About the course
This course explores rights and responsibilities associated with being an active citizen in a democratic society. Students will explore issues of civic importance such as healthy schools, community planning, environmental responsibility, and the influence of social media, while developing their understanding of the role of civic engagement and of political processes in the local, national, and/or global community. Students will apply the concepts of political thinking and the political inquiry process to investigate, and express informed opinions about, a range of political issues and developments that are both of significance in today’s world and of personal interest.
Civics and Citizenship
Course Credit
0.5
Course Price
$ 550.00
Course Developer
My Learning Oasis
Prerequisite(s) (Text)
None
Course Code
Department Head & Contact Information
CHV2O
Ravi Sharma (ravi@mylearningoasis.com)
Course Type
Open
Grade Level
Grade 10
Course Development Date
June 10th, 2021
Course Outline
Political Inquiry and Skill Development
In this unit students will use the political inquiry process and the concepts related to politics in investigating issues, events, and developments of civic importance. Students will look at ways in which political inquisition foster their skills, including the essential skills in the Ontario Skills Passport (e.g., skills related to reading texts, writing, computer use, oral communication, numeracy, decision making, problem solving) and those related to the citizenship education framework. They will examine how such skills can be transferred to the world of work and/or to everyday life. They will examine everyday contexts attributes, skills, and work habits developed in civics and citizenship education (e.g., listen respectfully to the position of others during conversations; collaborate with peers to organize an event in their school; assess the credibility of information in a news story; voice informed opinions when engaging in discussions)
Time Allocated: 5 hours
Civic Awareness
Students will explore some civic issues of local, national, and/or global significance (e.g., bullying in schools, violence in local communities) and compare the perspectives of different groups on selected issues. Students will examine the fundamental beliefs and values associated with democratic citizenship in Canada and explain ways in which they are reflected in citizen actions. They will explore why it is important for people to engage in civic action, and identify various reasons why individuals and groups engage in such action. Students will examine political parties in Canada and their position on the issues that matter the most to Canadians. Students will look at Canada’s form of Government and how it is elected. They will study, with reference to issues of civic importance, the roles and responsibilities of different levels of government in Canada. Students will explore key segments of Canada’s constitution including key rights of citizenship in the constitution, with particular reference to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They will look at the rights and responsibilities of citizenship within a global context, including those related to international conventions, laws, and/or institutions. They will identify examples of human rights violations around the world.
Time Allocated: 20 hours
Civic Engagement and Action
In this unit students will assess the significance, both in Canada and internationally, of the civic contributions of some individuals. They will explore ways in which they can make a civic contribution at the local, national, and/or global level. Students will explore actions that can result in the common good at the local, national, and/ or global level. They will analyse ways in which different beliefs, values, and perspectives are represented in their communities and evaluate whether there is equal representation for all. They will look at ways in which some events, issues, people, and/or symbols are commemorated or recognized in Canada. They will examine issues of personal interest, and are viewed by different groups. They will explore different courses of action that could be used to address a specific civic issue (e.g., a public awareness campaign, a plan for local action, a campaign to pressure for political action), and assess their merits
Time Allocated: 19 hours
Project
In groups, students will find a real-life problem that they feel should be addressed. They will prepare a complete presentation to the UN. They will then present it to the class. The task is worth 15% of their evaluation.
Time Allocated: 9.5 hours
Exam
The exam is proctored and worth 15% of the final grade.
Time Allocated: 1.5 hours
Total Hours: 55 hours
Resources
The course material (class notes and necessary handouts) will be provided by the teacher.
The students will be required to have:
● Access to a library or the Internet to do research
● Access to the internet as well as electronic devices for note taking and communication for those taking the class online
Overall Curriculum Expectations
A. Political Inquiry and Skill Development
A1: Political Inquiry: use the political inquiry process and the concepts of political thinking when investigating issues, events, and developments of civic importance
A2: Developing Transferable Skills: apply in everyday contexts skills developed through investigations related to civics and citizenship education, and identify some careers in which civics and citizenship education might be an asset
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
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
B3: Rights and Responsibilities: analyze key rights and responsibilities associated with citizenship, in both the Canadian and global context, and some ways in which these rights are protected
C. Civic Engagement and Action
C1: Civic Contributions: analyze a variety of civic contributions, and ways in which people can contribute to the common good
C2: Inclusion and Participation: assess ways in which people express their perspectives on issues of civic importance and how various perspectives, beliefs, and values are recognized and represented in communities in Canada
C3: Personal Action on Civic Issues: analyze a civic issue of personal interest and develop a plan of action to address it
Special Accommodations
Only Some students are able, with accommodations, to be part of a regular course curriculum and to demonstrate independent learning. These accommodations allow access to the course without any dilution of the knowledge and skills the student is expected to demonstrate. These required accommodations to facilitate the student’s learning will be identified in his or her IEP (see IEP Standards, 2000, page 11*).
It is likely that IEP for many or all courses will reflect the same accommodations. The instructions and accommodations are geared to meet the diverse needs of learners. The three types of accommodations that are going to be used are:
i) Instructional accommodations - changes in teaching/learning strategies facilitated by different styles of presentation; methods of organization; the use of technology and multimedia.
ii) Environmental accommodations - Certain classroom settings and preferential seating may benefit these students.
iii) Assessment: assessment procedures that enable the student to demonstrate his or her learning, such as Multiple Intelligence Theory, giving more time to complete tasks (see page 29 of the IEP Resource Guide, 2004, for more examples). For students who require accommodations for only the mathematics courses, the assessment and evaluation of their achievement will be based on the appropriate course curriculum expectations and the achievement levels outlined in this document. The IEP box on the students’ Provincial Report Cards will not be checked, and no information on the provision of accommodations will be included.
* Taken from: Ministry of Education, Ontario. Extracted from The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: Canadian and World Studies, 2018; Date of extraction: Sunday, March 14, 2021
Program Considerations For English Language Learners
Students from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. For many of these students, English is not their spoken language. They may be coming from highly sophisticated educational systems, while others may have come from regions where access to formal schooling was limited. These students offer a rich addition to the classroom experience by way of their background knowledge and experience. All teachers will assist with their English-language development. In mathematics the teachers will include appropriate adaptations and strategies in their instructions and assessments to facilitate the success of the English language learners in their classrooms. Some of these strategies and adaptations are: modification of some or all of the course expectations so that they are challenging but attainable for the learner at his or her present level of English proficiency, given the necessary support from the teacher.
Teaching/Learning Strategy
The key learning strategy at My Learning Oasis Elite Private School is Constructivism. This format facilitates learning by many techniques, most or all of which will be adopted in the classroom. The most dominant of these is group learning. The facilitator places students of different backgrounds in the same group so that they can feed off each other. Each may bring to the table a different reasoning strategy to facilitate problem-solving. Now, each student becomes a learner and a teacher at the same time, as he/she has to communicate his/her solution. This builds the students' knowledge base and by default, increases their confidence to speak in a crowd, albeit a small group at the beginning. The famous educationalist, Vygotsky, proved that by placing students in a group they function at the upper level of their zone of proximal development, each one scaffolding the other. This strategy is further enhanced by the teacher asking leading questions as opposed to giving the answer outright, then allowing for group discussion. The students are encouraged to make connections between what they have learnt and their life experiences, then share with the group.
The effect of this strategy is intrinsic motivation and learning. Each student develops an expanded appreciation of the topic at hand by seeing how it applies in different settings around the world by way of listening to their group members. This Constructivist approach will be further accentuated by implementing “fish-bowling”. There are many ways to implement this technique. The one that will mostly be used will be by dividing up the larger problem (technical, mathematics, science, or otherwise) into smaller bits and have each student thoughtfully master one part. That student then teaches the group and facilitates a discussion reflection about the strategy (computational or otherwise) used in the solution. Each student in turn does this. The above techniques enable students to reflect on the material learnt, make real life connections, and develop problem solving skills.
One important by-product of the technique of Constructivism is that each student develops an appreciation of each other’s culture. This cultivates healthy people’s skill, which is not only important for the professional world but for life itself.
Constructivism lends itself well to students whose first language is not the language of instruction and who is new to the class. While other strategies will be used for students having difficulty with the English Language, this technique will definitely be used to enhance their English skill.
Assessment And Evaluation
At My Learning Oasis, course facilitators do not wait for a quiz or exam to determine how well a student is doing. Here, evaluation is an on-going exercise. The pedagogical techniques (refer to Teaching and Learning Strategies) used at My learning Oasis are perhaps the best techniques suited for on-going assessment, hence, they being an integral part of our delivery methodologies. Concrete assessments are made through projects and assignments. However, the evaluation is based on “our flavor” of the Mastery Teaching technique.
This ensures that the emphasis is on the quality of learning and NOT grading. Students' projects and homework will continuously be evaluated and re-evaluated with appropriate guidance to meet the school’s and Ministry’s expectations.
At My Learning Oasis, we will work with the students until the projects meet a minimum of a B-grade, unless in extreme circumstances where the willful negligence of the students force lower grades. While this is a lot more taxing on the facilitator, it does not matter because My Learning Oasis is a Learner-centered institution NOT a Grade- Centered nor a Teacher-Centered institution.
Four categories of knowledge and skills are outlined in the achievement chart - knowledge and understanding, thinking, communication, and application. Student’s work is assessed and evaluated with respect to these categories, and that achievement of particular expectations is considered within the appropriate categories. A final grade will then be recorded for this course and if that grade is 50% or higher, a credit is granted to the student and recorded for this course. The final grade for this course will be determined as follows:
● For material evaluated throughout the course, seventy percent of the grade will be assigned. This portion of the grade should reflect the student's consistency in his/her level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration should be given to more recent evidence of achievement.
● Thirty percent of the grade will be based on a final evaluation, which is administered towards the end of the course
Final Exam 30%
Grading for all course work, projects, presentation, participation, interim quizzes and exams 70%
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