Page 48 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | Canadian and World Studies

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | Canadian and World Studies
The Grade 11 and 12 Canadian and world studies curriculum provides opportunities for teachers and students to select, within the broad parameters of the expectations, topics for investigation. This flexibility allows teachers to tailor topics to suit the interests and readiness of their students and to address the context of their local communities. It also allows students to focus on the process of “doing” economics, geography, history, law, and politics, rather than simply assimilating content. It is important that teachers plan their program or units with the “end in mind”, selecting appropriate content, including issues and examples, and ensuring that students develop the knowledge, understanding, and skills to support this end.
Connections to Current Events and Issues
Teachers need to integrate current events and issues within the curriculum expectations, and not treat them as separate topics. The integration of current events and issues into the curriculum will help students make connections between what they are learning in class and past and present-day local, national, and global events, developments, and issues. Examining current events helps students analyse controversial issues, understand diverse perspectives, develop informed opinions, and build a deeper understanding of the world in which they live. In addition, investigating current events will stimulate students’ interest in and curiosity about the world around them. The inclusion of current events in Canadian and world studies will help keep the curriculum a relevant, living document.
PLANNING CANADIAN AND WORLD STUDIES PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS WITH
SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS
Classroom teachers are the key educators of students with special education needs. They have a responsibility to help all students learn, and they work collaboratively with special education teachers, where appropriate, to achieve this goal. Classroom teachers commit to assisting every student to prepare for living with the highest degree of independence possible.
Learning for All: A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12 (Draft 2011) describes a set of beliefs, based in research, that should guide program planning for students with special education needs in all disciplines. Teachers planning Canadian and world studies courses need to pay particular attention to these beliefs, which are as follows:
• All students can succeed.
• Each student has his or her own unique patterns of learning.
• Successful instructional practices are founded on evidence-based research, tempered by experience.
• Universal design8 and differentiated instruction9 are effective and interconnected means of meeting the learning or productivity needs of any group of students.
8. The goal of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is to create a learning environment that is open and accessible to all students, regardless of age, skills, or situation. Instruction based on principles of universal design is flexible and supportive, can be adjusted to meet different student needs, and enables all students to access the curriculum as fully as possible.
9. Differentiated instruction, as discussed on page 45 of this document, is effective instruction that shapes each student’s learning experience in response to his or her particular learning preferences, interests, and readiness to learn.
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