Canadian Social Studies - Special Issue: History Alive! Old Sources, New Technologies - Volume 40 - Number 1 - Summer 2006

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS

Promotes online use of primary documents from the Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) collections for high school historical inquiry into a major Canadian past event. Outlines a seven-lesson unit for senior students, “Canada and the Cold War: The Gouzenko Affair,” centered on skill-oriented, student-focused teaching strategies supported by online resources aligned with provincial and territorial curricula.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Article

Shift in teaching history

Using evidence and primary sources

LAC’s Learning Centre resources

Selecting the Gouzenko Affair unit

CANADIAN SOCIAL STUDIES VOLUME 40 NUMBER 1, Summer 2006 [www.quasar.ualberta.ca/css](www.quasar.ualberta.ca/css) Special Issue: History Alive! Old Sources, New Technologies Library and Archives of Canada Collections As Resources for Classroom Learning. Gordon Sly Retired high school History teacher Return to Articles Abstract This article promotes the on line use of primary documents from Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) collections by high school students conducting historical inquiry into a major historic event in Canada's past. It outlines a unit of seven history lessons that the author wrote for the 'Learning Centre' at [www.collectionscanada.ca/education/index](www.collectionscanada.ca/education/index) e.html, a website recently created by LAC. The unit: 'Canada and the Cold War: The Gouzenko Affair' offers a variety of student centered, skill oriented teaching/learning strategies with supporting on line resources. A major criterion for these educational resources is that they fit into the official curricula of each province and territory in Canada. Article There is the cliché that if you give a man a fish you will feed him for a day, but if you show him how to fish, he will feed himself for the rest of his life. In recent decades there has been a major shift in the teaching of history at the high school level in Canada that better provides students with tools to be life long learners. Today, more than in the past teachers and students use the content of history as a means to develop skills of historical inquiry, many of which will serve students well later in life. Content by itself is often forgotten but can be easily accessed from a variety of sources when required. Students should realize that history is a dynamic process; rarely, if ever, is it written in stone. Although solid facts may not change, over time new evidence, newly disclosed information, different generational perspectives, attitudes, and values can give historical events different frames of reference and interpretations. Rather than being preoccupied with memorizing historical events, students today can analyze and interpret historic happenings and personages based on evidence such as that which can be found in primary sources. Students then can use this raw data of history to arrive at their own conclusions and offer opinions about what happened in the past and about the people who have shaped historic events. In recent years, Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) has actively promoted this approach to learning history by making available on line primary sources from its vast collections to students and teachers in classrooms across Canada. In addition to furnishing these sources, it has hired a number of professional teachers, including myself, to create a variety of educational resources and activities based on its holdings. This is intended to make the study of Canadian history more challenging, meaningful and even fun for both students and teachers. Students can access important rare documents by simply navigating the website and working as virtual historians. Assessment instruments are designed to test students' skills as much as their knowledge. Needless to say, this is a win win situation. The public can now use these resources, which LAC has always wanted to make available, but until relatively recently found it problematic. The magic of the Internet has resolved LAC's major concern of protecting and preserving often fragile valuable and rare documents from damage that can result from physical handling. What was available to a very small, select group of people just a few years ago can now be accessed by essentially anyone with a computer. To illustrate how students can use these resources LAC asked us, a team of history teachers, to write history units for the primary, junior and senior levels for its new website 'Learning Centre' . From a list that was provided, I chose the topic 'Canada and the Cold War: The

FAQs

What learning approach does the article advocate for Canadian high school history?

It promotes using primary documents to help students conduct historical inquiry, analyze evidence, and form their own conclusions rather than relying on memorization.

What is the unit topic created for the Learning Centre?

The senior-level unit is “Canada and the Cold War: The Gouzenko Affair,” designed to demonstrate how students can use primary resources for historical study.

Why was the Gouzenko Affair chosen as a teaching topic?

The author selected it as an engaging vehicle to show primary-source use and because it illustrates how historical understanding can change over time with new circumstances and perspectives.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS