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In all of my classes, the first question is always:
So, what are we doing here?
As we talk about in history class, too, life-long learning in school and elsewhere helps you to explore this exciting question, and to put into action ideas for your life - and the world - that you come up with.
Civics, like all other areas of interest, helps us to think about where you fit in, how you connect to the world; what is your context? What is the context of everything? And what are you going to do with what you have learned?
In Civics class, one significant answer to the question, what are we doing here? is the focus of the entire course Throughout the course, we will make the case that one of the significant answers to that question is:
Service.
Where does the motivation for service come from?
In History class, we start by looking at the "big picture," the context of, well, everything. This helps us put things in perspective. We'll do the same here.
Civics class has a lot to do with history: past and present, how have people striven to make a difference in their own lives, the lives of the people closest to them, in their community, and their world...and why?
Perhaps it starts with seeing yourself as part of something bigger, and certain realizations that come from that understanding.
For thousands of years people have pondered the question what are we doing here through their spiritual practices using reason and evidence. For example, many of Canada's First Nations traditions, like other cultures, see the past and present as more of a cyclical idea, rather than linear, relayed in stories, songs, dance, and other art.
In recent centuries, scientists have made great progress in coming up with ideas about how we fit in to time and space.
So what are we doing here? Well, when and where is here?
Scientists have determined that all this matter, this star dust that each of us is made up of to be around 13. 7 billion years ago, and that it all began with the "Big Bang".
Our sun is one of billions of stars that circles around what we think is a massive "Black Hole" of immense density at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, one of trillions of galaxies formed after the Big Bang.
Our sun, very dense itself, has circling around it all the planets of our solar system, and Earth is one of those planets. Earth is also quite dense - with a molten iron core surrounded by a VERY thin layer of crust, an extraordinary array of life living on that crust (including the human species) and a VERY thin atmosphere; the moon circles the planet just as the Earth circles around the sun and we, these particles of consciousness, made of star dust like everything else, do our thing in that very thin layer of atmosphere, tied to Earth and its dense iron core by those same forces of gravity.
(early in the 20th Century, Albert Einstein helped us to visualize the workings of gravity better with his Theory of Relativity: if you haven't done so before, think of the "time-space continuum" as the flat surface of a trampoline; now throw a dense bowling ball on the trampoline; it "bends" the otherwise flat surface of the trampoline; think of that bowling ball, for example, as our sun; now, throw a few tennis balls onto the trampoline; they circle around the bowling ball, rather like the Earth revolves around the sun...)
Scientists have determined the Earth to be about 4.5 billion years old.
Life emerges on Earth about a billion years later.
Humans? The evidence suggests we're at the end of a "branch" that arose about 250,000 years ago out of a much longer branch of hominids going back several million years more (we'll learn about all of this more in Grade 11 World History).
So here we are, at a point in the present, part of a very long human story - including the decade-and-a-half or so of your life - that is part of an even longer stretch - millions of years of earlier hominid species - which is part of the history of life going back some 3.5 billion years on a 4.5 billion-year-old planet in a 13.7 billion-year-old universe consisting of trillions of galaxies with trillions more stars like our sun. What even bigger "cycle," perhaps, is that universe a part of?
Indeed, all of the life-long learning we can do teaches us that we are something very, very, small in the midst of something very, very, very big in the scope of all of time and space....
While you might be tempted for a moment to think of your own life as something less than significant, think again....what all of this learning teaches you as well is that you are a part of it...and that makes your life - you, this particle of consciousness - very significant indeed...awesome really...what an opportunity to exist, to in some way have consciousness of it all, and to help others enjoy their consciousness of it all too.
Maybe that's what we're doing here. Maybe that's part of where we find our motivation for service.
We will explore this idea more in Careers class too.
We imagine, for example, that by virtue of some kind of luck and circumstance, you find yourself independently and forever wealthy. Would you still need, or want, to work?
Your wealth might satisfy your physical, material needs and wants, but would you truly have achieved contentment, or would life just turn into the pursuit of more and more of that "stuff," and ultimately the fear of the inevitable loss of it all?
In his book Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl wrote:
"...a human being is not one in pursuit of happiness but rather in search of a reason to become happy."
Can the work we do in the service of others provide such a reason?
We are, after all, both emotional, feeling creatures, but also reasoning creatures. With our powerful, reasoning brains, having such a reason seems to be part of who we are, what makes us so successful, and what provides us with contentment.
2,400 hundred years ago, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle thought about the work you do in the service of others and the world: He wrote:
"Where your interests and the needs of the world meet, there lies your vocation."
So what are we doing here? Whether it be your livelihood, work you do in the community, or your moment-by-moment existence, service is a compelling answer.
One way or another, we will explore this idea throughout Civics class; how and why people make a positive difference, in the world, in the service of others.
Think of the other ways in which you have heard the word "Civic" used. "Civic" Hospital, "Civic" Centre.
The word civic comes from the Latin word civis, meaning "citizen" or "citizenship."
There's a reason why Honda calls one of its cars the Honda Civic. Good marketing...The "Peoples' Car." Just like Volkswagen: Volk meaning "folk;" wagen: "Car."
When we think of citizenship, a few key ideas come to mind: rights, but also responsibilities.
In Civics, we'll be exploring these ideas. Yes, what rights come from being a citizen of Canada, but also, what responsibilities. It's a great word: what is your response ability, moment-by-moment, as a citizen of your community, your province, your country, and the world?
This course also looks at government, leadership, and politics. The word government comes from the Latin word gubernare, meaning to direct, manage, rule, and guide; and the earlier Greek word kybernan, which, in the nautical context, means to steer or pilot a ship.
We also explore law and order, taking a preliminary look at the rights and freedoms in our Constitution, and our legal system.
Now, if you are working outside of the classroom today, join the cohort that is in class in an imaginary exercise. Imagine you woke up this morning and you discover you are the ruler of the world. What one issue would you tackle first and make your priority (assuming that we weren't necessarily still in the middle of a global pandemic...)?
Now, join us on this Google Doc and await your instructions....
Back in the normal classroom, we will link this document when the game is complete: Issues Game
Be sure to make a copy of this document and save it in your Civics folder after we are finished the game. You will need to refer to it later.
For your Learning Log image today, you may choose any of the images from the start of the "Making A Difference" area of the website, up to the section where the Issues Task is.
During our last class, we ran a simulation of the United Nations.
Our first challenge was to select our Secretary General. Some students suggested that we take a vote. But then we identified a problem: How would we run the vote?
Would it be one country, one vote? Recall the problem identified with that idea.
Interestingly, one solution could be found in the balance of powers that you see in the system of federalism set up by the U.S. Constitution in the 1780s.
A House of Representatives (like Canada's House of Commons) has elected representatives from each of the American states based on population. That way, the states with more population rightly get more say. But their power is balanced out by the Senate, to which each state elects two senators each, no matter how big or small their population is (Canada's Senate is similar, except that it is regionally divided, and not elected).
In both countries, Bills that go before these legislative bodies have to be passed by both the House of Representatives (in Canada, the House of Commons), AND the Senate. In addition, they also have to be signed by the Head of State (in the U.S., that's the elected president, who is more likely to veto (say no) to a bill). In a Constitutional Monarchy like Canada, where the political convention is that the Monarch follows the advice of the elected government, the signing of the Bill is just a symbolic formality.
How did we apply these ideas to our United Nations simulation? (In the case of the U.N., the Security Council, made up of the five founding members of the U.N., gives veto power to each of the founding members).
Our solution was to have to rounds of votes: one vote, one country; and a vote where each country's vote was proportional to their size/power.
After that, the real fun began!
Once we worked through a situation which might have ended taking us into a war, we were finally able to return to the five issues that brought us together in the first place.
Using the issues that we arrived at (online, see the "Issues Game" Document), you are now in a position to complete the Issues Assignment, linked here, along with the rubric.
Useful instructions for saving articles from the Ottawa Citizen (see icon in the "NavBar" at the top of the VLE site): First, click on the search square (see magnifying glass) in the top right hand corner; then click on "advanced search"; set date for “anytime”; enter in your search term; press “search”; open full article using arrow at bottom; click on “more” icon at beginning or end of article; click “print,” then “print as text”; for destination, select “save as PDF”; then press “save”; note the folder where you saved the PDF so that you can upload it to your Google Drive and link it as part of the assignment to submit in the dropbox.
As we have already explored, a significant part of our work together in the weeks ahead will involve thinking critically about the issues facing our world and, in particular, the sources of information we use to arrive at conclusions.
In today's physical classroom, we will begin our look at current affairs, first setting up our "Current Affairs Journal." Students working outside of the classroom will be provided with this tomorrow.
Through technology, your generation has access to more information at its fingertips than any in the history of humanity. More than ever, being able to judge the accuracy, the trustworthiness, the credibility of that information is a fundamental critical thinking skill.
Words, images, video, audio, etc. can be manipulated and posted to the world online or shared elsewhere by anyone. When this is done anonymously, one's critical thinking skills should immediately question the information source.
Question the motivation of a particular source. That starts by being able to know who they are! Looks can be deceiving. Obviously, one can easily be deceived. How easy it is for people to be tricked into thinking something is or isn't "real." Indeed, people's sense of "reality" can be distorted by the "information silos" they occupy. Conspiracy theories and "fake news" are commonplace and designed to dupe the vulnerable. Above all, they prey on people's ignorance (lack of knowledge), and often, their fears and prejudices.
A fundamental skill of the social scientist, decision-makers, and citizens at large in a democracy, who charged, among other things, with voting governments in and out, is to carefully consider the source and accuracy of any piece of information.
In order to make progress towards advancing any issue (including voting for good leadership), citizens and leaders alike need to advance persuasive arguments based on evidence. If that evidence is not assessed for its accuracy and carefully considered in balance with all other available, credible evidence, then the arguments we make to advance our position lose credibility.
Considering online sources in particular, what makes a website a credible source of information? We will discuss this further when you are back in the classroom.
Choose one of these editorial drawings for your Learning Log image today.
One way that news commentators convey their opinion (as opposed to news), is through the editorial cartoon (also known as a political cartoon)). This medium (a way in which information is conveyed - plural: media) has been around for several centuries. Soon after the internet and social media arose (more prominently in the early 2000s) the meme started to play a similar function (particularly in social media).
Unlike news stories, which are meant to be unbiased, editorial cartoons, just like editorial opinion pieces, are designed to convey the opinion that the artist has about the subject matter.
Editorial cartoons typically employ several common elements, including satire and irony, metaphor and symbolism, caricature and humour. The artist's use of captions and labels, as well as how they portray a character's actions, body language, and words provide further clues about what point the artist is trying to convey to the audience.
These elements are described in more detail in this Editorial Cartoon Analysis Guide, linked here.
In class, this clip will be helpful for us to understand one of the editorial cartoons we look at: Eisenhower Farewell Address.
If you are working outside of class today, choose one of the editorial cartoons featured here, and analyze it using the guide as a framework for your analysis. Come prepared to discuss your analysis in class tomorrow. We will look at more examples of political cartoons in class as well.
After that, complete your work on the Issues Assignment. Then you will be ready to design your own editorial cartoon based on your analysis of a news story you choose. The instructions for that task are linked here.
Now that we have thought more about critical thinking and being careful and wise about our choices of information among all the different media sources out there, you are in a better position to reflect on issues that we explore as part of our current affairs discussions about news articles you find, and news stories we watch together in the classroom.
Students in the physical classroom will set up their Civic Affairs Journals in class. Remember: Information and Ideas; Opinion; Reasons (with Evidence).
(You will not do entries in your Civic Affairs Journals on days you are not in the classroom).
Terry Fox is a great Canadian hero. Just an ordinary guy who chose to do extraordinary to make a positive difference in the lives of millions of people in the challenge to live with and find a cure for cancer.
He is just one of countless Canadians who have found ways, big and small to be of service to others across the country and around the world.
What an amazing model he set for us to emulate. His is just one of many examples, past and present, that we will look at in class of individuals past and present who have used their ability to respond to the moment of challenge they and others find themselves facing.
Thanks to the efforts of people like Mohandas Gandhi, Viola Desmond, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. -- all who used the principles of civil disobedience to peacefully fight against the injustices of their society --humanity is that much closer to achieving the goal of universal equality and social justice.
In class, we will explore the concept of civil disobedience together.
Working outside of the classroom today, choose one of these images for your Learning Log.
The efforts of individuals to make a positive difference in the lives of others, and in undertaking other projects that make the world a better place, are indeed inspiring.
When individuals come together into groups to achieve the same kinds of goals, their impact is that much greater.
As we have seen, the movements for change led by Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela were so successful because each of the these leaders were able to motivate great numbers of people to work together in common cause.
Groups that are outside of the government and which come together formally in charitable organizations are called Non Governmental Organizations, or NGOs.
Of course, NGOs are not the only "groups" in society that can do good works and bring about positive change. Existing organizations, like sports teams or religious groups, for example, can decide to tackle a cause together. Businesses can decide to devote some of their profits to do good, and focus their employees' efforts on a charitable, volunteer goal.
In class, we will explore many different examples of NGOs. What makes them necessary? Would they be needed if the work that they did was being taken care of in society by government? Even if government was meeting all of society's needs, would it still make sense to have NGOs?
Lastly, imagine what it takes for an NGO to get a project up and running? If you could undertake such a project, what would it be and what steps would you need to take to get that NGO, and project, up and running?
This link will take you to the instructions you need to complete this work. We will modify these instructions in class to suit the current year. For example, do we want our NGO to be a "watchdog" that holds political candidates and governments to account for their policy platforms in an election year and beyond?
Contributing Document: Policy Platform Watchdog NGO
AM NGO Working Copy
PM NGO Working Copy
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