Connecting Past to Present: Fort York and the Formation of Canadian Identity(Kaifeng Xiao )
Title: Connecting Past to Present: Fort York and the Formation of Canadian Identity
Figure: Artifacts from Fort York
Who:
This session is designed for Grade 7 students, aligning with the Ontario History Curriculum’s Strand B: Web Canada 1800 – 1850 Conflict and Challenges. The participants are grade 7 students studying at a school located in the Toronto area, who would like to learn more about the history and culture of Canadians.
Where:
The session will be conducted off-site in a classroom in a local community centre and will include objects from Fort York. It will also offer close and rich means by which the students can engage with history in an artistic manner.
What:
The activity session is History and Art combined: “Design Your Own Artifact”. Starting from Fort York artefacts that include crockery, British military uniforms, and cultural practice of correlation between family and food, students will develop an understanding of the history of the items before redesigning them. By the use of drawing and discussion, the children will be able to relate problems and inventions in the past to the present.
Why:
In order to dictate how history affects present-day Canada and to build the student's better understanding of how the lives of early Canadians are connected to today’s society. It can promote their higher critical skills and creativity as well as the appreciation of continuity and change as they are connected to their local heritage.
How:
Students will practice understanding the use of the artefacts by analysing replicas of the objects. This will be followed by constructing a new version of their chosen artefact reflecting the historical frame along with present-day developments. Following visual thinking strategies, they will present their works to the rest of the group based on how artefacts reflect the themes of resilience and identity.
In this session, I seek to introduce the students to history in an activity-centred, guided discovery manner so that they can relate current life to the past.
"Teaching with objects" lesson plan
Preamble:
This lesson is based on the Strand B Canada, 1800-1850: Conflict and challenges of Ontario curriculum for standard 7th (Ontario Ministry of Education, n.d.). It explains how social and political conflicts such as the War of 1812, create challenges and plays an important role in shaping Canadian identity. Utilizing various artifacts Fort York Museum will provide students the opportunity to observe various historical artifacts and their relation to Canadian culture and the realization of their values today. This lesson focuses on the transmission and transformation concept and helps the learners understand how people in early Canada lived and how they are living now, which aligns with the lesson theme of “Connecting Past to present”. That is why I would like my students to perceive me as a guide who tells stories about history that they should know and understand their relevance in their daily lives like food, clothing, and customs. In this way, I’d like to make them interested in Fort York and inspire them by sharing my own perceptions and experiences, so that they would perceive the historical objects not only as relics from the past but as the connection between the past and the present.
Expectation
Teacher’s Objectives
· Implement appropriate tools, here historical artefacts to help students analyze information about past history.
· Develop personal attributes that are needed for discipline-specific inquiry to connect to modern lifestyle.
Students Outcomes
· Students are able to analyze social and political values in various aspects of life, including First Nations and other communities in Canada during 1812 (B1.1).
· Students will be able to understand various challenges faced by individuals in Canada between 1800 and 1850 such as the War of 1812, poor wages, industrialisation, and how they influenced our modern lives (B1.2).
Introduction
Who: 20 7th Grade middle school students
Where: Community Centre
What: Gallery and studio combo experience, Gallery to explore artefacts and Studio to create own crafts inspired by the history.
Time frame:
Total time: 60 minutes
Introduction: 10 minutes
Artifact exploration: 20 minutes
Studio activity: 20 minutes
Reflection: 10 minutes
Instructional Aides
Visual aids: Images of the three artefacts: Crockery, war uniform, and correlation between family and food
Audio-visual aid: Videos from the internet
Supplies tools: pencils, colors, papers
Other equipment: Chair and table for craft making and sitting for group discussion.
Reference Materials
Primary resource: Artefacts from Fort York Museum, such as Crockery, Military uniforms, and family or community tools, such as paintings, which provide evidence correlation between family and food.
The book influenced the lesson plan: Freeman-Shaw, E. (2012). War of 1812, Historical Thinking Project - Lesson 13 A Soldier’s Diet 1812: An Army Marches on its Stomach
Development & Closing
Stage 1: Welcoming the students
“Hi, everyone, I’m Kaifeng Xiao, and let me tell you I am so happy to be with all of you today. I am very passionate about history because history is not just the story of the past – that’s the story of evolution. Personally, I consider Fort York as one of the most interesting locations where one can gather information about early Canada. It tells real stories, the courage, and the objects still relevant in our lives. I recall when I first went to a site such as Fort York. I was wandering around the preserved areas, and I noticed a beautiful old piece of a crock – just like the one you will see today. I find myself thinking about what different families used it, what kind of meals they have had with it, and how our life is somehow similar to theirs, yet we are entirely different. It made me think about how associated we are with our ancestors and objects that tell a lot about us. So, today we will look into some of the prominent artefacts found in Fort York, such as crockery, military uniforms, and community lifestyle evidence in paintings, and how these items formed Canadian identity and also how they are related to your own lives.”
Stage 2: Introduction of the session: Activity 1
I will take students to the Fort York gallery exploration and watch the three artefacts by implementing the Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS), which includes asking questions, enabling them to make observations and draw meaningful conclusions through discussion (Ritchhart, 2007).
Artefact 1:
Observation: The teacher will show them the crockery set.
Questioning: Students, what do you see? Where did you see that? What does this tell you about families' food habits and lifestyle in Early Canada? Do you see this or similar to this in your daily life?
Discussion: Explain family food gathering practices in early Canada and compare them to today’s food-consuming pattern.
Artefact 2:
Observation: The teacher will show the British Military Uniform to the students
Questioning: Which occupational people do you think used to wear this costume? What is the connection with it to the Canadians today?
Discussion: The teacher shares the story of the war of 1812 and asks students what they know about the war.
Artefact 3:
Observation: The teacher took the students to the Fort York kitchen and asked them to help in preparing food to provide a hands-on experience.
Questioning: Which room do you imagine as a kitchen from the 1800s and which kind of kitchen do you use nowadays? Do you believe that preparing food was really a valuable activity among families in that period? Can you imagine how soldiers and moreover, their families cooked food, what sorts of foods were made, here during the war of 1812?
Discussion: Students will discuss their understanding of the historical importance of food for developing family bonding. They will relate challenges and resourcefulness at that period to the comforts and cultures of today’s world.
Stage 3: Activity plan in the studio: Activity 2
I will introduce the materials, such as pencils, coloured papers and images of the artefacts, to the students. I will use a constructivist teaching-learning approach to provide students with opportunities for hands-on experience to increase creative and critical thinking to create historical features with modern design elements.
Plan:
· Firstly, I will ask students to choose one of the historical artefacts that interested them most.
· Introduce a brainstorming session, where students will discuss and imagine if the artefact was made today and they will try to draw, invent, and think how this object might look or work. Students have to try to imagine how certain technological advances, different types of materials or cultural influences would alter the artefact in question while still maintaining a sense of history.
· Then, from the provided materials, students will sketch the realigned artefact, designing it both historically and contemporarily.
Additional support: I will use a prompting strategy to provide additional support to students who will face difficulty in coming up with artefact ideas or may face challenges in developing connections between the past and present. I will use prompts like, “What was your motivation for selecting the artefact you brought?” “What would crockery look like if used during a high-tech family meal?” “In what way can that uniform symbolise modern peacekeeping rather than warfare?” “If the uniform is needed in today’s time and if it was possible, what details from history could be retained?” “Perhaps, could you add these historical details in your craft to show its origin?”
Outcome: Student will develop their own artefact and get a practical understanding of connecting the past to the present.
Stage 4: Bring them back together and gather feedback
I will ask them to sit in a circle and tell them to show their artefact to their peers and explain what they have made and the ideas and perspectives behind their craft. Then, peers will give constructive feedback to each other. I will ask questions like, “What more did you learn about life at Fort York?” “In what way does this reflect Canadian identity?” Lastly, why is it important to preserve history?”. I will note their answers to assess their standings, understanding of the purpose of the activity and areas of improvement.
Follow-up
Based on the assessment I will ask follow-up questions to enhance their learning. I will ask students to go on the website of Fort York and search for another artefact that appeals to them. Then, I will tell them to write a journal entry on what makes the artefact significant and write the rationale.
Reflection
My AGO fieldwork at Propeller Art Gallery, studies at the OCAD and professional practice significantly influenced this project. Viewing Karen Klee-Atlin’s “Trees, Water, Sun, Dwellings” at Propeller made me understand art’s ability to tell stories about identity, cultures and environment which informed how I began to investigate the narratives of Fort York artefacts. I developed an inquiry-based activity for Fort York to comprise the aspect of creativity for students. The project also incorporates Falks’ (2006) identity-based museum learning – history relating to students’ lives. Through observing material of Fort York like crockery and uniforms students entered into self and creative reflection analogous to Propeller’s identity-based methods. As supported by Eisner’s (2008) framework, the incorporation of critical and creative thinking levels guided the use of open-ended questions and learner-contextualised activities that elicited the learner’s intellectual-sensory-emotional awareness. Moreover, with Chartrand’s (2012) Indigenous pedagogy as a guide, I emphasized such interconnection: the elements of First Nations family, extended community, and survival in early Canada. The resulting works of this project also combine art and history as a means of facilitating experiential learning and engaging students’ cognitive abilities.