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Education History

Creating Citizens

History and Identity in Alberta's Schools, 1905 to1980

by (author) Amy von Heyking

Publisher
University of Calgary Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2006
Category
History, General, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781552381441
    Publish Date
    Oct 2006
    List Price
    $34.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781552383209
    Publish Date
    Oct 2006
    List Price
    $34.95

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Description

 

How does one learn to be a good citizen? A good Canadian?

Creating Citizens looks at the role schools have played in creating and sustaining a sense of Canadian identity for generations of Alberta students. History and social studies classes, more than others, are designed to prepare young students for meaningful citizenship and address issues of identity by interpreting the country's and the region's past. By examining history and social studies curricula and textbooks used in Alberta schools from 1905 to 1980, von Heyking shows how these materials helped shape the ways in which Albertans have identified themselves and their place in the world around them.

The complex process of curriculum development is also explored; by clarifying how the framework of decision-making regarding school content was created, von Heyking provides valuable insights into current debates about the purpose and content of public education. By tracing the evolution of this curriculum over the course of seventy-five years, Creating Citizens gives the reader a unique opportunity to analyze the images of the nation and the region as they were taught to generations of Alberta schoolchildren.

 

About the author

Amy von Heyking is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta. She is a member of the executive board of the History Education Network (THEN/HiER). Her areas of research include history teaching and learning, and the history of school curricula in Canada. She is the author of the teaching resource Teaching with Dear Canada (Scholastic Canada, 3 vols.), head author of the Teaching Social Studies Through Literature series (Scholastic Canada), and author of Creating Citizens: History and Identity in Alberta’s Schools (University of Calgary Press, 2006).

Amy von Heyking's profile page

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