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“Big Ideas” and Framing Questions
A “big idea” is an enduring understanding, an idea that we want students to delve
into and retain long after they have forgotten many of the details of the course content. The big ideas address basic questions such as “Why am I learning this?” or “What is the point?” Through exploration of the big ideas, students are encouraged to become creators of their understandings and not passive receivers of information. Many of the big ideas are transferable to other subjects and, more broadly, to life itself. In many cases, they provide the opportunity for students to think across disciplines in an integrated way.
In this document, the big ideas are connected to the overall expectations and the related concepts of disciplinary thinking in each strand. They are given in the chart on the overview page that precedes each course in Canadian and world studies. The big ideas are also connected to the general framing questions that are provided for each strand. The big ideas combined with the framing questions are intended to stimulate students’ curiosity and critical thinking and to heighten the relevance of what they are studying. The framing questions are broad and often open-ended and can be used to frame a set of expectations or an entire strand. By way of example, the following chart shows the big ideas and framing questions that are related to the overall expectations in Strand B of the Grade 10 civics (politics) course, Civics and Citizenship.
Sample Overview – Civics and Citizenship
Overall Expectations and Related Concepts of Political Thinking
Big Ideas
Framing Questions
B: Civic Awareness
B1. Civic Issues, Democratic Values: describe beliefs and values associated with democratic citizenship in Canada, and explain how they are related to civic action and to one’s position on civic issues (FOCUS ON: Political Significance; Political Perspective)
In a democratic society, people have different beliefs, which influence their position and actions with respect
to issues of civic importance .
What is the relationship between people’s beliefs and values
and their positions
on civic issues?
Why is it important to understand how political structures and processes work?
What are some ways in which I can make my voice heard within the political process?
In what ways does the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms protect me? What responsibilities come with these rights?
B2. Governance in Canada: explain, with reference to a range of issues of civic importance, the roles and responsibilities of various institutions, structures, and figures in Canadian governance (FOCUS ON: Stability and Change; Political Perspective)
An understanding of how various levels of government function and make decisions enables people to effectively engage in the political process .
B3. Rights and Responsibilities: analyse key rights and responsibilities associated with citizenship, in both the Canadian and global context, and some ways in which these rights are protected (FOCUS ON: Political Significance; Objectives and Results)
People living in Canada have rights and freedoms based in law; at the same time, they have responsibilities associated with citizenship .
THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9 AND 10 | Canadian and World Studies
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