This paper reports on a study exploring ways in which five experienced teachers interpreted and responded to a curricular initiative in Alberta calling for teachers to help students see social studies through multiple perspective lenses representing Aboriginal (and Francophone) communities. Over the course of the study, which focused primarily on…

The latest round in Canada's History Wars was set off by reports on May 2, 2013, that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage was going to "undertake a thorough and comprehensive review of significant aspects in Canadian history." As details of the Heritage Committee's review emerged, controversy erupted as politicians,…

Social capital, moral education, and citizenship education are three big ideas fundamental to the health of any democratic state. Yet exactly what these terms mean is a source of much contention and divergent thinking. Bringing some clarity to the three might help the cause of bolstering their prominence in educational discourse and reform.…

Until the grand narrative is recognized as a product and process of power and privilege it can never do the transformational work that it can, and should, do in education. In this paper, I argue that concept learning can be a practical strategy for exploring and deconstructing power that is structured through the grand narrative and manifested in…

Asserts that the two problems with history teaching in Canada are the failure of historians to engage with the schools and the inability of many history teachers to feel at home in their subject. Reviews five crises in the teaching of history over the last 100 years. (CMK)

Argues for the integration of aboriginal content into social studies by teaching First Nations history as Canadian history. Provides an overview of this integrated history, focusing on Atlantic Canada. Addresses such topics as extending the coverage 10,000 years prior, the parallel between human history and environmental change, and cultural…

Continues a discussion of the state of secondary social studies in Saudi Arabia. Discusses the preparation of textbooks and their use by Saudi teachers. Notes problems with the texts and teachers' use of nontext materials in their teaching. Offers conclusions and recommendations for improving social studies education in Saudi Arabia. (DSK)

Reviews the implementation and early successes and failures of multicultural education in Canada. Although multicultural education was officially adopted as an educational policy in 1971, it has been reworked and revamped as problems and challenges have arisen. Discusses those incidents that necessitated structural changes in the policy. (MJP)

Provides a summary of postmodernist thinking and attempts to find a place for social studies in a system that abjures all accepted notions of authority and objectivity. Concludes that postmodernism's view of a world ruled by a multiple discourses is not inimical to social studies' emphasis on critical analysis. (MJP)

Evaluates the effect of multicultural education on racism in Canada. Maintains that racism is still an integral part of Canadian life and, in some instances, appears to be on the rise. Argues for a vigorous and consistent educational policy emphasizing multicultural and antiracist training. (MJP)

Argues that social studies classrooms should provide a safe environment for both young women and men to practice managing social conflict. Maintains that feminist approaches to citizenship education can inform discussions examining the complex problems and power relationships that make up society. (MJP)

Advocates a vision of social studies that includes the contributions, perspectives, and experiences of women. Proposes focusing on personal narratives as a simple and effective method for accomplishing this. Outlines a model unit of study for a grade four social studies class. (MJP)

Lists resources available from ERIC that address the nature, content, purpose, and appropriate pedagogy for social studies and citizenship education. Briefly summarizes the main argument of each resource. Includes information on availability and ordering of documents. (MJP)

Criticizes the recent trend of six-figure-plus salaries for higher education administrators in Canada. Maintains that these salaries reflect neither market value nor individual performance but rather result from aggressive self-promotion and institutional chicanery. Argues that those individuals motivated primarily by money should work in the…

Describes the political machinations resulting in Manitoba's downgrading of Canadian history from a compulsory to an elective subject. Argues that this reflects a broader nationwide educational trend rejecting the humanities in favor of science and technology. Criticizes a view of society dominated by market forces and self-interest. (MJP)