Curriculum Initiatives
Actions by civil society groups can make a difference.
In the late 1990s all courses relating to civic engagement and political analysis were removed from the Newfoundland and Labrador senior high social studies curriculum. That included the Democracy course, and the very popular Global Issues and World Problems courses. Educating students to become good citizens, aware of their local and geopolitical environment, had apparently been deemed unnecessary.
There have been consequences. In the 2015 provincial election, in spite of being in the midst of a deep crisis, our province recorded the lowest voter turnout of any province since Confederation. In the 2011 federal election only 29% of young people voted. The turnout was higher in 2015, however, that was largely due to a huge and unsustainable effort made by different groups, both on and off campus.
In 2015 our group began multiple discussions with the Department of Education about how to address our province’s democratic deficit among young people. We argued for the reintroduction of a compulsory Democracy course as well as other social studies courses with a political component.
We are pleased with the outcomes. Not only has the Department committed to the introduction of important new social studies course and made them a requirement for graduation. An effort also has been made to introduce democratic concepts into the K-9 curriculum.
This is important work.
In the late 1990s all courses relating to civic engagement and political analysis were removed from the Newfoundland and Labrador senior high social studies curriculum. That included the Democracy course, and the very popular Global Issues and World Problems courses. Educating students to become good citizens, aware of their local and geopolitical environment, had apparently been deemed unnecessary.
There have been consequences. In the 2015 provincial election, in spite of being in the midst of a deep crisis, our province recorded the lowest voter turnout of any province since Confederation. In the 2011 federal election only 29% of young people voted. The turnout was higher in 2015, however, that was largely due to a huge and unsustainable effort made by different groups, both on and off campus.
In 2015 our group began multiple discussions with the Department of Education about how to address our province’s democratic deficit among young people. We argued for the reintroduction of a compulsory Democracy course as well as other social studies courses with a political component.
We are pleased with the outcomes. Not only has the Department committed to the introduction of important new social studies course and made them a requirement for graduation. An effort also has been made to introduce democratic concepts into the K-9 curriculum.
This is important work.
