Today's Itinerary and Activities
"To see this portion of Canada's history through your eyes..."
Today we met at a Paris airport hotel in the late afternoon, and got to know one another. We are a diverse group! Elementary, middle, secondary and post-secondary educators, high school students, retired members of the Canadian Forces, interested historians from other fields such as ancient Greek history, filmmakers. We are also a pan-Canadian group. Our views on Canada's experience of the First and Second World Wars may vary by region, by age, by gender or experience, or perhaps they won't in spite of these differences.
A major consideration for our teacher participants is cross-curricular emphasis. How do we understand the experience of war through mathematics and science, through politics and social phenomena, through writing, painting, and photography, through the land it is fought on? Geography is a primary focus as each day starts by looking at the terrain, and participants must use 1:200 scale maps and landmarks to orient themselves.
One of the questions we will address throughout the study tour is: Why study the history of Canada at war? Rather than taking for granted that this must be studied, and from the perspective of the major battles as has traditionally been taught, we ask participants to pose questions as we go, introduce some tensions in traditional narratives, and present new evidence and additional lenses through which to view these events and themes. We do a prior knowledge check: What connections to participants have to the wars? Are there family connections, community connections? What events do they think are significant and why? As Dr. Lee Windsor shared during our meet and greet, the tour leaders hope "to see this portion of Canada's history through your eyes."
A major consideration for our teacher participants is cross-curricular emphasis. How do we understand the experience of war through mathematics and science, through politics and social phenomena, through writing, painting, and photography, through the land it is fought on? Geography is a primary focus as each day starts by looking at the terrain, and participants must use 1:200 scale maps and landmarks to orient themselves.
One of the questions we will address throughout the study tour is: Why study the history of Canada at war? Rather than taking for granted that this must be studied, and from the perspective of the major battles as has traditionally been taught, we ask participants to pose questions as we go, introduce some tensions in traditional narratives, and present new evidence and additional lenses through which to view these events and themes. We do a prior knowledge check: What connections to participants have to the wars? Are there family connections, community connections? What events do they think are significant and why? As Dr. Lee Windsor shared during our meet and greet, the tour leaders hope "to see this portion of Canada's history through your eyes."
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