Cultural heritage, manifest in public monuments, plays an important role in education, providing tangible artefacts that chart the history of a society, its achievements, tragedies and horrors, contributing to human understanding and well-being. The educational impact is lifelong--everyone from schoolchildren to senior citizens visit and take in…

The "Curator's Curiosities" program was launched at Fort Henry National Historic Site in the summer of 2017 as an object-based interpretive program. In addition to learning the history of an artifact from the collection, participants were taught how to properly handle and catalogue the artifact, under the supervision of trained museum…

In this article, I provide a critical reading of the now-removed statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. I bring together my own experience visiting the statue with understandings from Indigenous scholarship and public pedagogy theorizing to think about commemorations as public pedagogies that are foremost…

This special issue of "Canadian Social Studies," entitled "Monumental Mistakes? Confronting Difficult Pasts," has brought together a diverse range of scholars offering insights into discussions regarding removing or altering monuments, buildings, and other reminders of difficult histories. The editors have requested that…

The introduction of online elements to museums and cultural sites has opened up new ways for visitors to engage with the past, with nature, with culture, and all other treasures of the museum. However, docent training has lagged behind visitor-facing educational initiatives. By blending online elements into docent education programs, staff…

This report introduces a two-week workshop on web coding and environmental sustainability at a school for girls in Northeastern India. Our discussion of this teaching project reviews issues that shaped the project's development, outlines resources required for implementation, and summarizes the workshop's curriculum. High-speed Internet will soon…

Sharing an imaginative energy for the storied landscape is one kind of pedagogical passion. The author had taken on the challenge of offering this particular passion to his fellow travellers. With students, the practice of peppering a trip with a historical muse involves focussed readings, in the moment stories, planned ceremonies and rituals and,…

Although the author loves winter camping and holds the Inuit culture in great regard, thinking about material culture in a northern landscape referred to as barren constitutes a daunting lesson. She wondered, when a landscape is barren is it possible at all for someone to find material, make useful items and survive? So it was she joined the Mara…

Provides advice on visiting military sites and battlefields across Canada. Taking students on field trips to battlefields allows them to reconstruct the past in a creative and exciting way. (RM)

Students of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities have the opportunity to spend two-and-a-half days at a reconstructed 17th-century historic site located near Midland, Ontario. The Sainte-Marie live-in provides students with an opportunity to live Canadian history. (RM)

The protection of sites, buildings, and areas of historic significance is discussed. Emphasizes how Canadians have preserved their heritage. How citizens can play a role in the preservation movement is also examined. (RM)

This lesson is based on the National Register of Historic Places registration file, "Pioneer Square Historic District," and other sources about Seattle (Washington) and the Klondike Gold Rush. The lesson helps students understand how Seattle exemplified the prosperity of the Klondike Gold Rush after 1897 when news of a gold strike in…

Living history and hands-on interpretation enable educators to capitalize on the curiosity, sensory needs, and creative enthusiasm of young students. However, objective evaluation in terms of measurable outcomes may be difficult. Suggestions are offered for linking curricular needs with personal growth by creating an atmosphere that promotes…

A trained eye can make almost any part of the landscape into a vehicle for historical awareness. Discussed is how one farm in Canada is the product of its historic circumstances. (RM)

This lesson aims to help students understand the impact of the Klondike Gold Rush on the development of Skagway, Alaska, a town which now has a year-round population of only 800 but which hosts half a million tourists annually. The lesson can be used in units on western expansion, on late 19th- and early 20th-century commerce, and on urban…