10.4. SR 06-03-2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The nexT generaTion “an educational system isn’t worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn’t teach them how to make a life.” Building a culture of civic engage- ment begins in our schools. If stu- dents aren’t introduced to the basics of local democracy, they are less likely to participate later in life. ➊ city hall school What can we learn from other cit- ies? In Calgary’s City Hall School, students from grades three to nine spend an entire week in a classroom at City Hall learning about the inner-workings of local democracy and city-building. Guest presenters include City staff from 15 depart- ments including Transportation Infrastructure, Land Use Plan- ning, Community Services and the Mayor’s office. ➋ civics in our high schools Ontario’s grade ten Civics course attempts to squeeze municipal, pro- vincial, federal and global politics into one semester. And while Civics is all about changing the present and future, this half-course is inexplicably found within the ‘His- tory’ curriculum, where it’s the only half-course offered – even American History gets a full course. “it’s great that ontario’s cur- riculum contains a manda- tory civics unit. But as a half- course, in a single year, there is simply too much material to cover. We’re just scratch- ing the surface. and as you might expect, the topic of local government is often overshadowed by the provin- cial and federal content”. stephen kagansky-young, executive Director oF the civics eDucation netWork. sWeet sixteen another way to get high school students interested in politics might be allowing them to vote! if they are responsible enough to drive a car, and mature enough to serve in the canadian Military reserves – aren’t they ready to vote?