How were places named and was it right?

Activity Description
As we work towards decolonizing our curriculum and society, there is debate over renaming cities and infrastructure that were named for leaders, politicians, explorers and other people of import in the past, but stand for values that our current society no longer sees as acceptable. Students will be directed to determine if this is an issue, support their position and provide constructive feedback on the positions of their classmates. Students will also be engaged in the creation of evaluation criteria and rubrics.

Scope
This section would be the second topic to be covered within the Social Justice 12 course. There will be an element of direct instruction to ensure that students have a good grasp of the social studies and social justice concepts within the course.

Prerequisite
Social Studies 10 or 11. Literacy to utilize OneNote within Office 365.

Target Audience
Grade 11/12 students

Learning Outcomes
~Make reasoned ethical judgments about controversial actions in the past or present after considering the context and standards of right and wrong
~Can people of the past be celebrated for great achievements if they have also done things considered unethical today

Activity Materials

YouTube: short videos that highlight specific examples of location naming practices around the world and how they keep changing.

CBC Curio: a portion of The National that highlights the differing opinions that surround the changing of names, especially when those in question are in honour of a figure from the past.

Canadian Geographic Article: “Renaming places: how Canada is reexamining the map” this article focuses on the proposed renaming of Dundas Street in Toronto, providing details about Dundas and compares the past and present feelings about the history. The history of British Columbia’s naming is also touched upon and its perceptions, as well as talks about its un/popularity.

Office 365 (OneNote and Immersive Reader): my district, and many others, utilize the Office 365 Suite for secure access to technology. Students log in with their school district accounts, which ensures compliance with district policies and security of student’s information. These programs can also be accessed asynchronously for students that may need more time. The Immersive Reader is a text-to-speech feature within Office 365 and is accessible to all students.

Whole Unit Assessments

Assessments

Weight (%)

 Learning Outcomes being covered
Problem Identification

30%

 Make reasoned ethical judgments about controversial actions in the past of present
Defense of position

30%

 Can people of the past be celebrated for great achievements if they have also done things considered unethical today
Criteria/Rubric Creation

10%
SWAY Presentation

20%

 Uses a variety of digital media (text, images, audio, and movie) to express him/herself

creatively
Peer Feedback

10%

 

Activity Blueprint

Section

  Time

Instructions

Resources

1.1

10-15 mins
    • “Do you know why you have the name you do?” will be written on the board for students to think about as they are welcomed and attendance is completed.
    • Students will be invited to share the ‘story’ of their names and their feelings about it.

1.2

30 min
    • Students will be asked if they have ever wanted to change their names and show by raising their hands.
    • Students will then be asked if they know of any places whose names have changed and invited to share.
    • Students will be asked if they know who named local and international places and why.
      • Examples: Vancouver for Capt Vancouver, Fraser River for Simon Fraser, Queen Charlotte islands (Haida Gwaii) for a ship and a queen
    • Show the Youtube video “Countries that Changed their Names” 19:02 and ask students to note which surprised them
 YouTube “Countries that Changed their Names” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxFUJuXHI6M

1.3

15 min
    • Begin the discussion by asking students what they think of the naming practices that they just heard about in the video
      • Students will be encouraged that there is no right or wrong answer

1.4

10 min
    • Students will be instructed to log into the OneNote folder for the class and open the document titled “How were places named and was it right?”
 OneNote

Laptop or desktop computers (lab)

Immersive Reader

1.5

30
    • Students will be instructed to put their thoughts in/on the document and save it.
    • Students will be reminded that they can add more thoughts before next class.
 OneNote

Laptop or desktop computers (lab)

Immersive Reader

2.1

   15 min
    • “Is it ever wrong to name a place that you discovered?” will be written on the board for students to think about as they are welcomed and attendance is completed.
    • Students will be invited to voice their opinion about the opening question.

2.2

 30 mins
    • Students will be instructed to log into the OneNote folder for the class and open the document titled “How were places named and was it right?”
    • Discussion about all points and categorizing them into for and against the point.
 OneNote

Laptop or desktop computers (lab)

Immersive Reader

2.3

   15 mins
    • Class will create a criteria for determining the rightness/wrongness of naming places

        Example: What were the cultural beliefs of the time? When were they ‘labeled’ as wrong? Is this a universal view?

 OneNote

Laptop or desktop computers (lab)

Immersive Reader

2.4

   15 mins
    • Students will be asked to apply the criteria they have created to the following video “John A. Macdonald’s Complicated Legacy” 9:43
    • Students will be encouraged to share their evaluation on the OneNote document “Can people of the past be celebrated for great achievements if they have also done things considered unethical today”
 Curio.ca: The National – “John A. Macdonald’s Complicated Legacy”

https://curio.ca/en/video/john-a-macdonalds-complicated-legacy-15294/

OneNote

Laptop or desktop computers (lab)

Immersive Reader

2.5

 Homework
    • Students will be provided with the article “Renaming places how Canada is reexamining the map” in OneNote and instructed to apply the class criteria and make annotations as they read.
    • Students should be prepared to defend their position the following session.
 Canadian Geographic: “Renaming places how Canada is reexamining the map” https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/renaming-places-how-canada-reexamining-map

UDL Guidelines

Representation
Even though all students will be working within OneNote, how they choose to show their learning is up to them, be it notes or images. The Immersive Reader feature of Office 365 is a text-to-speech application that translate any selected text into speech. All questions will be presented on a SmartBoard or OneNote with the ability to be magnified if need be for visual ease. All vocabulary will be clearly defined. Videos that are shown will be viewed with subtitles as a universal support. Videos will also be linked within OneNote should students need to view the video with subtitles other than English. Previous knowledge is activated with the daily question, reminding students of the previous days topic. Students are encouraged to generalize their criteria before focusing on specifics.

Action and Expression
Students will have the ability to express themselves in notes, images or even video within the OneNote application. Access to the Immersive Reader will always be allowed and available for all students. Students will be encouraged to communicate with each other as they complete their observations. Class discussions will aid in the managing of information to ensure clear understanding.

Engagement
Students will be encouraged to form and defend their own opinions on the subject matter, it being made clear that there is no right or wrong answer/position to the topic. Students will have the choice how they wish to present their thoughts.

Full Activity Resources and References

Bates, A. W. (2015). Chapter 8: Choosing and using media in education: The SECTIONS model. In Teaching in a digital age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning. Vancouver, BC: Tony Bates Associates Ltd. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/9-pedagogical-differences-between-media/

CAST (2011). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.0. Wakefield, MA: Author.

“Countries that Changed their Names” (2019, September 20). Retrieved November 21, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxFUJuXHI6M

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2 (2-3), 87-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7516(00)00016-6

Hayward. (2021, July 22). Renaming places: How Canada is reexamining the map. Retrieved from https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/renaming-places-how-canada-reexamining-map. Accessed November 21, 2021.

“John A Macdonald’s Complicated Legacy” 2014-2021, C. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2021, from https://curio.ca/en/video/john-a-macdonalds-complicated-legacy-15294

Moore, M. G. (1989). Editorial:Three types of interaction. American Journal of Distance Education, 3 (2), 1-7. Retrieved from http://aris.teluq.uquebec.ca/portals/598/t3_moore1989.pdf