Position Paper: Why Study Canada?

DRAFT for Canada Community Position Paper: Why Study Canada?

World cultures…international studies…global issues—at all levels of education today these are important buzzwords as classrooms move to a more global approach to learning and, ironically, one of the best ways to understand what drives our own nation. As international studies and global concerns grow prominent, it sometimes bears reminding that “abroad” does not necessarily mean “overseas”. As heirs to a world that grows more interconnected everyday, all students in the United States should look beyond borders to learn foreign languages and more about other regions of the world, especially Canada, our neighbor to the north.

Although reasons for teaching about Canada are outlined below, the US Department of Education clearly intends Canada’s inclusion in international education by having established two National Resource Centers (NRCs) for Canada in the US with mandates to perform outreach at the K-12 level. Indeed, outreach coordinators from both NRCs for Canada are active members of NCSS and the Canada Community. They make every effort for others in the Canada Community to access resources, curriculum and information about Canada and encourage others who recognize the importance of teaching Canada to join the NCSS Canada Community.

Why Canada? Since there are many things that we share as neighbors—from over 3,000 miles of land boundaries, to the Great Lakes, to the world’s largest trade partnership—the Canada-US relationship is one of the most important international relationships for American social studies classrooms to consider. Rather than be overlooked in social studies curricula because Canada is not a political, social, or economic threat, our northern neighbor should be looked at carefully in terms of the five themes of geography. There are many comparative and parallel elements to the study of Canada that give students a better understanding of our own nation and the sometimes-subtle differences between our nations is, indeed, intriguing. (Expand on this…)

SUBMITTED BY: Tina Storer, Education and Curriculum Specialist Center for Canadian-American Studies Western Washington University Canada House, Rm. #202, 516 High Street Bellingham, WA 98225-9110 Phone: (360) 650-7370 Fax: (360) 650-3995 Email: tina.storer@wwu.edu Web: www.k12studycanada.org