Six Recipients, Six Schools, Six Approaches to History

Canada’s History is proud to present the Governor General’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History. Six teachers will receive a medal and $2,500. The recipient’s school will also receive a $1,000 prize.

The deadline for submitting nominations is April 1st.

All materials have to be received at the University of Ottawa by that date. Any questions can be directed to Joanna Dawson, 1.866.952.3444, x.225.

Submissions should be mailed directly to:
Governor General's Awards
Attention: Stéphane Lévesque
University of Ottawa
Faculty of Education
145, Jean-Jacques-Lussier Private
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 6N5

The Program

Canada’s History established the Governor General’s Awards in 1996 with the following aims:

• to recognize excellence in the teaching of Canadian history regardless of the curricula in which it is taught
• to inspire teachers and schools to strive for excellence in Canadian history education
• to promote and facilitate the sharing of best practices and innovative teaching ideas within Canada’s teaching community

The Award

Canada’s History is looking for Canada’s best teachers of Canadian History and Social Studies. Whether you have been teaching in the classroom for three years or 30, the Society is seeking to celebrate leadership and innovation in teaching our young people about Canada’s past. We welcome submissions from elementary, middle and senior school classroom teachers. Teachers can submit a project, a body of work, or a group or school-wide initiative.

A committee of judges will select six recipients based on a submission outlining the nominees’ achievements and innovations in the field of teaching Canadian History or Social Studies.

• Six recipients will be selected and awarded $2,500, a medal and a trip for two to the award ceremony.
• Each recipient’s school will receive $1,000.

If you or a teacher you know deserves recognition, enter your nomination by filling out the attached form. All recipients will be notified in September 2012.

Eligibility

To be considered, nominees must demonstrate that they have excelled in the teaching of Canadian History or Social Studies.

Entrants must:

• be residents of Canada
• work directly with students in a school setting
• teach grades ranging from K–12 during the 2011/2012 school year
• teach units or full courses that include a significant component of Canadian history at any grade level

Self nominations are encouraged. Posthumous nominations will not be considered. Team teaching and school-wide initiatives are of particular interest to the Society, however, group recipients will be expected to share any financial rewards equally among the team.

Past recipients may not reapply. The Society will provide flights and accommodation for two individuals to attend the award ceremony.

Please send the following:

• a completed nomination form
• a brief submission description including your teaching philosophy
• one original lesson plan or project synopsis (3 or more pages)
• three samples of student work relevant to the lesson plan/project
• samples of evaluation relevant to the lesson plan/project
• a one-page statement describing the courses taught and the Canadian history content within the course
• letters of recommendation (no more than five) from students, parents and administrators
• you may also include one sample of each of the following:
  
  • multimedia, e.g., video tape (cued to the pertinent segment to be viewed and include a description); or a CD-ROM (include up to five pages printed out)
  • photographs
  • website address (include up to five pages printed out)

* Do not include Ministry or Department of Education curriculum documents. Program managers will assess submissions based on the materials listed above. Do not send in more than what is listed; we reserve the right to assess the entry based solely on materials listed above.

Please note that materials will not be returned.

Criteria for Selection

Canadian history can be taught in many ways — as a self-standing course; through local or regional units; as a form of integrated social studies; or in courses devoted to literature, science, law, economics, geography, and so on.

Teachers in all these areas are eligible for the award, provided that their work features Canadian content and has an explicitly historical dimension. Nominees must meet the following criteria.

Teachers must:

• Demonstrate a commitment to Canadian history in their teaching.
• Demonstrate that their teaching has an impact and that:
  • students gain a better knowledge and understanding of Canada as a whole, so that even a local or a regional study teaches them something about the nature and history of Canadian society in general
  • students understand how Canada’s past connects with its present and future
  • students gain a continuing interest in Canadian history
  • students are required to learn and apply both knowledge and skills in their study
  • students gain an awareness of the nature of history as an intellectual discipline
  • history content is comprehensive and incorporates factual knowledge with broader themes, concepts and ideas and the study of specific events, ideas, movements and peoples
  • students learn to assess historical evidence, to understand the balance between fact and interpretation, to consider questions of bias, accuracy, objectivity
  • students experience a variety of teaching and assessment strategies, resources and materials
  • students are actively involved in the learning of history

Note: It is recognized that these criteria will not apply with equal force to all grades and kinds of students, or to all kinds of classroom settings. Therefore, the criteria will be applied with appropriate consideration for the type, age and level of students involved.