Initiating Albertan Students into Canadian Society 1

Initiating Albertan Students into Canadian Society

Mitchell Duram

University of Lethbridge

January 24th, 2018

Initiating Albertan Students into Canadian Society

In The Anthology of Social Studies: Issues and Strategies for Elementary Teachers,

Roland Case and Penney Clark assert that there are four traditional rationales for citizenship

education: social initiation, social reform, personal development, and intellectual development

(2013, p. 20). Social initiation emphasizes the transmission of the knowledge, abilities, and

values that students will require to fit into and be productive members of society. Social reform,

on the other hand, emphasizes the empowerment of students. They are to acquire the knowledge,

abilities, and values that will enable them to improve society. Personal development focuses on

the student as an individual and the development of their talents and character (i.e. personal and

social fulfillment), while intellectual development focuses on developing students’ abilities to

engage in the social sciences. In order to prevent students from becoming disengaged, it is

important to have a purpose when teaching Social Studies. It is therefore critical to evaluate a

curriculum and identify the intended ‘bigger picture’. It seems that the most evident purpose of

citizenship education in the Alberta Social Studies Program of Study is social initiation.

The Social Studies Program of Study aims to instil the values and attitudes, knowledge

and understanding, and skills and processes that are valued in Canadian citizens and Canadian

society in students. This document implies that the ideal citizen is engaged, active, informed,

responsible, concerned about collective well-being, and committed to building a society that is

pluralistic, bilingual, multicultural, inclusive and democratic. This is rather prescriptive; there is

little room to debate the definition of ideal citizenship as it is outlined in the Program of Study.

As a result, the takeaway is that it is essential for students to adopt these traits to ensure that they

are able to fit into and contribute to Canadian society. This is evident in the front matter: “Social

studies helps students to develop their sense of self and community, encouraging them to affirm
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their place as citizens in an inclusive, democratic society [emphasis added]”, “The program

emphasizes the importance of diversity and respect for differences as well as the need for social

cohesion and the effective functioning of society”, and “Social studies develops the key values

and attitudes, knowledge and understanding, and skills and processes necessary for students to

become active and responsible citizens… [emphasis added]” (Alberta Education, 2005, p. 1). It

is important to note that the characteristics valued in the ideal Canadian citizen are not narrow-

minded. The key message, however, is that students have a place in society into which they are

to fit.

The Social Studies Program of Study encourages participation in society in ways that

promote and maintain Canada’s current institutions and processes. To ensure that students are

able to effectively contribute to society, the curriculum gives them the opportunity to learn about

these processes and institutions (social, political, economic, and legal) as they were in the past

and as they are today. Participating in Canada’s democracy through informed decision making,

for example, is seen as a fundamental part of Canadian citizenship. The Program of Study states

that students must “develop interpersonal skills that focus on cooperation, conflict resolution,

consensus building, collaborative decision making, the importance of responsibility and the

acceptance of differences” (Alberta Education, 2005, p. 9); developing these skills will enable

their participation. This also reinforces their commitment to Canada’s democratic institutions and

processes. Additionally, these are vital skills that students require to be successful in a society

that values pluralism, bilingualism, multiculturalism, and inclusivity.

The other three rationales for citizenship education (i.e. social reform, personal

development, and intellectual development) are present in the Social Studies Program of Study,

but each happen within the context of social initiation. In other words, there are parameters
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within which they occur. Personal development appears often in the front matter. This is because

developing oneself as a person is seen as a critical part of developing oneself as a citizen.

Students “need to feel that their identities are viewed as legitimate…” in order for them to be

able to contribute to Canadian society (Alberta Education, 2005, p. 4). Furthermore, students will

“feel a sense of belonging and empowerment as citizens” once their identities are validated

(Alberta Education, 2005, p. 4). This promotes the qualities of an ideal citizen that were

discussed earlier in students, particularly a concern for the collective well-being and respect for

diversity. Usage of the term “empowerment” may be interpreted as social reform, but it becomes

clear that this, too, is related to being a good citizen. This is stated in the Program of Study: “…

students [will] understand that with empowerment comes personal and collective responsibility

for the public good” (Alberta Education, 2005, p. 4). Students will understand that they can

cause change, but that that change must take into account the perspectives of Canada’s diverse

peoples and should be in accordance with the dominant worldview in the nation. Lastly, students

work to develop a range of skills (e.g. historical thinking skills) in Social Studies from

Kindergarten to Grade 12. At first glance, one may think that the purpose of developing these

skills would fall under intellectual development. Instead, possessing these skills is critical to

being a good citizen. The Program of Study states, “Historical thinking develops citizens willing

to engage in a pluralistic democracy and to promote and support democratic institutions”

(Alberta Education, 2005, p. 9).

After a careful and in-depth analysis of the Social Studies Program of Study, it is evident

that social initiation is the dominant purpose of citizenship education in Alberta. Its objective is

to instil in students the characteristics of an ideal citizen as well as to transmit to them the values

and attitudes, knowledge and understanding, and skills and processes needed to ensure that they
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fit into and succeed in Canadian society. That being said, there is some flexibility in

interpretation of the curriculum for teachers. They may choose to focus on one of the other three

rationales (based on well-reasoned professional judgements) given that social reform, personal

development, and intellectual development are also present in the curriculum.

References

Alberta Education. (2005). Social Studies Program of Study, K to Grade 3.

Case R. & Clark, P. (2013). The anthology of social studies: Issues and strategies for elementary
teachers, updated edition. Vancouver: Pacific Educational Press.