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CTF Corner

December 5, 2017

CTF advocacy brings results

Ottawa – Last April, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) joined the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires francophones (FNCSF) (National Federation of Francophone School Boards) in notifying the CBC ombudsman of their deep concerns about the educational value of the CBC series The Story of Us. In a joint news release, the organizations recommended that educators refrain from using the series unless the CBC made changes to avoid exposing students to an incomplete and distorted history of our country.

The CBC contacted CTF immediately to meet and discuss ways to move forward. This meeting took place June 29 at the CTF office in Ottawa. At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to work together in the review of the teachers’ guide tied to the 10-part television series.

The 73-page teacher’s guide, now available on the CBC Curio platform, is a vehicle for inquiry-based learning, and offers valuable ideas for developing students’ critical thinking skills, for various media literacy activities and more. One of the guide’s objectives is “to address several key aspects of the series that were criticized — specifically to explore pre-colonial Indigenous history, early settlements and the history of Acadians in what would become Canada.”

Educators can use the series episodes in conjunction with the guide and the Facebook Live events: https://curio.ca/en/collection/canada-the-story-of-us-plus-roundtable-discussions-2514/.

 

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