting safe practices and environments related to various community activities.

Science

Life Science: Diversity of Living Things (DL)

• DL6.2 Examine how humans organize understanding of the diversity of living things. [CP, SI]
• DL6.4 Examine and describe structures and behaviours that help:
  • individual living organisms survive in their environments in the short term
  • species of living organisms adapt to their environments in the long term.[CP, DM, SI]

Authority

If you have the authority to do something, you have the right or power to do it. You are the big cheese. Or, if you know more about a topic than most, you are an authority on that topic.

Giving someone authority grants them the power to make important decisions or have accepted opinions. When you leave your kids with a babysitter, you give her the authority to put them to bed at 7 p.m., no matter how much they insist you let them stay up until midnight. You’ll feel more confident leaving the babysitter in charge of bedtime decisions if she’s written two books on the subject and is an authority, or renowned expert, on children’s sleep habits. Being an authority on children’s sleep habits helps your babysitter enforce that 7 p.m. bedtime, but it may not convince the kids.

Coerce

You can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. You can coerce — or pressure — someone to attend your office holiday party, but you can’t make them have fun.

If you’re at a point where you feel like you need to coerce someone into doing something, it might be more civilized to just give up. To coerce is to manipulate, use aggressive arguments, pressure unfairly, or threaten — really, this isn’t very civilized behavior, is it? Handy synonyms for this verb include force and pressure. In a gangster film, you might hear a character say he “put the squeeze” on someone — another way of saying he coerced them.

Coercion

Coercion is making something happen by force, like when bullies use coercion to make kids give them their lunch money.

Coercion can be a threat, “The shady lawyer uses coercion when he threatens to get the waiter fired if he doesn’t rat out his boss,” or it can be actual brute force, as when the gangster breaks the messenger’s leg to keep her from talking to the police. The police might use coercion, too, to get a confession. The prefix co- is derived from the Latin word for “together.” So you can’t use coercion on yourself; you need someone else to force into doing something.

Colonialism

Colonialism has to do with one country exploiting another country by making it into a colony. Which is usually good for the mother country and bad for the colony.

Colonialism is a system in which one country creates an empire by taking over other lands and making them into colonies. Colonies don’t have power over themselves, and the mother country takes resources and money from the colony. It’s not a very fair system, but it’s also how the United States got its start: England was really into colonialism and had built a huge empire, until some feisty American patriots decided to rebel.

Diversity

When there’s diversity, there’s variety. Often, this word is used for diversity of race, class, or gender.

To have diversity, you need a mix of whatever you’re talking about. If you like science fiction, romantic comedies, cartoons, and action movies, then you like a diversity of types of films. If you like nothing but kung fu films, then you don’t like a diversity of films. No matter what kind of diversity you’re talking about, there needs to be a real mix, kind of like a huge box of Crayolas.

Force

If you’ve ever walked outside in a blizzard, you’ve felt the force, or strength, of the wind and snow pushing against your body.

Force often describes a physical energy that can be seen or felt, but it has other meanings. A powerful person can exert a force just by using particular words or body language. Written words can also have a force, or strong influence. When it’s a verb, force means to make something happen using physical strength or some other powerful effort, which is what you do when you force the wrong key into a key hole.

Influence

Influence is the power to have an important effect on someone or something. If someone influences someone else, they are changing a person or thing in an indirect but important way.

Sometimes a person who influences another doesn’t intend to have any effect, but sometimes they are using influence to benefit themselves. An example of a personal benefit or advantage would be the use of political influence. Influence is also a verb, from Latin influence to flow in.

Oppression

Oppression is when a person or group in a position of power controls the less powerful in cruel and unfair ways. Not cool.

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” Those words came from Frederick Douglass, a former slave who devoted his life to ending the oppression of black people at the hands of powerful white slave owners. The Latin root means “pressed against,” and oppression feels like hands pressing your head, keeping you down. Oppression can be widespread throughout a culture, or felt by a single individual, like enduring the sun’s oppression on a hot summer day.

Pluralism

If you believe in pluralism, you believe that people of all races, classes, religions, and backgrounds should be able to get along on equal footing in society.

Can you hear the word plural, meaning “more than one,” in pluralism? Someone who believes in pluralism believes that there are many different ways to live, and thinks that government and society should be structured in such a way as to encourage and appreciate people’s differences. The extreme opposite of pluralism is totalitarianism, when one supreme dictator makes all the decisions and no one can contradict him. In the Catholic Church, pluralism is also the practice of holding more than one office at once.

Power

Someone with power has physical strength or they’re in control of things. So a weakling who’s in charge of a business still has a lot of power.

Power comes from the Latin word potere, which means “to be able.” But things with power are much more than able — they’re able to exert a lot of force. “The powers that be” are those who hold authority, and “the power behind the throne” refers to the people who exert influence without being formally in charge. When used as a verb, power means “to supply with mechanical or electrical energy,” as in a nuclear-powered submarine.

Privilege

A privilege is a special advantage not enjoyed by everyone. If you’re very snooty, you probably don’t allow just anyone the privilege of being your friend.

Privilege comes from Latin privilegium, meaning a law for just one person, and means a benefit enjoyed by an individual or group beyond what’s available to others. Someone wealthy come from privilege. Someone with a library card has borrowing privileges. Privilege can also be used as a verb. If you are on a committee giving away scholarships, you’ll have to decide whether to privilege students from poor backgrounds or the students with high test scores.

Race

Race means to speed or move quickly. A race is a contest to see who is moving the quickest. Race can also mean genetic grouping––if you are reading this, chances are you’re a member of the “human race.”

After watching an exciting horse race, your heart may be racing, meaning your pulse is moving fast. You may find yourself racing through your day if you have too much to do, or you might race a friend home from school to see which is fastest, walking or taking the bus. On a form that asks you your race, you will often be prompted with racial categories, such as Caucasian, African-American, or Native American.

Racism

Racism is the practice of discriminating against people based on their race, national or ethnic background. Although old prejudices often live on, most people will agree that racism is unacceptable.

Someone who practices racism is called a racist. Racism comes from the idea that the different races are intrinsically different. It’s racism when a white person discriminates against a black person, just as it’s racism if a Japanese person discriminates against a German person. Many worldwide political movements have fought to end racism.

Underprivileged

Someone underprivileged doesn’t have the advantages other people have. Underprivileged people usually live in poverty.

A privilege is a right or an advantage, and people who are underprivileged lack such rights and advantages. Many times, this word is used as a synonym for poor. People often worry about underprivileged children who are living in poverty and may not have access to healthy food or good medical care. Underprivileged children often go to the worst schools too, which is another disadvantage.

Marginalization

The social process of becoming or being made marginal (especially as a group within the larger society)

Neo-colonialism

Use the political term neocolonialism to describe the use of capitalism and social pressures by a large country to control a smaller country.

The word neocolonialism basically means “a new kind of colonialism,” and colonialism is when one country controls another, often using violence. This new kind of colonialism uses non-military ways of gaining control, mostly through economic means, and often makes use of the poorer country’s resources in a way that leaves its people dependent on the richer country — and also ensures they’ll remain poor.

Refers to current processes of colonization that maintain social and political structures, institutions, and practices that differentially privilege members of the dominant group.

Smye, V., & Browne, A. (2002). Cultural safety and the analysis of health policy affecting aboriginal people. Nurse Researcher, 9(3), 42-56.

• a policy whereby a major power uses economic and political means to perpetuate or extend its influence over under-developed nations or areas – Scientific American
• the policy by which a nation exerts political and economic control over a less powerful independent nation or region.- Random House, Webster’s College Dictionary
• control by a powerful country of its former colonies (or other less developed countries) by economic pressures

White privilege

• an invisible package of unearned assets
• special rights, advantages given to person or group of people
• special exemptions granted to someone

Privilege operates on personal, interpersonal, cultural, and institutional levels and gives advantages, favors, and benefits to members of dominant groups at the expense of members of target groups.

A system of unearned freedoms, rights, benefits, advantages, and access afforded members of the dominant group in a society. This is usually taken for granted by individuals as they are taught not to see it.

McIntosh, Peggy. White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Retrieved April 30, 2005 from: http://www.antiracistalliance.com/Unpacking.html#top

The following definitions may be found at Merriam Websters Learner’s Dictionary: http://www.learnersdictionary.com

Prejudice

Noun:

1. an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc.

• The organization fights against racial prejudice.
• evidence of prejudice against women and minorities
• religious, racial, and sexual prejudices

2. a feeling of like or dislike for someone or something especially when it is not reasonable or logical

• We tend to make these kinds of decisions according to our own prejudices.
• He has a prejudice against fast-food restaurants.

Verb

prejudices; prejudiced; prejudicing

1. to cause (someone) to have an unfair feeling of dislike for someone or something

• The incident prejudiced [biased] consumers against the company.

2. formal : to have a harmful effect on (something, such as a legal case)

• The defense claims that the media coverage prejudiced the trial. [damaged the trial so that the result of the trial is not valid]

Privilege

Noun

1. a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others

• The prisoner’s exercise privileges were taken away. [=the prisoner was no longer allowed to exercise]
• Good health care should be a right and not a privilege.

2. a special opportunity to do something that makes you proud

• Meeting the President was a privilege. [=honor]
• We had the privilege of being invited to the party.
• I had the privilege of knowing your grandfather.

3. somewhat formal: the advantage that wealthy and powerful people have over other people in a society

• He lived a life of wealth and privilege.
• children of privilege [=privileged children; children from wealthy families with high social status]

4. the right to keep important information private

• attorney-client privilege [=the right an attorney has to keep information shared by a client secret]

During the investigation, the President invoked executive privilege.

5. the right to say or do something without being punished for it

• parliamentary privilege

Verb
1. to give an advantage that others do not have to (someone or something)
The new tax laws unfairly privilege the rich.

Part A: Curricular Connections and Background

• Different types of government locally, nationally and globally.
• Understand the elements of Canadian citizenship including rights and responsibilities.
• Historical and current events – locally, nationally and globally that impact issues.

Grade Six students have been investigating and understanding forms of power and governance within their own country beginning at the local level and moving to the national level. Students are developing an understanding of the structures and power relationships that govern Canada and will begin to compare and contrast those structures and processes within countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
Students will explore issues comparing Canadian context to those in countries bordering the Atlantic. Knowledge of the geographic features, specific resources, population clusters and economic relationships will help students to draw their own understandings about possible causes and solutions to issues studied and appreciate the diversity among countries and cultures.
Students will begin to develop opinions regarding the distribution of power and privilege at a national and global level and reflect on their role and responsibility as a Canadian citizen. This area of citizenship focuses on the student using critical thinking skills in order to better understand, the relationship between geography, resources, culture and historical events.

Students will use the information to:

• History and current events are understood through diverse historical perspectives.
• Democracy requires discussion and consideration of alternate points of view in order to find a balance between individual perspectives.
• Citizens value the needs of the collective common good and consider how their actions impact the collective well-being.
• Canadian multi-cultural policies challenge citizenship tenets and require consideration of multiple perspectives.
• Canada’s history includes First Nations, Métis, and Inuit governance and perspectives and each have contributed to Canadian identity.
• Decision-making is a complex process with far-reaching impacts.
• Engaged citizens strive to be knowledgeable, uphold their rights, and act on their responsibilities.

• Understand the democratic process within our government.
• Examine their own, place and responsibility in the democratic process.
• Appreciate the importance of and develop skills for advocacy

• How do you determine fairness?
• If opinion is a reflection of personal perspective, is everyone’s opinion, right?
• What is the impact of past experience on decision-making?
• What do you need to consider when you choose to influence others?
• Why does new learning matter?
• How does the impact of the natural environment affect the development of society?
• What is the impact of affirming a multicultural society?

Student friendly outcomes should be posted throughout the inquiry and continually referenced so the goals of the learning are clearly available to students.

Sask. Curriculum Outcomes/Student Friendly Outcomes

RW 6.1
Examine and analyze factors that contribute to quality of life, including material and non-material factors. / What are the material and non-material factors we require to sustain our quality of life?
Indicators:

• Explain the difference between needs and wants.
• Compare and contrast the needs and wants of Canadian youth with those of youth in other countries.
• Recognize the variation in value placed on quality of life indicators in varying locations, cultures, and time periods.
• Investigate the indigenous concept of abundance as it relates to the western concept of wealth.
• Explain factors that affect the quality of life of youth in Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean (e.g., labour practices, access to education and technology, shelter, food and water, health care, sport and recreation, inclusion, or marginalization).
• Assess ways in which technology influences the quality of life for youth in Canada and in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean (e.g., access to energy, transportation, and communication systems).
• Compare and contrast the quality of life in Canada with the quality of life in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean using various sources of data including a quality of life index, maps, graphs, and charts.
• Propose reasons which might explain the differences in the quality of life of young people in Canada and in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
• Research sources of wealth (including natural resources and industries) in Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
• Recognize and assess the relationship between wealth and resources and the distribution of power and authority in Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

RW 6.2
Contribute to initiating and guiding change in local and global communities regarding environmental, social, and economic sustainability.
Indicators:

• Represent through visual art, music, dance, writing, or other representation the contribution of individuals and communities to initiate change that supports sustainability.
• Investigate how individual local consumer choices may affect people elsewhere in the world (e.g., child labour, enslavement, sweat shops, consumption of scarce resources, prosperity through employment).
• Develop an action plan for harmonizing one’s personal lifestyle with collective needs regarding social, environmental, and economic sustainability.

PA 6.3
Explore examples and explain how people, such as ethnic minority groups, the disabled, youth, and the elderly, may be affected by injustice or abuses of power./ Students will understand how people are affected by injustices or abuses of power.
Indicators:

• Describe incidents of the misuse of power in groups of which students are aware.
• Research laws that specifically affect young people, minority groups, the disabled, and the elderly to determine the disposition of governments toward the status of these groups, and evaluate the reasons for and effectiveness of such laws.
• Propose changes needed in human behaviour and institutions in order to prevent the abuse of power.
• Investigate the relationship between people and their governments in Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Include such things as human rights, treatment of minorities, history with indigenous peoples, infrastructure for health, and education (including reference to residential schools and the intergenerational impact of those experiences).

DR 6.3
Appraise the strategies human societies have used to orient themselves within time and place in the natural environment.
Indicators:

• Investigate the role of astronomy and traditional practices and teachings in early map making and reading.
• Use parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude to situate locations on a map.
• Calculate the time in different time zones relevant to Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, using technological tools and appropriate vocabulary, including international date line, Universal Time, local time, and daylight saving time.
• Investigate the Indigenous understanding of day, night, and seasons as part of global cycles.
• Describe and compare diverse approaches to natural resource and land use among First Nations and Métis peoples in Canada, among indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of these regions, and explore how these diverse approaches have come into conflict and been in harmony in various time periods and locations.

Part B: Learning Plan

• Examine and analyze factors that contribute to quality of life, including material and non-material factors.
• Consider how they can contribute to initiating and guiding change, locally and globally in environmental, social, and economic areas.
• Explore examples of injustice or abuses of power and consider how different groups of people may be affected.

• How do you determine fairness?
  • Is a multicultural society fair for all?
  • If a rule/law impacts people differently, is it fair?
• If opinion reflects personal perspective, is everyone’s opinion, right?
  • What might be another perspective?
  • What role does evidence play in forming opinion?
• What is the impact of past experience on decision-making?
• What do you need to consider when you choose to influence others?
• How do your actions impact others?
  • Should you be able to live the way you choose regardless of the impact on others, locally, globally?
  • What is your responsibility to balance between needs and wants?
• What will you do with your new learning?

Vocabulary

• Fair – fairness
• Human Rights
• Injustice
• Institutions`
• Justice
• Needs
• Quality of Life
• Sustainability
• Economic sustainability
• Environmental sustainability
• Social sustainability
• Wants

What are the impacts of injustices? How is power used or misused by governing bodies?

Process

• Pose the questions and allow students to discuss their understandings and thoughts on fairness. What impact does “privilege – especially unearned advantage or white privilege” have on fairness?
• Determine what the students know, understand, need to be able to do to master/answer the essential questions. Additional guiding questions can be added as required. Students are encouraged to add their questions to the others.

• What does the word fair mean to students?
• How do students determine fairness?
• Does fair mean equal?
• Is Saskatchewan a “fair” province of equal opportunity? Why or why not?
• Are people treated equally, treated fairly?
• Should life be fair? Should life be just?

Present the definition below. Discuss the meaning with students and the revisit the questions above. Has the student thinking changed?

Injustice – the practice of being unjust or unfair

“Life isn’t fair, and that quality is exactly what defines injustice: something unfair that happens, often in violation of a basic human right.

In the early 19th century in the United States, women could not legally vote, but they fought back against this injustice and eventually won voting rights.* The word comes from a Latin phrase that literally means “not right,” and injustice is the opposite of justice, which is a fair and righteous act. Injustice can be general or specific, like the injustice suffered by poor people everywhere, or an individual act of injustice committed by some unkind person.”

“Text from Vocabulary.com, Copyright ©1998-2016 Thinkmap, Inc. All rights reserved.”

• What examples of injustice do students have?
  • Personally
  • In the community
  • Provincially
  • Nationally
  • Globally
• Chart the examples against the Diversity Wheel found in part C. Are there trends to the injustice examples? Are certain locations, areas of diversity more predominant? Have students examine the use or misuse of power evident in the situation. (Studied in Engaged Citizenship area)

i.e. Authority, Force, Influence

• What are students noticing? Is there a trend?
• Save the student thinking for later reference.

Foreshadowing or front-loading Process

• Talk with students about the questions they are researching. Based on their studies in the other areas of citizenship (Engaged Citizens connected to Self, Community, and Place) have students hypothesize:
  • What are students thinking they will find in their research?
  • What evidence do students have to support their thinking?

Begin with Canada and then move to chosen country to research the relationship between people and their governments.

Beginning the inquiry with Canada allows the whole class to work for a single purpose and surfaces potential misunderstandings or areas where specific teaching. Students could then use the jigsaw research method to research chosen countries.

• What responsibility do governments have to address/maintain common good?
• What responsibility do governments have to treat the people they govern fairly?
• What processes do governments put in place to deal with the diversity in the people they govern?

• What are human rights?
• Canada has Human Rights Commissions in every province. Why do students think this is so?

Surface additional questions that students have.

• Identify the government’s beliefs and policies on:
• i) human rights,
• ii) treatment of minorities,
• iii) history with Indigenous peoples,
• iv) infrastructure for health, and education (including reference to residential schools and the intergenerational impact of those experiences).
  • Develop a summary statement that indicates what students learned about the government’s beliefs and policies toward each area researched.
• Research laws that indicate the way the governments feel toward various diversity groups i.e. the young, the disabled, the elderly and others.
  • i) Indicate the status of these groups in the country;
  • ii) Laws impacting groups;
  • iii) Evaluate the reasons for laws; and,
  • iv) Indicate the effectiveness of such laws.
    • Develop summary statements that capture what students learned about the government’s beliefs and policies toward each group of people.

Have students complete the chart in the appendix, page 39 to summarize their research. Post the charts for comparison. Identify the geographic location of the countries and consider the standard of living in each country.

• Were there any surprises in their research? (Refer back to hypotheses)
• What kind of power interaction is evident. Is power being well used, misused, or abused? Give evidence to support their thinking.
• What similarities and differences are students noticing? Are there any categories connected to the Diversity Wheel (part C) that are becoming evident? What big ideas are surfacing?
• `What are students inferring? What makes them think that?

• How would students rate Canada in terms of the treatment of diverse groups of people compared to countries studied? (i.e. Are they doing a good job?)
• How would students rate the treatment of diverse groups by the governing body of the country they researched? Which categories of diversity are most often targeted or persecuted?
• What might be the reasons for the difference between Canada’s beliefs and those of other countries?
• Bulletin board experiences
  • Identify on a map the country where the injustices occurred.
  • What areas of diversity, identified on the diversity wheel, are targeted?
  • How would students rate the identified bulletin board experiences of injustice, misuse and/or abuse of power in comparison to other countries studied? Are there commonalities? Differences?
  • What are students inferring about some of the differences they identified?

• What did students learn about injustices and use and abuse of power that is important to remember?
• Why does it matter?
• What do they want to do with this new learning?

In groups have students:
Choose one of the bulletin board examples of injustice or a specific example of injustice from one of the groups within a researched country:

• Tell what they have learned and why they think it is important to know.
• Tell why their learning matters.
• Tell what they think they could do about what they learned if they had the power they needed.
  • Propose possible changes needed to address the situation. What kind of power is needed to effect these changes? (Influence, authority, force)
  • Propose suggestions to prevent further injustice or use and abuse of power.
  • Consider changes in:
    • human behaviour
    • institutions
    • education and/or health practices
    • laws and policies
    • other?

How does quality of life compare across countries? What are the critical factors for quality of life?
Outcome:

Examine and analyze factors that contribute to quality of life, including material and non-material factors.

Personal and Group Inventory – the purpose of this inquiry is to have students understand the difference between needs and wants.

• Have students divide their day into three portions – morning, afternoon, evening.
• Brainstorm with the class things that they use every day within those three time periods. ie. Food, clothing, technology, appliances, machinery, etc.

Have students group their lists into needs and wants.

• Based on the student lists develop a definition for the words ‘needs’ and ‘wants’. (use Frayer vocabulary model) Using the generated definitions, revisit the lists to see if student thinking has changed. Can anything from one list be moved to the other?
• Based on the students’ study of countries bordering the Atlantic have them hypothesize what might be on the lists of their peers in other countries.
• Revisit their lists to see if any changes need to be made regarding the inclusion under needs or wants.
• What are students noticing about the differences in the lists? Why do they think those differences exist?
• Chart student answers and save for reflection at the end of the study.

Student Quality of Life Summarizing – determine what students think contributes to their quality of life. Their thinking will provide a basis for the next part of the inquiry.

• What does “Quality of Life” mean to students?
  • What makes your life satisfactory – good?
  • What is necessary for a satisfactory quality of life?
• Which is more important to your quality of life – needs or wants? Explain your thinking.

OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) – Better Life Index – http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/

The categories examined under the Better Life Index are listed below.

1. Housing
2. Income
3. Jobs
4. Community
5. Education
6. Environment
7. Civic Engagement
8. Health
9. Life Satisfaction
10. Safety
11. Work-Life Balance

Unpack each of the indicators in the OECD list to make sure students understand what they involve. Assign groups of students one of the indicators, to research and provide examples of, to teach to the class so that the meanings are understood.

• Why would these indicators be included in the Better Life Index?
  • What should be added? Explain the thinking.
  • What should be removed? Explain the thinking.
• How would students order the indicators if they were working from most important to least important? (see website, http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/)

Describe the quality of life for people/youth in Canada as compared to people/youth in countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean? What impacts/influences the quality of life?

1. Have students choose a country, including Canada, to research the quality of life factors/indicators and identify:

• the access people have to:
  • education and technology,
  • shelter, food and water,
  • health care,
  • sport and recreation,
  • other
• country’s labour practices
• country’s inclusion, diversity, or marginalization practices

Encourage students to use various sources of data including a quality of life index, maps, graphs, and charts.

2. Identify sources of wealth in the assigned countries including:

• natural resources
• industries

• Which countries are most wealthy in terms of resources?
• Which countries are most powerful?
• Which countries have governments/rulers/ governing bodies that bear responsibility for their citizens?
• Which countries enjoy higher qualities of life?

Develop summary statements answering:

• What is the relationship between wealth and resources and the amount of power and authority countries have?
• How does the presence or absence of wealth and resources impact the quality of life? What is the relationship between wealth and resources and the quality of life?
• What is the relationship between wealth and resources and a duty to care for the citizens of a country?

• What impact does location and culture have on quality of life?
• How does history impact quality of life?
• What is the impact of:
  • technology,
  • access to energy,
  • transportation,
  • communication systems
• What are some of the reasons that might explain the differences in the quality of life?
• How do the choices that Canadian youth make to support their lifestyle, impact the lifestyle/quality of life of youth in other countries?

Students have been investigating the Western Concept of Wealth. In this section students explore the Indigenous Concept of Abundance and consider how the application of that concept would impact the perceptions of power and authority. Examples of Indigenous concepts about wealth follow.

Indigenous Concepts of Wealth

Many indigenous societies define wealth as the strength of one’s social relations, not as a ranking within a monetary system. To be rich does not mean the individual has a set of numerical units that have value in some currency system. Instead it means to be connected to people and resources through the multiplying and expanding tentacles of community.

If man is connected to the environment and place, then wealth means being the strongest part of the web. Compare this idea of wealth with a Western, fiscal definition of wealth. Students may find it interesting that the two definitions go in such opposite directions. Indigenous wealth is measured by the individual’s degree of connectivity to the whole. Western wealth is measured by the collection of assets that a person can accumulate.

James Shelley, speaker on Indigenous wealth tells us that we are all indigenous to planet earth — and the indigenous wealth of being connected to one another is the only thing that can truly make us rich.

“For many indigenous communities, wealth is linked to the application and preservation of ancestral knowledge and cultural traditions, and the depth of one’s connection to the environment and the sacred.”

For some modern governments, wealth is more defined in terms of the possession of goods, of newly acquired knowledge like technology, and an ability to use and manipulate the environment to create new avenues of monetary revenue.”

By Alan Pierce, Dec. 28, 2012

Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20160603034330/https://www.pachamama.org/blog/we-are-not-poor-people-learning-from-indigenous-perspectives-of-wealth, Nov. 2017

For more information about the 7 generation principle visit:
http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/policy/abpersp/ab_persp.pdf
https://www.mollylarkin.com/what-is-the-7th-generation-principle-and-why-do-you-need-to-know-about-it-3/
http://7genfoundation.org/7th-generation/
http://fngovernance.org/resources_docs/7_Generations_7_Teachings.pdf
http://nativeinsight.blogspot.ca/2012/11/seventh-generation.html

The Seventh (7th) generation principle is known and taught among Indigenous peoples. It means that future generations must think about the decisions they are making and the impact those decisions might have on future generations or your descendants (children) seven generations into the future. What can we learn from this principle?

The Creator put the First Nations on the land and told them to care for Mother Earth. All creation is interdependent and equally important.

Components of First Nations Traditional Worldviews pg. 29 Treaty Essential Learnings

• Research and compare the beliefs of Indigenous people in Canada and countries bordering the Atlantic.
  • Identify the views and beliefs of Indigenous people about wealth and what makes a person or society wealthy.
  • Note the diverse approaches to natural resource and land use.
  • Indicate how these diverse approaches have come into conflict and been in harmony in various time periods and locations.
• Present information on beliefs using a variety of representation styles.
• What are the primary differences? What are the similarities?
• Develop a summary statement that describes the Indigenous concept of wealth in the country researched.
• What are the similarities and differences between Indigenous peoples in all countries?

• If Indigenous concepts of wealth were applied how would the quality of life rankings be impacted in the various countries studied?
• How would the application of Indigenous concepts of wealth, impact the perceptions of power and authority in the countries studied?
• What changes might be needed to bring those countries closer to being wealthy according to Indigenous standards?
• How would the application of Indigenous concepts of wealth impact student lives? Would students be considered wealthy? What would change?

• Why would different countries have different qualities of life?
• Are countries using the right measures to determine quality of life?
• How could the qualities of life/standards of living be made fairer?

How does quality of life compare across countries? What are the critical factors for quality of life?

• In groups have students present their thinking on the following:
• What is the quality of life like for people/youth in Canada as compared to people/youth in countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean?
• What impacts/influences the quality of life?
• How does your lifestyle impact the standards of living globally?
• Why is it important to understand this?
• What will you do as a result of your learning?

Present student understandings in a variety of ways i.e. infomercial, magazine campaign, etc.

Concepts of Wealth

Students have been exploring Western world concepts of wealth and Indigenous concepts of wealth. Which do they prefer and why? Give evidence to support their thinking.

Contribute to initiating and guiding environmental, social, and economic sustainability and change in local and global communities.

Students will consider their lifestyle choices and begin to understand the impact that their choices have on the community – locally, nationally, and globally.

What responsibility/part did you (students) play in the Bangladesh Clothing Factory Collapse of April 2013 that killed more than 1100 workers and injured thousands more?

Make students aware of the Bangladesh Clothing Factory Collapse – see lesson resources – Understand working conditions and workers

• Have students revisit their needs and wants lists. Begin to inventory the origin of the objects/clothes on those lists to determine where things they use originate/come from. Chart the countries.
• Have a collection of items on your desk, collect items from the classroom – books, clothing, fruit, etc.
• Check the tags on clothing, lunch kits, school supplies, desks, find origin of product – list/identify and chart countries of origin.

(Save responses for later reflection)

• Make a general statement about how each student’s daily life is influenced by other countries in the world. – linking to interdependence
• How do student’s daily life choices impact other countries?
• How does meeting their needs impact issues of sustainability relating to:
  • The environment?
  • Economic sustainability?
  • Social sustainability?
• Definition – social sustainability – improving local and global social conditions of workers, their families, communities and society at large. – https://web.archive.org/web/20161106044352/http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/csr-rse.nsf/eng/rs00590.html

Make sure students understand the parameters of the three kinds of sustainability concepts: environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

• Research practices and examples of the following sustainability issues in the assigned country:
  • Social sustainability
    • child labour
    • enslavement
    • sweat shops
  • Environmental sustainability
    • consumption of scarce resources
  • Economic sustainability
    • employment opportunities
  • Identify any efforts by individuals and communities to initiate change in any of the sustainability areas.

• What changes would they make to their original general statement about how each student’s daily life is influenced by other countries in the world?
• How do student’s daily life choices impact other countries?
• How does meeting their needs impact issues of sustainability relating to:
  • the environment?
  • economic sustainability?
  • social sustainability?
• Why does this learning matter?
• What do students think they should do about this?

• Identify:
  • Who, what, where, why
  • What has happened as a result of that disaster?
    • What has been the corporate world response?
    • What has been the global response?
  • What is student responsibility toward workers?
    • What will be your personal response?
  • How can Canadian citizens work to ensure this does not happen again?

• What responsibility/part did you play in the Bangladesh Clothing Factory Collapse of April 2013 that killed more than 1100 workers?
• What is your action plan for harmonizing one’s personal lifestyle with collective social, environmental, and/or economic needs?

Nelson Mandela, Amnesty International
Ambassador of Conscience 2006

• What does this statement say to you? What does it make you think?
• What responsibility do Canadian citizens have to be aware of global injustice?
• Respond to any of the essential questions.

Part C: Lifelong Learning Citizens Resources

• Timeline of Social and Cultural Injustices in Canada – http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/foundation_gr9/blms/9-1-4c.pdf
• Fighting Anti-Semitism Together (FAST): https://www.fightingantisemitism.ca/
• Choose Your Voice: http://www.chooseyourvoice.ca
• Integrating Aboriginal Perspectives into Curricula – http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/policy/abpersp/ab_persp.pdf
• Canadian Quality of Life Indicators
  http://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/sites/ca.canadian-index-wellbeing/files/uploads/files/Indicators_of_Quality_of_Life_in_Canada.sflb__0.pdf
• Canadian Index of Well-being – https://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/
• European Quality of Life Indicators – European Statistical System Committee http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/quality_life/introduction (link no longer active)
• Quality of Life Index – http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf
• Bangladesh Factory Collapse Retailers’ Response – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304176904579113110057660666.html
• Dropping the ball on Bangladesh – Rana Plaza Disaster http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/18/bangladesh-factory-victims-corporations
• Youth for Human Rights website – http://www.youthforhumanrights.org
• Richard Wilkinson: How economic inequality harms societies – http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson#t-36142
• Pearson Saskatchewan Social Studies 6
• Indigenous Concepts of Wealth
  • http://jamesshelley.net/2011/03/indigenous-wealth/
  • http://www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20160603034330/https://www.pachamama.org/blog/we-are-not-poor-people-learning-from-indigenous-perspectives-of-wealth
  • https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/20/indigenous-health-wealthy-nations-not-always-better-than-developing-countries

For further information on the Quality of Life Index and Indicator visit the suggested websites.

Canadian Quality of Life Indicators

1. Political rights
2. Health
3. Education
4. Environment
5. Social programs/conditions
6. Personal well being
7. Safe communities
8. Economy
http://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/sites/ca.canadian-index-wellbeing/files/uploads/files/Indicators_of_Quality_of_Life_in_Canada.sflb__0.pdf

Canadian Index of Well-being

1. Community Vitality
2. Democratic Engagement
3. Education
4. Environment
5. Healthy Populations
6. Leisure and Culture
7. Living Standards
8. Time Use
https://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/

European Quality of Life Indicators

1. Material living conditions
2. Productive or main activity
3. Health
4. Education
5. Leisure and social interactions
6. Economic and physical safety
7. Governance and basic rights
8. Natural and living environment
9. Overall experience of life
Source – European Statistical System Committee http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/quality_life/introduction (link no longer active)

Quality of Life Index

1. Material Wellbeing – GDP /person
2. Health
3. Political stability and security
4. Family Life
5. Community Life
6. Climate and Geography
7. Job Security
8. Political Freedom
9. Gender equality
http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf

Themes

• Personal and Philosophical: Students will reflect upon:
  • self-image and self-esteem; and,
  • self and life, and on their beliefs and values and those of their society.
• Social, Cultural, and Historical: Students will
  • look outward and examine their relationships with others, their community, and that of the world; and,
  • consider the historical context.
• Environmental and Technological: Students will:
  • explore the elements of the natural and constructed world and the role of technology and related developments in their society.
• Communicative: Students will:
  • consider the role of communication in their lives and the ideas and technologies that help people become effective communicators.

Treaty Education

• TR6: Analyze the concepts, structures and processes which have been developed for the purpose of treaty implementation.
• SI6: Analyze the importance of the preservation and promotion of First Nations and Métis languages.
• HC6: Analyze how the movement towards the fulfillment of treaty obligations has positively affected all people in Saskatchewan.
• TPP6: Investigate the role of the Treaty Table and the role of the Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC) in promoting good relations between signatories.

Health

Understanding, Skills, and Confidences (USC)

• USC6.1 Analyze the factors that influence the development of personal standards and identity, and determine the impact on healthy decision making (including cultural norms, societal norms, family values, peer pressures, mass media, traditional knowledge, white privilege, legacy of colonization, and heterosexual privilege).
• USC6.2 Appraise the importance of establishing/maintaining healthy relationships with people from diverse backgrounds who may or may not express differing values, beliefs, standards, and/or perspectives (i.e., people of various ages, cultures, socio-economic status, faiths, family structures, sexual orientations, and cognitive/physical abilities)
• USC6.5 Analyze the influences (e.g., cultural, social) on perceptions of and personal standards related to body image, and the resulting impact on the identities and the well-being of self, family, and community.
• USC6.6 Develop and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and personal standards necessary for establishing and supporting safe practices and environments related to various community activities.

Science

Life Science: Diversity of Living Things (DL)

• DL6.4 Examine and describe structures and behaviours that help:
  • individual living organisms survive in their environments in the short term and,
  • species of living organisms adapt to their environments in the long term. [CP, DM, SI]
• DL6.5 Assess effects of micro-organisms on past and present society, and contributions of science and technology to human understanding of micro-organisms. [CP, DM, SI]

• Hunger Games
• The Giver
  • Teachers found reading this book to the students brought in another perspective that supported student’s connections to the concepts presented in this grade in all areas of citizenship.

Fair – fairness

When used as a noun, fair refers to a traveling show with games, rides, and farmers showing off their prized pigs, similar to a carnival. As an adjective, it gets a bit trickier.

The adjective fair, has several different meanings. If someone says, “That’s not fair!” they mean whatever happened wasn’t just or done in an unbiased way. If you have fair skin, you have a pale complexion. If the weather is fair, it’s a gorgeous day out. If the rides at the fair were fair, then they were just so-so. And watch out if the umpire shouts “fair ball!” during the baseball game — that means it was hit within the foul lines.

Human Right

(Law) any basic right or freedom to which all human beings are entitled and in whose exercise a government may not interfere (including rights to life and liberty as well as freedom of thought and expression and equality before the law)

Injustice

Life isn’t fair, and that quality is exactly what defines injustice: something unfair that happens, often in violation of a basic human right.

In the early 19th century in the United States, women could not legally vote, but they fought back against this injustice and eventually won voting rights. The word comes from a Latin phrase that literally means “not right,” and injustice is the opposite of justice, which is a fair and righteous act. Injustice can be general or specific, like the injustice suffered by poor people everywhere, or an individual act of injustice committed by some unkind person.

Institutions

Universities, banks, and hospitals are all institutions. Until you arrived at the bank, you’d forgotten that financial institutions were closed for the holiday. Thank goodness for the ATM!

The noun institution also refers to a long held custom or practice in society. Even if your parents divorced when you were young, you might strongly believe in the institution of marriage. Or you might believe that once you enter the institution of marriage, your next stop will probably be a mental institution. Institution can also describe the act of putting something in place. The institution of new traffic rules — green means stop and red means go — caused a bit of confusion.

Justice

Justice is the quality of being just or fair. Super heroes fight for justice because they want everything to be fair and not let bad guys win. Just ask Wonder Woman, Superman, or any other member of the Justice League.

Justice is usually associated with the law. A judge is also known as a justice, and the point of the law is to keep everything in a society fair according to society’s rules. Justice (capital “J”) is also the statue of a blindfolded woman holding scales and a sword. If something is brought to justice, the good guys have been rewarded and the bad guys punished — the scales are even.

Need

A need is something essential: people need food, water, and shelter. When you lack them, you’re in need.

Besides physical needs like sleep, people have lots of psychological needs: like for love and friendship. To pass an exam, you need to study. To lose weight, you need to exercise more and eat less. Drug addicts feel a physical need for their drug — so do smokers. Often, we feel we need things that we actually just want: like a new video game or car. When someone is trying hard to get something, they might say “I need it!”

Quality of Life

Your personal satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with the cultural or intellectual conditions under which you live (as distinct from material comfort)

Sustainability

“Sustain” means to last over time, so sustainability is the ability of something to last. As a civilization, we are concerned about the sustainability of our planet.

Sustainability became a big idea after people began to realize that we were using up our natural resources, so you’re most likely to come across the word when you’re reading about recycling and energy use. If you hear someone talking about sustainability in the context of energy, they’re probably talking about alternatives to oil or coal — both of which will run out in the future. A sustainable source of energy is something that’s always there — like water or wind.

Economic (sustainability)

Economic is all about how money works, but something economical is a good deal. You might take an economic studies class to understand the ebb and flow of cash in the world, but if you buy a used textbook for it, you’re being economical.

Economic appeared in the late 1500s, referring to household management, but its sense of relating to a country’s wealth first appeared in the 1800s. It’s still related to economics (the study of the transfer of wealth) or economy (a country’s wealth), but not thrifty (that’s the other one).

If you want an adjective related to the economy, economic is your word. If you want a word to describe something that saves money, like buying used textbooks, use economical.

The use of various strategies for employing existing resources optimally so that that a responsible and beneficial balance can be achieved over the longer term. Within a business context, economic sustainability involves using the assorted assets of the company efficiently to allow it to continue functioning profitability over time.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/economic-sustainability.html#ixzz37frqTzLg

Environmental (sustainability)

Environmental is the adjective form of environment, referring to a surrounding area. The word is usually used to refer to our ecology and the forces that act to change it.

The noun environment, meaning the “state of being environed,” first appeared around 1600. The word as referring to our natural surroundings was first recorded in 1827, and the popular idea of environmental concern in an ecological sense first appeared in 1956. In recent decades, the movement toward environmental awareness has grown rapidly. In a 1997 interview, environmentalist Barry Commoner noted that “Environmental concern is now firmly embedded in public life.”

The maintenance of the factors and practices that contribute to the quality of environment on a long-term basis.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/environmental-sustainability.html#ixzz37fs7cRhV

Social (sustainability)

If you are social, you like to be around people. A social butterfly is someone who is social or friendly with everyone, flitting from person to person, the way a butterfly might.

The word social comes from the Latin socius meaning “friend”. When you’re being social, you’re everyone’s friend. Go to a social, or mixer, and you might make a lot of new friends. Stand in the corner pouting, however, and you’re being anti-social. Humans are described as social beings — ones that tend to move or live in groups together, like penguins!

The ability of a community to develop processes and structures which not only meet the needs of its current members but also support the ability of future generations to maintain a healthy community.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/social-sustainability.html#ixzz37fsKYc4k

Want

In all its forms, want has to do with the lack of having and the desire to have. You can want or desire something you’d like, or you can be in want of something you need.

The word want goes back to the 12th century and the Old Norse language, where vanta meant “to be deficient,” or “in want.” If someone keeps bugging you, you might lose patience and ask, “What do you want?” If you are seeking employment, check the “want ads” or look for signs saying “Help Wanted.” If you are a “wanted criminal,” you might have trouble getting hired.

Part A: Curricular Connections and Background

This area of citizenship focuses on the student using critical thinking skills in order to better understand, the relationship between geography, resources, culture and historical events.

Studies in this area of Citizenship expand student’s sense of identity with respect to local, regional, provincial, national, and global diversities.  Students specifically compare the experiences of Canada to those of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.  Students will begin to explore the relationship that citizens have with the environment and examine the impact of cultural and personal beliefs on how the environment is used.  Students will examine environmental and economic decisions on a local, national, and global level and consider the disparity between cultures and countries.  Students will extend their modeling of respect for self and others to consider the impact of citizenship decisions on the environment.

History and current events are understood through diverse historical perspectives.

• Democracy requires discussion and consideration of alternate points of view in order to find a balance between individual perspectives.
• Citizens value the needs of the collective common good and consider how their actions impact the collective well-being.
• Canadian multi-cultural policies challenge citizenship tenets and require consideration of multiple perspectives.
• Canada’s history includes First Nations, Métis, and Inuit governance and perspectives and each have contributed to Canadian identity.
• Decision-making is a complex process with far-reaching impacts.
• Engaged citizens strive to be knowledgeable, uphold their rights, and act on their responsibilities.

Inferences to make:

• Empathy requires understanding and appreciation of another’s perspective.
• Citizens value the need of the collective common good and consider how their actions impact the collective well-being.

• Expand their sense of identity with respect to local, regional, provincial, national, and global diversities.
• Exhibit an awareness and understanding of natural environmental issues on a local, national, and global level.
• Model being active and responsible citizens, including respect for self, others, and the environment.

Students will continue to develop skills for:

• Examining issues from a variety of perspectives.
• Looking for alternate points of view.

Students will use their independent learning to:

• Develop skills for treating self and others with respect.
• Demonstrate empathy in social situations.
• Continually reassess where they belong (changing contexts/roles and expectations) i.e. school, family, community.
• Reflect upon the impact of their choices.

• What is government’s responsibility to ensure and maintain common good?
• What is the appropriate citizenship response to the marginalization witnessed daily?
• What is the relationship between the natural environment and the development of society?
• How much control do you have over the impact of your decisions/actions?
• What responsibility do you have to balance personal needs with the community’s (global) needs?
• What is the power and responsibility of the individual to make a difference in the world?
• What role does empathy play in citizenship?

(Sask. Curriculum / Student Friendly)

IN6.1
Evaluate and represent personal beliefs and values by determining how culture and place influence them. / Examine the influence of culture and place on individual beliefs and values.
Indicators:

• Identify personal roles in, and responsibilities toward, the family and local community.
• Compare and contrast family and community roles and responsibilities of young people in Canada, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis families, with the roles and responsibilities of age-equivalent youth in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean (e.g., conduct interviews with local youth and elders, use technology to link with youth in provincial, territorial, national and global communities).
• Give examples of the artistic expression of culture in Canada, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, and in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, and draw conclusions about the beliefs and values of the inhabitants in those regions.
• Assess the current and historical approaches to cultural diversity used in Canada and in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, including consideration of segregation, assimilation, accommodation, and pluralism.
• Plan, conduct, and evaluate an inquiry to illustrate how culture and place influence the beliefs and values of the local community.
• Examine the beliefs and values of individuals discussed in case studies or of characters in literature highlighting youth, and represent the influential factors on the characters or subjects. Assess how these beliefs and values compare with those of local youth.

IN 6.2
Examine the social and cultural diversity that exists in the world, as exemplified in Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean. / Compare social and cultural aspects of their lives with countries bordering the Atlantic.
Indicators:

• Compare and represent the kinship patterns, cultural traditions, and traditional worldviews of Saskatchewan First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people, and of other cultural groups residing in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
• Research ways in which cultural traditions, celebrations, art, music, literature, drama, and sport have influenced intercultural understanding.
• Investigate the contributions of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people in Canada and indigenous peoples in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean to local, provincial, national and global communities in various areas such as politics, business, health, education, sport, music, literature, art, dance, and architecture.
• Research and represent the historical and contemporary contributions to local communities by a variety of cultural groupings representative of Saskatchewan.
• Compare and contrast social and cultural diversity in Canada with that of a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, and assess the significance of cultural diversity.

DR 6.1
Analyze the impact of the diversity of natural environments on the ways of life in Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean. / Analyze how the natural environment impacts their lives and compare their situation to countries bordering the Atlantic.
Indicators:

• Make generalizations about the effects of climate and vegetation in a local area on the historical development of people in the selected area.
• Describe the relationship between the climate and vegetation zones and the lifestyles (e.g., modes of travel, home and building construction, modes of dress, population health, types of sport, recreation and leisure activities, economic activity) of people in Canada and in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
• Investigate ways in which natural environments are reflected in the artistic expressions (music, dance, painting, sculpture, architecture) in Canada and in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
• Investigate the importance of place to the development of first languages and cultures.

DR 6.2
Analyze ways in which the land affects human settlement patterns and social organization, and ways in which human habitation affects land. / Analyze where and how people choose to live.
Indicators:

• Identify, on a map or globe, major cities, landforms, and bodies of water in Canada and a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
• Propose explanations for population distributions, densities, and growth rates in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, and compare this to population distributions, densities, and growth rates in Canada.
• Identify the historical and contemporary factors that influence the migration of people (e.g., environmental, economic, and political factors), and research examples from a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

Conduct an inquiry into the nature of urbanization and examine the impact of urbanization on youth, including indigenous youth, in Canada and in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

Part B: Learning Plan

In this inquiry students will examine:

• The influence of culture and place on the social structure, ways of life, individual beliefs and values and the use of the natural environment.
• Concepts of assimilation, segregation, privilege, marginalization, accommodation, and pluralism and examine the history of those concepts in a variety of cultures.
• The relationship that people have with the land noting where people choose to live and how the land is used.

• What is government’s responsibility to ensure and maintain common good?
  • What is common good? Is it constant?
  • Does the idea of common good change depending on the culture, community?
• How much control do you have over the impact of your actions/decisions?
• What responsibility do you have to balance personal needs with the community’s needs?
• What is the power and responsibility of the individual to make a difference in the world?
• What is the appropriate Citizenship response to the marginalization witnessed daily?
• How does the impact of the natural environment affect the development of society?
  • What is the impact of your environment and relationship with the land on your personal beliefs?
  • Can your environment affect your beliefs and values?
  • Does your environment and where you live/sense of place/relationship affect how your cultural and social behaviours develop?
  • Did we form families first or did the environment affect the families we formed?
• What role does empathy play in citizenship?
• What are the impacts of supporting my life-style on my local and global community?

This citizenship study invites students to take another person’s perspective and to begin to understand how culture, the environment, and social beliefs impact how others may live. It is easy for students to assume that their experiences of life in Canada are “the norm” without an appreciation for the diversity that exists even within the classroom. Citizenship explorations ask students to consider alternate realities and wonder how living their lifestyles impacts on youth in other countries. Vocabulary study is critical to the development and deepening understanding. Vocabulary concepts include: empathy, accommodation, assimilation, marginalization, privilege, – white privilege, unearned advantage, pluralism, and segregation. (see glossary)

Students will examine the impact of the environment, culture and place on individual beliefs, values, and social and cultural practices and begin to understand the diversity that exists in the world and the impact these factors have on lifestyle and standard of living.

Teachers are encouraged to have their students explore empathy. There are many expressions and phrases that remind us of the importance of trying to understand another person’s perspective. Have students provide their own examples or explore the following phrases.

• “Walk a mile in my shoes.” Elvis Presley
• “Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.” from a poem by Mary T. Lathrap, “Judge Softly,” written in 1895.
• “You never really know a man until you understand things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Lee Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird
• 7 experiences that expanded my empathy
• http://www.buzzfeed.com/nathanwpyle/experiences-which-expanded-my-empathy#.srR1Vwe7b
• Have students think about what the sayings mean. Is this idea common to all cultures? Are similar phrases found in other languages? Why do students think this is so?
• What is Empathy – YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5jrUg_kXjY

What do these phrases, stories, sayings ask students to do? What meanings do students take away?

What role does empathy fulfill in citizenship?

• Have students study examples of current citizenship events or social justice issues. What points of view are evident? Are there any situations where two different perspectives cause people to choose sides? Is there an opportunity for understanding another perspective or empathy to occur? Have students identify the impact they think empathy might have in this situation.
• Have newcomers to Canada come into the classroom to share their experiences with school, learning a new language, coming to Canada. Where there times when empathy impacted their experiences? Identify the difference empathy made or could have made.
• Give examples of times when students changed their minds about something after they understood the situation better. How has empathy impacted their lives so far?

Personal and Family Responsibility Survey within classroom

• List responsibilities, jobs, things that students must do within family and community
• Begin with day and do a survey of tasks or responsibilities of students, expand to week i.e. school, eating, entertainment – sports, hobbies, personal time, sleeping, other responsibilities
• Group and develop categories, label those categories i.e. school, homework, child care help, housework, personal choice, relaxation, hobbies, work, survival. Post categories for later reference and examination of other countries
• Have each student or group develop their own graph of the approximate percentage of day/week spent doing various activities
• Identify whether those responsibilities have increased and reasons why (link to age of students and accepting increased responsibilities within family and community i.e. child care)\\
• Have students reflect on what their identified responsibilities say about their lifestyle. How much time is spent on personal development (school), personal enjoyment (hobbies), and survival?
• How much consistency is there within the classroom?
• What are some big ideas that are surfacing?
• Develop summary statements for later reflection as students explore circumstances of students their age in other cultures and countries.

How have students’ jobs/responsibilities changed?

Examine the activities and lives of the students in the class. Begin with: One hour, one day, and move to one week.

Tabulate the activities in the lives of students in the class. Have students then interview their caregivers, parents, elders, grandparents or someone from outside of their family to compare responsibilities from the past to the present.

• How do the responsibilities compare?
• How would the interviewee (caregiver, parent, elder) describe the life of the interviewer (student)?
• What do your activities, your responsibilities say about what you and your family value and believe in?
• What do your activities and responsibilities say about what your society values and believes in?
• What are some of Canada’s ideas about how children should spend their youth

• For Canadian studies make sure students research First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people and non-Indigenous people, including immigrants.
• For countries bordering the Atlantic, ensure that students research indigenous and non-indigenous people of the country and identify the names and backgrounds of the peoples studied.
• Examine local, provincial, and national community context where possible.
• Have students continue to research the same country and go deeper into each study so that they become the class resident experts on that particular country.

How does the way we live our lives in Canada compare with other countries?

Begin with Canada and then extend your research to include countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

Complete the following chart for your country and develop summary statements about the beliefs of the culture with respect to family structure and responsibilities. Be prepared to defend your statements with evidence from your research. (This will be the organizing sheet through which students research their assigned country.)

Teachers may wish to conduct the first part of this inquiry by examining Canada.

Family and societal roles:

• What are examples of some common family structures or constructs?
• What would be your family responsibilities in this culture?
• What would be your community responsibilities in this culture?
• What do these responsibilities and family structures tell you about what the culture’s beliefs about family?
• How does this compare with the Canadian experience?

For Organizational Chart, see appendix.

After student presentations have student groups…

• How would your group describe the life of a person your age in the different countries studied? Similar/Easier/Harder?
• What do the activities, responsibilities of your peers say about what is important to that culture – that the culture values or believes in?
• What do the activities and responsibilities say about what that society values and believes in?
• How do those experiences compare with the Canadian experience?
  • Similar
  • Better
  • Worse
• What might be some of the social rules for this country? Post for later reflection.

• How does the way we live our lives in Canada compare with other countries?
• What do students think are some of the factors impacting the standard of living?
• What are the big ideas that are surfacing in their minds?

Post these generalizations/ big ideas as they lead into the next outcomes study regarding the impact of the environment on the places where people choose to live.

Inquiry: Analyze the impact of the natural environments on the ways of life

How does the environment affect the decisions society makes about where to live and work and how we live?

Connect back to the essential questions and guiding questions posed earlier. Surface and note student thinking before the inquiry and then reflect on their thinking later to see the changes.

• How does the impact of the natural environment affect the development of society?
  • What is the impact of your environment and relationship with the land on your personal beliefs?
  • Can your environment affect your beliefs and values?
  • Does your environment and where you live/sense of place/relationship affect how your cultural and social behaviours develop?
  • Did we form families first or did the environment affect the families we formed? i.e. family size, make-up, etc.

Have students go back to the country they were studying (including Canada).

Examine the country again to identify specific examples of the following concepts. Include historical and current examples where possible. Develop summary statements for each area of study.

• Settlement patterns
  • major cities, landforms, and bodies of water
  • population distributions, densities, and growth rates – historical and present
    • Summary statement about settlement patterns in this country.
• Economic development
  • approaches to natural resource and land use including indigenous and non-indigenous perspectives – historical and present
  • primary economic activity(s) – historical and present
    • Summary statement about economic development in this country
• Lifestyle choices
  • modes of travel
  • modes of dress
  • health of population
  • home and building construction, architecture – historical and present
    • Summary statement about lifestyle in this country.
• Artistic and Cultural diversity and expression
  • visual and performing arts
    • music
    • dance
    • painting
    • sculpture
  • literature, stories i.e. fables, myths, etc. from culture
  • sporting activities
  • recreation and leisure activities
  • cultural traditions, celebrations
    • Summary statement about cultural diversity and expression in this country.

Present the examples and identify what these examples tell you about:

• The relationship the people studied have with the land/environment.
• The standard of living in that country.
• How culture and place influence the beliefs and values of the local community.
• The beliefs and values of the inhabitants in those regions regarding economic and political organization or government structure.

In groups and then as a class think about and talk about:

• Why do people choose to live where they live? What rule or guiding principle could you develop to describe settlement choices?
• What are the effects of climate and vegetation on the development of people in the selected country? Describe the relationship between the climate and vegetation zones and lifestyles and standards of living.

• What was reaffirmed in their thinking? What were the surprises in what students learned?
• What are the big ideas that students have? What are they inferring?
• Go back to the social rules they identified for each country. Do those rules need adjusting based on their new information?

• What would be the lifestyle of a student in the country studied?
• What is the connection between the environment, the use of the environment and the standard of living?
• What are students noticing about the cultural expressions in the countries studied?
• What are students noticing about the connection of the society to the environment and lifestyle?

Have students develop a trade show presentation about their country. The audience is students their age. The presentation should convince people to visit the country either as a tourist or for humanitarian reasons and should address the bullets above.

Inquiry: Social and Cultural Diversity

What makes your life different from others your same age?

Assess the current and historical approaches to cultural diversity used in Canada and in a selection of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean, including consideration of segregation, assimilation, accommodation, and pluralism. (These concepts were studied in other areas of citizenship.)

Essential Questions Connection

• What role does empathy play in citizenship?
• How do we contribute to marginalization?
• What is the appropriate Citizenship response to the marginalization we witness daily?

Vocabulary (see glossary)

• Assimilation
• Accommodation
• Colonialism
• Common good
• Cultural diversity
• Marginalization
• Pluralism
• Privileged – Under privileged
• Segregation
• Standard of Living
• Reconciliation

Begin this study of current and historical approaches to cultural diversity with a study of the different cultural groups of Canada and where they live.  Once students have an understanding from a Canadian perspective, they will extend their thinking by exploring the treatment of different cultural groups in countries bordering the Atlantic.  Finally students will explore Canada’s history of dealing with diverse cultures and explore how different cultural groups were and are treated within Canada.   Students will consider Canada’s history and reputation with diverse cultures through the context of our multi-culturalism policy studied in the Engaged Citizens section.

Begin with classroom, then move to the province, country.

Have students identify:

• Nationalities and ethnic family history of students. Develop a classroom profile.
• Research provincial and national profiles, graph and compare for similarities and differences.
• Note where the various cultures congregate and predominantly live.
  • Is the class representative of the province? Country? Why/why not?
  • Develop summary statements about the classroom, provincial, and national ethnic profiles.
  • Based on study 1 and 2, identify possible reasons why the various profiles exist.

• What is/has been the impact of cultural diversity to the development of Canada?
  • Brainstorm with students beginning with the classroom, community, etc.
  • Note community, national celebrations of multi-culturalism
• How has cultural diversity affected the development of Canada?
  • Research the current and historical contributions of predominant immigrants in:
    • Politics, business, health, education
• Have students develop a summary statement about the social and cultural diversity that exists in Canada.

Chart student answers for comparison against studies of other countries.

Using the jigsaw research and presentation process have student groups answer the following questions:

• How does Canada’s handling of cultural diversity compare with other countries bordering the Atlantic? In your targeted country identify:
  • The cultural diversity profile
  • Compare that profile to Canada
  • How other cultures are treated
  • Specific government policies that address culture
  • Where indigenous and non-indigenous people live
• Does the government support diversity? What government policies support or detract from immigration?
• Develop a summary statement that indicates how the targeted country feels about cultural diversity.

• Begin to group countries as supportive or not supportive of cultural diversity and plot on the map so that students can consider global patterns.
• Identify possible reasons why these differences exist.
• What connections are students making?
• What are the big ideas that are surfacing?
• What inferences are students making?
• What questions do students have?

Canada is a multi-cultural country that believes in pluralism and has created laws that support different cultures living together. There is significant Canadian history however, of Canada’s treatment of other ethnic groups that demonstrate a different belief. In the Engaged Citizen study, students learned about privilege – specifically white privilege and the impact on diversity. Students are being asked in this study to extend their thinking and examine Canada’s history in treating various cultural groups beginning with Indigenous peoples; First Nations, Métis, and Inuit and moving to the treatment of the Japanese, Jews, and Chinese. This history is explored through the lens of assimilation, segregation, marginalization, accommodation, and pluralism.

Using the Frayer model of vocabulary study (see appendix) examine the concepts of assimilation, segregation, marginalization, accommodation and pluralism.

Present the following question to students and unpack the information taken from Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration website to clarify misconceptions and address any student questions.

Does Canada live up to its multi-cultural policy adopted in 1971?

“In 1971, Canada was the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. By so doing, Canada affirmed the value and dignity of all Canadian citizens regardless of their racial or ethnic origins, their language, or their religious affiliation. The 1971 Multiculturalism Policy of Canada also confirmed the rights of Aboriginal peoples and the status of Canada’s two official languages.

Canadian multiculturalism is fundamental to our belief that all citizens are equal. Multiculturalism ensures that all citizens can keep their identities, can take pride in their ancestry and have a sense of belonging. Acceptance gives Canadians a feeling of security and self-confidence, making them more open to, and accepting of, diverse cultures. The Canadian experience has shown that multiculturalism encourages racial and ethnic harmony and cross-cultural understanding.

Mutual respect helps develop common attitudes. New Canadians, no less than other Canadians, respect the political and legal process, and want to address issues by legal and constitutional means. Through multiculturalism, Canada recognizes the potential of all Canadians, encouraging them to integrate into their society and take an active part in its social, cultural, economic and political affairs.

Our citizenship gives us equal rights and equal responsibilities. By taking an active part in our civic affairs, we affirm these rights and strengthen Canada’s democracy, ensuring that a multicultural, integrated and inclusive citizenship will be every Canadian’s inheritance.”

This text was retrieved from – https://web.archive.org/web/20130622051907/http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/citizenship.asp
using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

The reproduction of this text has not been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of, the Government of Canada.

• What is “common good”? What is common good with respect to multi-culturalism?
• Is it constant? / What might cause “common good” to change?
• Does the depiction/parameters of common good change depending on the culture, community?
• When does government get in the way of common good?
• How do you control the impact of your actions/decisions?/ How far reaching are the effects of your actions/decisions?
• What responsibility do you have to balance personal needs with the community’s needs?
• What role does empathy play in citizenship? What role did empathy play in the apology below?
• Go back to the countries researched and develop a summary statement about the common good in the studied country.

Questions on Common Good

• What is government’s responsibility to ensure and maintain common good?
• What is common good? Is it constant?
• Does the idea of common good change depending on the culture, community?

Group Study and Discussion of Apology to First Nations People

Students will study an historical example of the policy of assimilation as it applies to the Canadian context, specifically – Residential schools and the education of First Nations people.

Read with students and/or have students read the “Statement of Apology – to former students of Indian Residential Schools” issued by Stephen Harper in the House of Commons – June 11, 2008 found at:

http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/DAM/DAM-INTER-HQ/STAGING/texte-text/rqpi_apo_pdf_1322167347706_eng.pdf

Determine what students know about Canada’s history on discrimination with First Nations and Métis people.

• Why was the apology issued?
• What was the wrong that occurred; who was wronged and by whom?
• Was the apology the proper thing to do? What else could the government have done?
• What aspects of assimilation, segregation, accommodation, and pluralism are visible in the residential school experience?
• Indigenous people had a specific relationship with the land that impacted the way they were able to live. With the creation of reserves, Indigenous people were confined to specific areas of land. What aspects of assimilation, segregation, accommodation, and pluralism are visible in the decision to create reserves?
• Give a summary statement about how Indigenous people in Canada were and continue to be treated. Provide examples to support your thinking.
• What has been the impact of urbanization, the move to cities on Indigenous people? Provide examples to support your thinking.
• Re-visit the questions on common good.(page 8) Have students’ answers changed?
• Identify reasons why.
• What was the concept of “common-good” at the time of the assimilation policy?
• How has the concept of “common-good” changed since that time?
• What actions, examples provide evidence of change?
• Divide students into groups and have each group research Canadian current and historical examples of one of the following terms:
  • assimilation
  • segregation
  • accommodation
  • pluralism

See appendix for graphic organizer

• Post the stories using the specific vocabulary as headings so students can make comparisons against research in other countries.
• Extend the research to include treatment of other ethnic groups including the Japanese, Jewish, Chinese, Indian immigrants, etc.

Exploring countries bordering the Atlantic

• Have students research current and historical examples in countries bordering the Atlantic for each of the following terms:
  • assimilation
  • segregation
  • accommodation
  • pluralism
• Complete the chart above and present findings to the class.
• Develop a summary statement about the national beliefs and values of that particular country towards diversity.

Choose one idea below to demonstrate your evidence of learning or have students propose their own.

• Identify how beliefs and values in the countries studied compare with those of youth in Canada. Develop a summary statement about the beliefs and values of Canadian youth as compared to other countries bordering the Atlantic.  Represent the belief and value statement in a collage including picture and sound.
• What is the importance of place and the environment to the development of languages and cultures? How do different cultures carry their sense of “place” to Canada after immigration? How are they supported by Canada’s multi-cultural policy?
• Make a proposal to your Member of Parliament identifying the benefits of immigration for Canada and tell how you will personally support immigrants in the community.
• Canada’s history of treatment of Indigenous People is long and shameful. Identify how decisions made by governments to apply principles of assimilation and segregation were thought to be part of the “common good”.   Identify a current issue of First Nations people in the community and identify a strategy you could take to address some of the issues as you understand them.  Think about the role that empathy could play in solving this issue.
• What role does Empathy play in citizenship? Identify two issues in your study of Canada’s history relating to assimilation, segregation, or accommodation and tell how empathy might have made a difference in the treatment of cultural groups.

Think about… Talk about…Write about

“The Creator put the First Nations on the land and told them to care for Mother Earth. All creation is inter-dependent and equally important.”

Components of First Nations Traditional Worldviews pg. 29 Treaty Essential Learnings

“Land isn’t a heritage from our parents; it’s a loan we owe our children. – Indian proverb

• What do these quotes mean?
• What relationship do students have with the environment?
• What do students believe is their responsibility to the environment?
• How do they demonstrate/act out their beliefs regarding the environment?
• What would the actions of your culture/community say about what your culture/community believes about the environment?

Quebec Charter of Values – You are doing a news story about the Quebec Charter of Values. Explain the Charter, rate the proposed Charter in terms of Canada’s multi-cultural policy and either defend or refute the charter.

• Canada’s treatment of First Nations people has been/is…
• Canada’s apology to First Nations people is…
• My relationship with the environment is…

Part C: Self, Community, and Place Resources

• Sense of Place:
  • https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2016/05/26/sense-of-place/
  • https://library.usask.ca/archives/exhibitions-digital/exhibitions/saskatchewan-a-sense-of-place.php
• Pachamama Alliance: https://www.pachamama.org/resources
• World Happiness Report: http://unsdsn.org/files/2013/09/WorldHappinessReport2013_online.pdf
• The Segregation of Native People in Canada: Voluntary or Compulsory by: Michele DuCharme – https://web.archive.org/web/20170516053243/http://archives.commissiondesetudiants.ca/magic/mt3.html
• History Canada –End of Segregation in Canada http://www.blackhistorycanada.ca/events.php?themeid=21&id=9
• Canada’s immigration history one of discrimination and exclusion –http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2013/02/15/canadas_immigration_history_one_of_discrimination_and_exclusion.html
• Report on Systemic Racism and Discrimination – http://ccrweb.ca/files/arreport.pdf
• Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy o the Residential Schools: wherearethechildren.ca
• Pier 21 website: https://www.pier21.ca/home/
• Truth and Reconciliation website: http://www.trc.ca
• Truth and Reconciliation Archived Site – http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=3
• They Came for the Children – online pdf book – http://www.myrobust.com/websites/trcinstitution/File/2039_T&R_eng_web[1].pdf
  • Teachers guide: http://www.myrobust.com/websites/trcinstitution/File/2039_T&R_eng_web[1].pdf
• Residential Segregation: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-segregation/
• Statement of Apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools – http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/DAM/DAM-INTER-HQ/STAGING/texte-text/rqpi_apo_pdf_1322167347706_eng.pdf
• Canadian Immigrant website- http://canadianimmigrant.ca/category/guides
• Cultural Diversity in Canada Census stats – http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-010-x/99-010-x2011001-eng.cfm
• Fighting Antisemitism Together (FAST): https://www.fightingantisemitism.ca/
• Multi-cultural Canada – https://web.archive.org/web/20150219160250/http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/Encyclopedia/A-Z/c2
• Pearson Saskatchewan Social Studies 6 – 2012

Themes

• Personal and Philosophical: Students will reflect upon:
  • self-image and self-esteem; and,
  • self and life, and on their beliefs and values and those of their society.
• Social, Cultural, and Historical: Students will
  • look outward and examine their relationships with others, their community, and that of the world; and,
  • consider the historical context.
• Environmental and Technological: Students will:
  • explore the elements of the natural and constructed world and the role of technology and related developments in their society.

Treaty Education

• TR6: Analyze the concepts, structures and processes which have been developed for the purpose of treaty implementation.
• SI6Analyze the importance of the preservation and promotion of First Nations and Métis languages.
• HC6: Analyze how the movement towards the fulfillment of treaty obligations has positively affected all people in Saskatchewan.

Health

Understanding, Skills, and Confidences (USC)

• USC6.1 Analyze the factors that influence the development of personal standards and identity, and determine the impact on healthy decision making (including cultural norms, societal norms, family values, peer pressures, mass media, traditional knowledge, white privilege, legacy of colonization, and heterosexual privilege).
• USC6.2 Appraise the importance of establishing/maintaining healthy relationships with people from diverse backgrounds who may or may not express differing values, beliefs, standards, and/or perspectives (i.e., people of various ages, cultures, socio-economic status, faiths, family structures, sexual orientations, and cognitive/physical abilities)
• USC6.5 Analyze the influences (e.g., cultural, social) on perceptions of and personal standards related to body image, and the resulting impact on the identities and the well-being of self, family, and community.
• USC6.6 Develop and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and personal standards necessary for establishing and supporting safe practices and environments related to various community activities.

Science

Life Science: Diversity of Living Things (DL)

• DL6.1 Recognize, describe, and appreciate the diversity of living things in local and other ecosystems, and explore related careers. [CP, SI]
• DL6.2 Examine how humans organize understanding of the diversity of living things. [CP, SI]
• DL6.4 Examine and describe structures and behaviours that help:
  • individual living organisms survive in their environments in the short term
  • species of living organisms adapt to their environments in the long term. [CP, DM, SI]
• DL6.5 Assess effects of micro-organisms on past and present society, and contributions of science and technology to human understanding of micro-organisms. [CP, DM, SI]

The following definitions are found at: Vocabulary.com
“Text from Vocabulary.com, Copyright ©1998-2016 Thinkmap, Inc. All rights reserved.”

Accommodation

Accommodation is all about making room — it can mean a room or place where you will stay or an agreement about sharing something.

If the only accommodation at Grandma’s is the bunk bed and you and your sis decide to take turns on the top, you’ve made an accommodation regarding your accommodations. When you are accommodating someone, you are making room for them or special circumstances for them. For example, the student with the broken hand was granted the accommodation of having a scribe write his answers for the test. Always remember that accommodation is an accommodating word — there’s room inside for two m’s (mattresses) and two c’s (cots).

Assimilation

Assimilation comes from the Latin assimilation meaning “likeness” or “similarity.” People of different backgrounds and beliefs undergo assimilation when, through living together, they come to see themselves as part of a larger community, or when a small group is absorbed into, and made part of, a bigger group, such as the Irish immigrants in America in the 19^th century. Assimilation can also refer to the absorption of new ideas into existing knowledge.

Whether you’re talking about ideas or nutrients, assimilation describes the act of taking something in and absorbing it fully.

Marginalize

When you push people to the edge of society by not allowing them a place within it, you marginalize them. For example, some companies marginalize disabled people by refusing to hire them.

A society that labels certain people as outside the norm — weird, scary, hateful, or useless — marginalizes those people, edging them out. Native or Indigenous groups often end up in this position, and so do people who are poor, disabled, elderly, or who in other ways are seen as not quite fitting in. The Latin root is margo, “edge, brink, or border.” Since the late 1920’s marginalize has referred not to a literal edge, but to a powerless position just outside society.

Pluralism

If you believe in pluralism, you believe that people of all races, classes, religions, and backgrounds should be able to get along on equal footing in society.

Can you hear the word plural, meaning “more than one,” in pluralism? Someone who believes in pluralism believes that there are many different ways to live, and thinks that government and society should be structured in such a way as to encourage and appreciate people’s differences. The extreme opposite of pluralism is totalitarianism, when one supreme dictator makes all the decisions and no one can contradict him. In the Catholic Church, pluralism is also the practice of holding more than one office at once.

Privilege

A privilege is a special advantage not enjoyed by everyone. If you’re very snooty, you probably don’t allow just anyone the privilege of being your friend.

Privilege comes from Latin privilegium, meaning a law for just one person, and means a benefit enjoyed by an individual or group beyond what’s available to others. Someone wealthy come from privilege. Someone with a library card has borrowing privileges. Privilege can also be used as a verb. If you are on a committee giving away scholarships, you’ll have to decide whether to privilege students from poor backgrounds or the students with high test scores.

Privileged

When you’re privileged, you enjoy some special right or advantage that most people don’t have. You could be privileged to live in a lighthouse and have a spectacular view of the bay.

People can be privileged in many different ways, but it always means that they’re getting some unusual deal that others probably envy. You can be privileged because you have plenty of money and get to travel the world, or you can be privileged to know interesting people who inspire you. Another meaning of privileged is private or exclusive, as in privileged information that’s only available to a few people.

Segregation

Segregation is a system that keeps different groups separate from each other, either through physical dividers or using social pressures and laws.

The Latin root literally means “separated from the flock,” and splitting a big flock of sheep into smaller groups is segregation. For many decades in the United States, “separate but equal” was the phrase used to describe the unjust racial segregation of black people and white people. There are harmless types of segregation as well, like “the segregation of dog food and human food in your cupboards.”

Standard of Living

They enjoyed the highest standard of living in the country.

The lower the standard of living the easier it is to introduce an autocratic production system.

Underprivileged

Someone underprivileged doesn’t have the advantages other people have. Underprivileged people usually live in poverty.

A privilege is a right or an advantage, and people who are underprivileged lack such rights and advantages. Many times, this word is used as a synonym for poor. People often worry about underprivileged children who are living in poverty and may not have access to healthy food or good medical care. Underprivileged children often go to the worst schools too, which is another disadvantage.