Are we too embarrassed of ourselves to teach Canadian history?

Canceled teacher Jim McMurtry on globally centered education

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

By Jim McMurtry, Ph.D.

For teachers, education has become the global way or the highway. As James Pew wrote , Prime Minister Trudeau believes “Canada has no ‘core identity.’” Rather, we have a “new kind of country, not defined by our history or European national origins but by a “pan-cultural heritage.” We’re the world’s “first post-national state” (also see Toronto Sun, Sept. 15, 2016). Justin Trudeau doesn’t appear enamoured by Canada. Worse, he appears nakedly ashamed, a mindset that is insidiously infiltrating all companies and institutions. 

“The teaching of history has no future in it” is an old joke. In Canada, the teaching of history is also passé as the emphasis is no longer on Canada. There is a strong push for teachers to survey the world and see our country as but one of 200. Many people would support a global perspective and a regard for humanity writ large, yet it comes at a cost. I have taught class after class of high school Social Studies where no student knows the rudiments of Canadian history, such as the year of Confederation (1867 for those who care for dates – or other dried fruit) or our first prime minister (Sir John A. Macdonald, whose statues keep coming down). I contend that students should learn about Canada above all else; it is the entity that governs our life and to which we pay mighty sums of money. 

In Grade 1 in British Columbia the focus now is “Local Communities,” in Grade 2 on “Regional and Global Governments,” in Grade 3 on “Global Indigenous Peoples,” and in Grade 4 on “First Peoples and European Contact.” Macdonald does not appear in the Grade 5 guidelines under “Canadian Issues and Governance,” but “LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriage” make the cut.

Students in Grade 6 take the Social Studies course “Global Issues and Governance.” The next year they study “The Ancient World to the 7th Century.” In Grade 8 the subject area extends from the “7th Century to 1750.” In Grade 9, students survey world events from “1750–1919.” One question they are to explore is: “Was John A. Macdonald an admirable leader? Explain the reasons for your answer.” The question itself is loaded.

Social Studies students in Grades 10 look at “Canada and the World: 1914 to the Present,” and the following year they study a hodgepodge of issues, such as “colonialism and contemporary issues for indigenous people in Canada and around the world.” Grade 11 is a blend of topics under the rubric “Explorations,” including how “cultural expressions convey the richness, diversity, and resiliency of B.C. First Peoples.” Grade 12 courses include Asian Studies, B.C. First Peoples, Contemporary Indigenous Studies, and Genocide Studies.

The incidents in Canadian history that get the most attention are Indian residential schools, the head tax on Chinese labourers, the Komagata Maru from India not being allowed to dock in Canada (1914), the St. Louis ship with its Jewish passengers returned to war-torn Europe (1939), the internment of Japanese Canadians during WW II. Gone are the heroics of adventurers Simon Fraser, who was the first person recorded to have descended the dangerous rapids of the Fraser Canyon in search of trading route to the coast. Our history is painted as shameful with all hope lying in a global orientation, though no one can be sure that international overlords are better than local stewards. Education authorities elect U.N. issues and initiatives over nation building and regional issues. 

The United Nations has produced a chart that is found in most school syllabi, as seen here. 

These are just goals, pie-in-the-sky dreams. How Canada moves toward them ought to be decided by its citizenry. Every action has a reaction, for the dismantlement of our oil industry would anger western provinces, or the requirement to buy electric cars or cars manufactured in Ontario would frustrate many consumers. There is no mention of “democracy,” perhaps in recognition of the fact that half the world’s denizens live under authoritarian rule. There is a demand for gender equality but for other areas only reduced inequalities. The goal of more economic growth or bigger industry would conflict with climate action and life on land and water. And the goal of sustainable cities conflicts with large yearly immigration into them. 

The nation state will not wither away. It is a better form of organization than empires or one large all-purpose universal government for 8 billion people. It has governed humanity for centuries. What school children should be taught is devotion and adherence to both local communities and distant ones, with more attention to town and country but unending compassion gyrating out to people in every glassy apartment tower or suburban house, cabin, adobe building, grass hut, or fur-draped yurt on our blue planet.    

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Thanks for reading. For more from this author, read From A-Z to He-Zie: Welcome to woke education

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