Search for "residential schools"

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Education of Indigenous Peoples in Canada

Before contact with Europeans, Indigenous peoples educated their youth through traditional means — demonstration, group socialization, participation in cultural and spiritual rituals, skill development and oral teachings. The introduction of European classroom-style education as part of a larger goal of assimilation disrupted traditional methods and resulted in cultural trauma and dislocation. Reformers of Indigenous education policies are attempting to reintegrate traditional teachings and provide more cultural and language-based support to enhance and improve the outcomes of Indigenous children in the education system.

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Ethnic Identity

An ethnic group is often a distinct category of the population in a larger society with a (generally) different culture. Distinct ethnic and cultural groups were recorded by Herodotus 2500 years ago.

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Language Policy in Canada

Language policy is comprised of a body of theory, principles, laws, programs and measures designed to manage one or more languages in a country. In monolingual societies, language policy is usually concerned with promoting an approved, standardized grammar of the common language. In bilingual or multilingual societies, it is intended to manage situations in which two or more languages are in contact and/or conflict, and to enhance the use and status of certain languages over others. Language policy in Canada has been designed to manage historical relationships among multiple languages – notably FrenchEnglish and Indigenous languages - and their various communities. While it has evolved over time, Canadian language policy has not always been marked by positive or just measures.

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History of Powwows

While the exact origin of the powwow is unknown, these celebrations were adopted and adapted by various Indigenous communities across North America throughout the 20th century.

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Disability Rights Movement in Canada

The Canadian disability rights movement arose in the latter half of the 20th century. It includes multiple social movements that take a similar but distinct approach advocating civil rights for almost four million people with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments — nearly 14 per cent of the Canadian population.

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Women and Education

Although women have always been well represented in schools as students and teachers, it is possible, by examining women's participation in schooling, to understand how that participation has both reflected and produced the unequal position of women in society.

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Curriculum Development

Curriculum development in Canada has gone from teaching survival skills, both practical and cultural, to emphasizing self-fulfillment and standards-based achievements. This evolution mirrors that which has occurred in other developed countries, namely in Europe.

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Ex-gay Movement

​The ex-gay movement, commonly referred to in popular culture by the phrase “pray the gay away,” is a predominantly conservative Christian movement that operates worldwide but is most prominent in the United States, Canada, Britain, and Australia.

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Collège classique

Unique to French-speaking Canada, the collège classique (classical college) has over the centuries prepared Québec's social and intellectual elite for higher education. The first classical college was COLLÈGE DES JÉSUITES, established in New France by Jesuit missionaries in 1635.

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Women and Health

If life expectancy is any indication of health, Canadian women are, on average, much healthier than they were 70 years ago. The life expectancy of female babies born in 1921 was 61 while female babies born today are expected to live to age 82.

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English-Speaking Quebecers

English-speakers in Québec form a linguistic minority from a wide range of ethnic, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds and with many regional differences. The presence of this minority dates back to the French Regime, but coherent communities developed only after the British Conquest. The proportion of English-speakers increased in the years leading up to Confederation , followed by a gradual decline, particularly in the regions outside Montréal.

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Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) in Quebec

In Quebec, a Collège d’enseignement general et professionnel (General and professional teaching college in English) is a public school that provides students with the first level of post-secondary education. These institutions are most often referred to by the French acronym CEGEP. Quebec's first CEGEPs opened their doors in 1967, a few months after the adoption of the General and Vocational Colleges Act or Loi des collèges d'enseignement général et professionnel. In 2020, there were 48 CEGEPs in Quebec (see also Education in Canada, Community CollegeUniversities in Canada and University College).

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History of Childhood

Biology and the laws and customs of human culture together govern the nature of human childhood. The ways in which biology and culture come together in children change over time; the story of these changes forms the history of childhood.

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Women's Studies

Women's Studies (also referred to as Feminist Studies) is a generic label for a diverse and fast growing area of knowledge. The first few courses in Women's Studies were taught at Canadian universities in the early 1970s.

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Women and the Law

Women have looked to the law as a tool to change their circumstances, while at the same time the law is one of the instruments which confirms their dependent status as citizens (see Status of Women). The first phase of the Women's Movement, in proclaiming that women were capable of reason as well as reproduction and nurturing, claimed a place for women in the public sphere, while also relying upon the concept of "separate spheres" to delineate their areas of strength and competence.

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Igloo

Igloo (iglu in Inuktitut, meaning “house”), is a winter dwelling made of snow. Historically, Inuit across the Arctic lived in igloos before the introduction of modern, European-style homes. While igloos are no longer the common type of housing used by the Inuit, they remain culturally significant in Arctic communities. Igloos also retain practical value: some hunters and those seeking emergency shelter still use them. (See also Architectural History of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

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Antifeminism in Québec

​Antifeminism is a counter-movement that is opposed to feminism and that seeks to thwart efforts to emancipate women. Antifeminism has evolved in response to advances made by the feminist movement.

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Aging

Aging is a continual biological, psychological and social process from infancy to old age. Conventionally, the term narrowly refers to the transition from adulthood to old age. Population aging refers to a decline in relative numbers of young people and an increase in relative numbers of old people.