Canadians' Views on History Education - 1 views

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  #1 Trevor Gesinghaus on 02 Oct 11

   

  The article "Canadians' Views on History Education" provides some interesting insights into our countries outlook on Canadian history. This article provides many statistics based on an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Dominion Institute. The poll surveyed 1,002 randomly selected Canadian adults between July 24-26 of 2001. The results from this survey are quite interesting. Some of the major findings of this poll are as follows: 81% of Canadians want the federal government to play a strong role in determining national standards for teaching history, 83% believe that high school students should be required to take a minimum of two Canadian history courses, and 73% of Canadians approve the use of mandatory testing in history and social studies. What I found to be most striking about the results from this poll is how Ontarian beliefs contradict the beliefs of the nation as a whole. Here are some of the statistics that were revealed about Ontarian opinions: "Ontarians (30%) are more likely than the rest of Canada (22%) to agree that Canadian history is boring", "Residents of Ontario (64%) are least likely to support mandatory testing in history and social studies, and finally "Ontarians (46%) are more likely than the rest of Canada (35%) to agree that studying history is not as important as studying math and science." With Ontarians sharing the belief that history is boring, not as important as other disciplines, and against standardized testing, then the question I pose is what kind of impact does that have on history and social studies teachers in Ontario? Are social studies teachers fighting a losing battle in Ontario? As future teachers, potentially in this discipline, how can we attempt to change the beliefs outlined as a result of this poll?
  http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=1298

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">The article "Canadians' Views on History Education" provides some interesting insights into our countries outlook on Canadian history. This article provides many statistics based on an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Dominion Institute. The poll surveyed 1,002 randomly selected Canadian adults between July 24-26 of 2001. The results from this survey are quite interesting. Some of the major findings of this poll are as follows: 81% of Canadians want the federal government to play a strong role in determining national standards for teaching history, 83% believe that high school students should be required to take a minimum of two Canadian history courses, and 73% of Canadians approve the use of mandatory testing in history and social studies. What I found to be most striking about the results from this poll is how Ontarian beliefs contradict the beliefs of the nation as a whole. Here are some of the statistics that were revealed about Ontarian opinions: "Ontarians (30%) are more likely than the rest of Canada (22%) to agree that Canadian history is boring", "Residents of Ontario (64%) are least likely to support mandatory testing in history and social studies, and finally "Ontarians (46%) are more likely than the rest of Canada (35%) to agree that studying history is not as important as studying math and science." With Ontarians sharing the belief that history is boring, not as important as other disciplines, and against standardized testing, then the question I pose is what kind of impact does that have on history and social studies teachers in Ontario? Are social studies teachers fighting a losing battle in Ontario? As future teachers, potentially in this discipline, how can we attempt to change the beliefs outlined as a result of this poll? <br /> <a href="http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=1298" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=1298</a></div>

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