Each day includes one or two debrief seminars to connect critical questions and curriculum materials to the issues, terrain and commemorative sites visited. Each participant will act as discussion leader/facilitator for one of these seminars, and must be prepared to adapt their understanding of the problem to what they see on the ground, as well as consider the latest scholarly research.
In addition to tackling the specific question posed, participants also consider these themes/questions:
Daily de-brief seminars are intended to help participants process knowledge and experience from each day’s ‘campaigning’ and to think about ways to apply new knowledge and methods in the classroom. One goal is to avoid transmissive content or factoids and focus on possible approaches to topics.
In addition to tackling the specific question posed, participants also consider these themes/questions:
- Are the issues and events covered that day historically significant? “What is worth remembering” about the day?
- Does the day’s experience reveal new classroom possibilities?
- Which historical thinking concepts connect to the day?
- Does this issue form part of Canada’s ‘collective memory’ of the 20th century?
- How do we separate history from nationa building/national identity?
- How can we expose students to the messiness of the past?
Daily de-brief seminars are intended to help participants process knowledge and experience from each day’s ‘campaigning’ and to think about ways to apply new knowledge and methods in the classroom. One goal is to avoid transmissive content or factoids and focus on possible approaches to topics.
Days 1 & 2: How are the causes of the Great War and Canada’s entry into it relevant to students in 2016?
Day 3: How much “military history” of the Great War should we teach in relation to social, cultural, political, economic and geographic dimensions of the 1914-18 generation? What are the intentions behind the Great War monuments and memorials you have seen so far? Day 4: Should Vimy stand out from other important Canadian events? What does the Vimy Memorial accomplish? Day 5: Should moral or ethical considerations matter when introducing a new weapon in war? Is there a place in our classrooms for the forgotten battles of the Great War? Day 6: How does the present shape our memory of the past? Day 7: How should we judge the Dieppe Raid? |
Days 8 & 9: Should D-Day stand out from other important Canadian events?
Day 10: How can visits to historically significant places add value? Can war cemeteries reveal clues about nations? Day 11: Should history combine with geography or any other subject in a classroom? Should there be rules in warfare? Day 12: Who bears responsibility for civilians in the battle area? What constitutes a battlefield success or failure? Day 13: What elements of Canada’s experience in the Second World War are most significant for our nation’s history? How should we balance national and international history in Canadian classrooms? |