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INTEGRATING THE
INTO SCHOOLCULTURAL DIMENSION REFERENCE DOCUMENT
FOR TEACHERS
INTEGRATING THE
INTO SCHOOLCULTURAL DIMENSION REFERENCE DOCUMENT
FOR TEACHERS
© Gouvernement du Québec
Dépôt légal – Bibliothèque nationale du Québec – 2003
SUPERVISION Georges Bouchard
Coordinator of Arts Education programs and the culture-education agreement
CONCEPTION Claude Vallières
and WRITING Consultant in music education
COLLABORATION Caroline Raymond
in CONCEPTION Consultant in dance educationand WRITING
CONSULTATION We would like to thank all those people who contributed to the conception ofthis document, especially the members of the advisory committee, theorientation committee and the reflection committee.
Advisory committee Hélène Béchard, project officer in the artsGhislaine Bourcier, pedagogical consultantCommission scolaire des SamaresGuylaine Demers, consultant in physical education and healthCylvie Gaignard, teacherCommission scolaire de Rouyn-NorandaRoger Lapointe, teacherCommission scolaire des PatriotesJacqueline Pelletier, consultant in educationCaroline Raymond, consultant in educationCécile Thériault, teacherCommission scolaire des Phares
Orientation committee Carole Bellavance, project officer in the artsGeorges Bouchard, coordinator of Arts Education programs and the culture-education agreement Nicole Gagnon, coordinator of cross-curricular learning Jean-François Giguère, coordinator of program testingMarius Langlois, coordinator of Social Sciences programsLise Ouellet, coordinator of the Français, langue d’enseignement, programMargaret Rioux-Dolan, director general, Direction de la formation des jeunesDiane Rochon, coordinator of the Science and Technology program
PRODUCTIONTEAM
Reflection committee ** Georges Bouchard, coordinator of Arts Education programsand the culture-education agreement
* Danièle Bracke, science teacherCommission scolaire du Val-des-CerfsRaymond Breau, consultant in arts and culture
* Anita Burton, English as a second language teacherCommission scolaire de la Beauce-Etchemin
* Marie-Ève Claude, Français, langue seconde, teacher Commission scolaire Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier
* Michel Clément, consultant for the Français, langue d’enseignement, program
* Denis de Champlain, mathematics teacherCommission scolaire des Premières-Seigneuries
* Halette Djandji, coordinator of the Protestant Moral and Religious Education program
* Danielle Dumas, geography teacherCollège de LévisNicole Gagnon, coordinator of cross-curricular learning René Gibeault, representative of the Association québécoise des comités culturels scolaires
* Robert Goyette, consultant for the Physical Education and Health program** Francine Lacroix, consultant analyst
Direction de la culture scientifique et techniqueMinistère du Développement économique et régional
** Esther Loiselle, consultantDirection des relations interministérielles et intergouvernementalesMinistère de la Culture et des CommunicationsFrancine Payette, coordinator of communications and publisher of Virage and SchoolscapesDirection générale de la formation des jeunes
* Lise Quirion, teacherCommission scolaire de la RiveraineMargaret Rioux-Dolan, director general, Direction de la formation des jeunes
* Michèle Roberge, consultant for the Catholic Religious and Moral Instruction programClaudette St-Cyr, interim coordinator of the Moral Education program
* Nicole Turcotte, consultant in arts et cultureCommission scolaire de Montréal
Those people whose names are marked with an asterisk collaborated in thewriting of Chapter 3. Those whose names are marked with two asteriskscollaborated in the writing of Chapter 4.
VALIDATION Abigail Anderson, coordinator of the English Language Arts programSuzanne Belzil, coordinator of the Français, langue seconde; third language; and Intégration linguistique, scolaire et sociale programsGeorges Bouchard, coordinator of Arts Education programs and the culture-education agreementHalette Djandji, coordinator of the Protestant Moral and Religious Education programMihran Djiknavorian, coordinator of the Mathematics programNicole Gagnon, coordinator of cross-curricular learning Elizabeth Johnston, coordinator of the English as a Second Language programMarius Langlois, coordinator of Social Sciences programsLise Ouellet, coordinator of the Français, langue d’enseignement, programPascale Porlier, coordinator of the Physical Education and Health programDiane Rochon, coordinator of the Science and Technology programDenis Watters, coordinator of the Catholic Religious and Moral Instruction program and the Ethics and Religious Culture program
Integrating a Cultural Dimension into School: Reference Document for Teachers is a publication of the Direction general de la formation des jeunes, Ministère de l’Éducation, and the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications.
ENGLISH VERSION Direction de la production en langue anglaise
Services à la communauté anglophoneMinistère de l’Éducation
INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter 1
EXACTLY WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? 2Culture 2Improving cultural content 4Integrating the cultural dimension into school 5Table 1: Presentation of cultural concepts 6
Chapter 2
INTEGRATING THE CULTURAL DIMENSION INTO TEACHING AND LEARNING 7Definition of the integration of the cultural dimension into teaching and learning 7Cultural references 9
Immediate culture and general culture 10The nature of a cultural reference 11Contribution to students’ overall education 12Openness to their immediate environment 12Openness to reality beyond their immediate environment 13Enhancement of personal development 14Pedagogical value 14Selection of significant cultural references 16Table 2: Checklist for assessing cultural references 17Table 3: Results of the assessment of some examples of cultural references 18
The teachers’ role 19Principles for integrating the cultural dimension into school 20Teachers’ attitudes 21Teaching strategies 21Educational resources 22Suggestions for educational activities 23
TABLE OFCONTENTS
Chapter 3
THE CULTURAL DIMENSION OF THE QUÉBEC EDUCATION PROGRAM 25Components 25Subject areas and programs of study 26Languages 27Mathematics, Science and Technology 31Social Sciences 33Arts Education 35Personal Development 36
Chapter 4
THE SCHOOL’S CULTURAL PARTNERS 40An agreement on education and culture 40Provincial cultural resources 42Regional cultural resources 43The immediate environment of the school 43School cultural committees 44
CONCLUSION 46
APPENDIXTable 4: Checklist for recording the results of the assessment of cultural references 47
BIBLIOGRAPHY 48
TABLE OFCONTENTS
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This document is to be used as a referencefor integrating the cultural dimension intoschool. It derives from the Educational PolicyStatement Québec Schools on Course(1997), which recommended that the culturalcontent of the curriculum be improved. It isalso consistent with the orientations of theQuébec Education Program (QEP) forelementary and secondary education (2001and 2002), which recommends the inclusionof cultural content in students’ learning toenable them to broaden their world-views,construct their identities and becomeempowered.
To meet these expectations, it is essentialthat teachers have a clear sense of the placeof culture in education. All the subjects havecultural content, each in its own way.Teachers therefore have to be able torecognize the traces and manifestations ofculture in the different subjects. In order tofully play their role as cultural brokers(Zakhartchouk, 1999), they also should beable to integrate the cultural dimension intoschool, which is dedicated to education,social development and openness to theworld.
This document begins by clarifying someconcepts that are often used in speaking ofculture and education, and places theseconcepts in relation to each other. It thenpresents various ways to improve thecultural content of the curriculum on thebasis of three avenues for integrating thecultural dimension: teaching and learning,the QEP and collaboration with the school’scultural partners.
It is important, before using this document,to consider that integrating the culturaldimension does not mean adding anythingto teachers’ tasks or to the QEP, becauseculture is already an intrinsic part of the QEPand of learning. Hence what we areproposing here is a concrete way of thinkingof culturally anchored learning, which doesnot change the structure of the programs ofstudy or their application by teachers.
We would also like to stress that that therewill eventually be a second phase, in whichthis document will be supplemented withsuggestions for integrating the culturaldimension as well as several learningsituations. These will provide additionaltools for integrating the cultural dimensioninto teaching and learning.
INTRODUCTION
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In Québec, as elsewhere, the concern with culture and its many manifestations is not new. Thesame is true of education. Thus it is not surprising that the continuous merging of these twoworlds that contribute to human development is forcing us to constantly redefine the stakesinvolved and clarify the guidelines for our actions. In the wake of the reform and theEducational Policy Statement that preceded it, the discourse of people concerned with thequalitative presence of culture in the school has been marked by certain key words andexpressions–and this document is no exception. But what is culture? What do we mean by theterm improving the cultural content? What does integrating the cultural dimension into schoolmean? What is the relationship between these concepts?
We need to adopt a shared view of these subjets. In this chapter, a few proposals will beformulated in this vein.
It is illusory to think culture can be defined in a way that perfectly delineates the subject and isagreed on by everyone. Culture is too vast and too close to people’s personal concerns to besummed up in a single view, and that is not what we are trying to do here.
However, it must be admitted that some definitions correspond to conceptions of culture thatare shared by many people in our society. For example, culture is commonly defined as thesum of artistic, religious and intellectual customs and works that define a group or a society.Many sources define culture as the learning acquired by an individual. In the Dictionnaireactuel de l’éducation (1993), Legendre sees it as the expression of life in society, and he devotesseveral pages to it, which include the following definition:
the sum of social (religious, moral, aesthetic, scientific, technological, etc.) phenomenacharacteristic of a human community or society… or a civilization… The ways ofseeing, feeling, perceiving, thinking, expressing oneself and reacting; the way of life,beliefs, knowledge, achievements, customs, traditions, institutions, norms, values,mores, recreational activities and aspirations that mark the members of a collectivityand bind them to a particular time. [translation]
EXACTLY WHAT ARE
WE TALKINGABOUT?
CHAPTER 1
Culture
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Drawing on Hannah Arendt, Legendre makeshis own the idea that education is theprimary way to transmit culture and foster itsgrowth.
In its broadest meaning, culture has manyaspects: anthropological (the study of thecultures of different human communitiesthrough their institutions, family structures,beliefs, technologies and traditions),historical (knowledge of the human past, aparticular society or an individual, or anaccount of the actions or events of a period,a nation or a branch of the endeavours of thehuman mind that are deemed worthy ofmemory), artistic, literary, linguistic,sociological (the study of socialphenomena), territorial, scientific, techno-logical, media, etc.
The definitions provided here pave the wayfor a conception of culture as both objectand relationship (Simard, 1999, 2001, 2002).As object, culture is a set of things created byhuman beings in response to interests,needs, questions or problems. Moreover, aclose connection between culture and theindividual is part of forming relationshipswith oneself and others and the world(Charlot, 1997; Gauthier, 2001).
A cultural approach to education that drawson the twofold meaning of culture isconsistent with the three basic aims of theQEP for secondary school. Access to avariety of cultural resources and a broadrange of knowledge contributes to thestudent’s construction of a world-view. Inaddition, while the construction of identity ispersonal and social, it is also cultural; thuscontact with ethnic and cultural diversity willallow students to become aware of beingpart of a community and will lead them toaffirm their values. Finally, the relationshipto a living, developing culture to which theycan contribute through their creativity is asource of empowerment for students.
The definitions chosen and the twofoldconception of culture fit in with therequirements of integrating the culturaldimension into an education contextbecause they correspond to processesproposed in several programs of study inboth elementary and secondary school.
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Improving cultural content in the curriculumis one of the goals stated in the EducationalPolicy Statement Québec Schools on Coursein 1997, and its source is the reportReaffirming the Mission of Our Schools,which was published the same year. Thebasic orientations of this document wereused as a frame of reference for redesigningthe programs of study in elementary andsecondary school. The document favours acultural approach to instruction and stressesthe importance of explicitly planning theintegration of the cultural dimension into thesubject content. A final proposal of the PolicyStatement was that more place be given tothose subjects that naturally have the mostcultural content. However, the work thatfollowed developed in such a way that itseemed more pertinent to try to integratecultural content into all the subjects.
Improving cultural content is thus anobjective to be attained and an aim to bepursued by everyone in the educationsystem. Integrating the cultural dimensioninto school is one of the three waysproposed to improve cultural content, asshown in column one of Table 1 below.
Improving culturalcontent
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Integrating thecultural dimension
into school
1. Québec, Ministère de l’Éducation, Québec Education Program:Preschool Education, Elementary Education (Québec: Gouvernementdu Québec, 2001). See the definition of cultural references on page 9.
We may have a clear view of culture andclear proposals for improving the culturalcontent of the curriculum, but these must betranslated into pedagogical terms if they areto have an effect on students. Hence thethree avenues for integrating the culturaldimension into school presented in thisdocument. One of these avenues is teachingand learning as experienced daily in theclassroom. In this context, the culturaldimension may involve the use of significantcultural references associated with variouscomponents of the QEP (cross-curricularcompetencies, broad areas of learning,subject areas and programs of study).1Another avenue is provided by the QEPitself, whose aims, orientations andcomponents may be seen as entry points forintegrating the cultural dimension. Finally,the last avenue takes concrete form in jointactions by school personnel and the school’scultural partners, all of whom have a role in“instructing and educating, in other words…forming cultured individuals… who willmaintain a new relationship with culture,that is to say, with the world, withthemselves and with others.” (TeacherTraining: Orientations, Professional Compe-tencies, MEQ, 2001, pp. 34-35).
The three avenues for integrating thecultural dimension into school will be furtherdiscussed in Chapters 2, 3 and 4.
Table 1, below, shows the main ideaspresented in this chapter.
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TAB
LE1
PRES
ENTA
TIO
N O
F C
ULT
UR
AL
CO
NC
EPTS
Expl
icitl
y pl
an th
ein
tegr
atio
n of
the
cultu
ral
dim
ensi
on in
to s
ubje
ctco
nten
t.
Favo
ur a
cul
tura
l app
roac
hto
inst
ruct
ion.
Bri
ng o
ut th
e cu
ltura
lco
nten
t in
each
sub
ject
.
IMPR
OV
EMEN
T O
FC
ULT
UR
AL
CO
NTE
NT
GO
AL
CU
LTU
RE
TRA
NS
LATI
ON
INTO
PED
AG
OG
ICA
L TE
RM
S
DEF
INIT
ION
S
AS
PEC
TS O
F C
ULT
UR
E
IN T
EA
CH
ING
AN
DLE
AR
NIN
GIN
TH
E Q
EP
IN C
OLL
AB
OR
AT
ION
WIT
HT
HE
SC
HO
OL’
S C
ULT
UR
AL
PAR
TN
ER
S
Act
ions
usi
ngm
eani
ngfu
l cul
tura
lre
fere
nces
ass
ocia
ted
with
var
ious
com
pone
nts
of
the
QEP
Pres
ence
of t
hecu
ltura
l dim
ensi
on in
the
orie
ntat
ions
and
aim
s of
the
QEP
, the
subj
ect a
reas
and
subj
ects
, and
the
cros
s-cu
rric
ular
com
pete
ncie
s an
d br
oad
area
s of
lear
ning
Act
ions
of t
he
Min
istè
re d
el’É
duca
tion;
the
Min
istè
re d
e la
C
ultu
re e
t des
Com
mun
icat
ions
; th
e M
inis
tère
du
Dév
elop
pem
ent
écon
omiq
ue e
tré
gion
al; p
rovi
ncia
l an
d re
gion
al c
ultu
ral
reso
urce
s; th
e lo
cal
envi
ronm
ent o
f the
scho
ol; a
nd s
choo
lcu
ltura
l com
mitt
ees
The
sum
of a
rtis
tic, r
elig
ious
and
inte
llect
ual c
usto
ms
and
wor
ks th
at d
efin
e a
grou
p or
a s
ocie
ty.
The
sum
of s
ocia
l (re
ligio
us, m
oral
, aes
thet
ic, s
cien
tific
,te
chni
cal,
etc.
) phe
nom
ena
char
acte
rist
ic o
f a h
uman
com
mun
ity o
r so
ciet
y …
or
a ci
viliz
atio
n… T
he w
ays
ofse
eing
, fee
ling,
per
ceiv
ing,
thin
king
, exp
ress
ing
ones
elf
and
reac
ting;
the
way
of l
ife, b
elie
fs, k
now
ledg
e,ac
hiev
emen
ts, c
usto
ms,
trad
ition
s, in
stitu
tions
, nor
ms,
valu
es, m
ores
, rec
reat
iona
l act
iviti
es a
nd a
spir
atio
ns th
atm
ark
the
mem
bers
of a
col
lect
ivity
and
bin
d th
em to
apa
rtic
ular
tim
e. [T
rans
latio
n]
The
sum
of t
he le
arni
ng a
cqui
red
by a
n in
divi
dual
.
Ant
hrop
olog
ical
, his
tori
cal,
soci
olog
ical
, lite
rary
, lin
guis
tic, a
rtis
tic, t
erri
tori
al, s
cien
tific
, tec
hnol
ogic
al,
med
ia, e
tc.
Cul
ture
as
obje
ctC
ultu
re a
s re
latio
nshi
p
THE
CU
LTU
RA
L D
IMEN
SIO
N A
T S
CH
OO
L
TWO
FOLD
CO
NC
EPTI
ON
OF
CU
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Definition of the integration of the culturaldimension into
teaching and learning
It is in the concrete actions the student performs in the course of learning and the pedagogicalstrategies used by teachers that the integration of the cultural dimension finds its full meaning.This chapter presents guidelines and tools for reflection, understanding and action concerningthe integration of the cultural dimension into teaching and learning. A definition is provided atthe outset to delineate the subjet. Then, detailed explanations are given for cultural referencesand their use in the classroom. Finally, in the third part of the chapter, the teacher’s role inintegrating the cultural dimension is discussed.
WHAT?
Integrating the cultural dimension into teaching and learning involves using significant culturalreferences drawn from contemporary and past societies here and elsewhere, and havingstudents apply them in the five subject areas, the five broad areas of learning and thedevelopment of cross-curricular competencies.
HOW?
These cultural references, which are associated with all the components of the QEP (especiallythe broad areas of learning, their educational aims and at least one of their focuses ofdevelopment), are dealt with in the teaching and learning strategies. This promotes thedevelopment of a cultural approach to instruction and enriches the process of development ofthe students’ competencies.
WHY?
Integrating the cultural dimension into teaching and learning is advantageous in several ways.Because the school is a place of true cultural integration, it enables students to formrelationships with themselves and others and the world. It also gives them access to a culturalheritage of great works and human achievements.
INTEGRATING THE CULTURAL
DIMENSION INTOTEACHING AND
LEARNING
CHAPTER 2
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THE GOAL
The integration of the cultural dimension finds itsfull meaning in the advantages it offers students. Itenables them to develop their sensibilities inrelation to their immediate environment and theirinterest in things beyond it, thus beginning aprocess of opening up to the world. They also learnto take advantage of the cultural life of their society,making it their own and enriching it through theiractive participation.
Integrating the cultural dimension into teachingand learning will thus enable students to:
prepare themselves to deal more effectively withvarious situations in lifesituate themselves better in relation to theirphysical and human environmentbecome involved in their society in a spirit ofrecognition of its uniqueness and tolerance forhuman and cultural diversity
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Cultural references are focuses of learningthat are culturally significant and whose usein the classroom enables students to enrichtheir relationships with themselves andothers and the world. They may take variousforms, such as events, media productions orobjects from everyday life, provided thatthey make it possible to look at significantsocial phenomena or cultural trends. Theymay also be heritage objects, territorialreferences, artistic works, scientificdiscoveries, ways of thinking, values thatinfluence behaviour or personalities,provided that they have cultural significance.
This view is based on a twofold conceptionof culture as both object and relationship(Simard 1999, 2001, 2002). A culturalreference may be seen as an object oflearning because it is generally used in theclassroom in the process of development ofcross-curricular or subject-specific compe-tencies and because it is an element orfragment of culture from one of the manyareas of human endeavour and was createdin response to problems, questions, needs orinterests.
The objective of the use of culturalreferences is to allow students to find inthem the resources to better deal with their
reality. The choice of references should bemade on the basis of the potential they offerfor students facing various life situations ortrying to understand, experience and relateto what is happening in our time. Moreover,the extensive use of cultural references is amajor way to enable students to form agenuine and deep personal relationship withculture. This is part of the students’construction of their world-views, enrichingtheir ways of looking at themselves andothers and their environment.
For these reasons, the use of culturalreferences is essential for integrating thecultural dimension into teaching andlearning.
Cultural references may be selectedaccording to various criteria, giving rise tothe following questions: Is the reference partof the general culture or the immediateculture? Is it from the field of art, sociology,science, history or anthropology? How doesit promote openness to the students’immediate environment or to what isbeyond their everyday reality? Whatcontribution does it make to the students’personal development? What is its peda-gogical value?
Cultural references
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IMMEDIATE CULTURE AND GENERAL CULTURE
Culture is first of all “what an individual has made his or her own… but it is also a broad set ofworks (or behaviours, in the sociological or anthropological sense) in which individuals situatethemselves” [translation] (Zakhartchouk, 1999). Each in its own way, the immediate culture andthe general culture provide references, models and tools that allow students to construct anddevelop their world-views, construct their identities and become empowered (QuébecEducation Program, MEQ, 2001), and neither one of them should be neglected in teaching andlearning. The school thus has a twofold responsibility to expose students to contemporaryculture and to transmit a cultural heritage. Furthermore, it should be remembered thateverything is not of equal value, that some human achievements are more worthy than othersof being the object of classroom learning. Cultural references should be drawn from both theimmediate culture and general culture, which may be briefly defined as follows.
The immediate culture corresponds to the student’s familiar cultural universe. It includes bothmedia culture and the student’s family culture. The use of references drawn from theimmediate culture makes students aware of their own culture; it “distances them from theknown and familiar, allowing them to objectify it so as to better understand it” [translation](Simard, 2002).
General culture enables students to gain access to the cultural heritage from here andelsewhere (including phenomena of the past). It also includes various contemporarymanifestations of world-wide culture as well as what is known as general knowledge.
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THE NATURE OF A CULTURAL REFERENCE
In its broadest definition, culture comprisesseveral areas of human activity. As shownabove, cultural references by nature lendthemselves to use in relation to sociological,historical, anthropological or artisticconcerns. Some may be used to study socialphenomena. Others provide better under-standing of the past of humanity, a society oran individual. Still others shed light onactions or events of a period, a nation or anarea of human endeavour deemed worthy ofmemory. They may draw students’ attentionto institutions, beliefs, family structures,technologies or traditions of our own oranother society. The use of culturalreferences makes it possible to analyze andinterpret similarities and differences insocieties and their cultures. Finally, giventheir possibilities for classroom use, worksof art from here and elsewhere, present andpast, may be significant cultural referencesfor both students and teachers.
It is clear that culture covers an infinitevariety of phenomena. Thus guidelines arerequired in order to avoid using elementsthat are not conducive to comprehensive,meaningful learning that is transferable fromone situation to another. Cultural referencesare by nature:
representative of a period, a current ofthought, social values, etc.responses to problems that have arisen indifferent spheres of activity and have beenfaced by individuals or societiesthroughout the agesmanifestations of the power of humanimagination and creativity
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CONTRIBUTION TO STUDENTS’ OVERALL EDUCATION
In the context of teaching and learning, the use of a cultural reference should enable students to:
show curiosity about things that are familiar but whose cultural meaning they do not entirelyunderstand (students have an attitude of openness to their immediate environment) show openness to things from the past or from other cultures (students have an attitude ofopenness to reality beyond their immediate environment)enhance their personal lives by acquiring new knowledge or sensibilities or the ability toquestion themselves (this contributes to the students’ personal development)
Hence students will develop attitudes that enable them to play an active role as learners indynamic interaction with various manifestations of culture.
OPENNESS TO THEIR IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT
The use of cultural references that encourage students to be open to their immediateenvironment enables students to:
transcend the ordinariness of everyday life2
better understand their environment: school, family and social environmentdevelop curiosity about their cultural identity in order to recognize its contribution to theworld despite the current trend toward global cultural uniformity
Depending on the learning activities planned, the use of this type of cultural reference cancontribute to the development of all the cross-curricular competencies, especially those insecondary education.
The learning may be contextualized in various broad areas of learning, particularlyEnvironmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities. This type of culturalreference is also associated with certain key features of the competencies in various subjects.
2. Example 1: People could live in square buildings that were all identical. But a variety of architecturalstyles exist. Why? Where do all these different styles come from? Example 2: Is it possible to imagine a day that contains no cultural references: no music, no well-turnedphrases, no posters, no illustrations, no aesthetic reactions? Can we imagine a day in an environmentin which everything was the same, for example, in which everyone in the world wore the same clothes?
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OPENNESS TO REALITY BEYOND THEIR
IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT
The use of cultural references thatencourage students to be open to realitybeyond their immediate environmentenables students to:
show openness to things they would notnecessarily experience in their immediateenvironmentdiscover cultural diversity and betterunderstand the reality of other placesmake connections between the presentand the past so as to better understandpresent realitygrasp the similarities and differencesbetween here and elsewhere, themselvesand others
Depending on the learning activitiesplanned, the use of this type of culturalreference can contribute to the developmentof all the cross-curricular competencies. Thelearning can be contextualized in variousbroad areas of learning, especiallyEnvironmental Awareness and ConsumerRights and Responsibilities and Citizenshipand Community Life. This type of culturalreference is also associated with certain keyfeatures of the competencies in varioussubjects.
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ENHANCEMENT OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
The use of cultural references that contribute to students’ personal development:
develops students’ aesthetic sensibilities and contributes to their aesthetic responsiveness3
encourages students to think about their identities awakens their sensesstimulates their imaginationencourages them to exercise critical judgmentdevelops the habit of going to cultural venues
Depending on the learning activities planned, the use of this type of cultural reference cancontribute to the development of all the cross-curricular competencies.
The learning can be contextualized in various broad areas of learning, especially MediaLiteracy. Finally, this type of cultural reference is also associated with certain key features of thecompetencies in various subjects.
PEDAGOGICAL VALUE
Since we are demonstrating the possibilities for integrating the cultural dimension intoteaching and learning, we must consider the pedagogical value of cultural references. Somecultural references may be meaningful without offering real possibilities for classroom use. Forexample, it is difficult to imagine a music teacher expecting Elementary 1 students to studyBach’s Mass in B minor in its entirety. As might be suspected, the use of a cultural referencedepends on the students’ cultural baggage and the teacher’s pedagogical objectives.Furthermore, since instruction must be based on the QEP, teachers should also assess thepotential contribution of cultural references to the development of subject-specific or cross-curricular competencies.
3. Aesthetic responses develop through direct exposure to anything with aesthetic value (a work of art, ahouse, a landscape, etc.). They make the person experiencing them aware of his or her internal world:the world of personal feelings and perceptions. Aesthetic responses are totally subjective. They cannotbe fully described in words except in the most general terms. (Reimer, 1970)
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Hence pedagogically significant culturalreferences:
are part of the evolution of the varioussubjectspromote the development of one or moresubject-specific competencies in the QEPand make it possible to make connectionsbetween these competencies and a broadarea of learning, its educational aims andat least one of its focuses of developmentoffer real possibilities for classroom usewith the students concerned, in a subject-specific learning situation or cross-curricular project (thus they are not usedmerely as stimuli to learning)
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SELECTION OF SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL
REFERENCES
Table 2, below, shows the criteria teachersshould use in assessing a cultural reference.For a cultural phenomenon to be considereda significant cultural reference, its sourceshould be identified (see level 1). The natureof the cultural reference should also beexamined to determine whether it ispertinent to the students’ learning (see level2). The learning it gives rise to should bedefined (see level 3). Finally, its pedagogicalvalue should be assessed. This is done byseeing whether the cultural reference offersreal possibilities for use in a learningsituation and examining how it relates to theQEP (see level 4). The direct connectionbetween levels 1 and 2 and the culturalreferences as such should be noted, as wellas the way the cultural references are viewedby the teacher. Levels 3 and 4 determine thepedagogical use that may be made of thecultural references. It is at these levels thatteachers will find tools that enable them toplay their role as cultural brokers.
However, it would be overly optimistic toexpect a cultural reference to meet all thecriteria stated here. A cultural reference maynonetheless be considered significant if itmeets the following four conditions:
It comes from the immediate culture orgeneral culture.
It fulfills at least one criterion for thenature of a cultural reference.It contributes to at least one of thefollowing areas of students’ overalleducation:
openness to their immediateenvironmentopenness to reality beyond theirimmediate environmentenhancement of personal development
It fufills all the criteria in level 4.
When using the checklist provided to assessthe significance of a cultural reference,teachers should note any indicationsregarding the use to be made of it in thelearning situation.
Table 3, below, presents the results of anassessment of the significance of someexamples of cultural references. This tableshould be used to record observations madeusing Table 2.4
4. A blank checklist to be used for recording the results of the assessment of cultural references may befound in Appendix 2.
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TABLE 2
CHECKLIST FORASSESSING
CULTURALREFERENCES
Objects of meaningful cultural learning whose use in class enables students to enhance their relationships withthemselves and others and the world: events, media products or things from everyday life (provided that theyenable students to observe significant social phenomena or trends), heritage objects, territorial references, worksof art, scientific discoveries, ways of thinking, values that influence behaviour, personalities, etc. (provided thatthey have a specific cultural meaning).
the student’s familiar cultural universe the cultural heritage from here and elsewhere andcontemporary manifestations of world-wide culture
Level 1 IMMEDIATE CULTURE GENERAL CULTURE
Level 2NATURE OF THE CULTURAL REFERENCE
Level 3
Openness to their immediate
environment
The use of cultural referencesenables students to:1. transcend the ordinariness
of everyday life 2. better understand their
environment: school, familyand social environment
3. develop curiosity abouttheir cultural identity inorder to recognize itscontribution to the worlddespite the current trendtoward global culturaluniformity
Openness to reality beyond their
immediate environment
The use of cultural referencesenables students to:1. show openness to things they
would not necessarilyexperience in their immediateenvironment
2. discover cultural diversity andbetter understand the reality ofother places
3. make connections between thepresent and the past so as tobetter understand presentreality
4. grasp the similarities anddifferences between here andelsewhere, themselves andothers
Personal development
The use of cultural references:1. develops students’ aesthetic
sensibilities and contributes totheir aesthetic responsiveness
2. encourages students to thinkabout their identities
3. awakens their senses4. stimulates their imagination5. allows them to exercise critical
judgment6. develops the habit of going to
cultural venues
PEDAGOGICAL VALUE Cultural references:1. are part of the evolution of the various subjects2. promote the development of one or more subject-specific competencies in
the QEP and make it possible to make connections between thesecompetencies and a broad area of learning, its educational aims and atleast one of its focuses of development
3. offer real possibilities for classroom use with the students concerned, in asubject-specific learning situation or cross-curricular project (thus they arenot used merely as stimuli to learning)
Level 4
The cultural references fulfill at least one criterion in levels 1, 2 and 3 and all the criteria in level 4.
CULTURAL REFERENCES
Cultural references:1. are representative of a period, a current of thought, social values, etc.2. are responses to problems that have arisen in different spheres of activity
and have been faced by individuals or societies throughout the ages3. are manifestations of the power of human imagination and creativity
CONTRIBUTION TO STUDENTS’ OVERALL EDUCATION
SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL REFERENCES
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The responsibility of integrating the culturaldimension into teaching and learning is ashared one. First of all, this task should drawon the competencies and energies of theschool team, the educational communityand the social milieu. The cultural partnersshould respond to the initiatives of theeducational community and the needs itexpresses in its quest for rich and culturallydiversified learning experiences. Thus,although the roles of homeroom teachers orart teachers may vary–cultural broker, heir,critic or interpreter (Teacher Training:Orientations, Professional Competencies,MEQ, 2001)–their actions will be more likelyto bear fruit if they take into account thecomponents of the QEP and are part of a
collective process. Teachers are at the heartof the process. Without their commitment tointegrate the cultural dimension, the schoolwill not be able to offer students theopportunity to acquire a rich culture.
The following pages provide guidelinesshowing how teachers can become culturalbrokers. They will be able to offermeaningful educational activities thatcontribute to integrating the culturaldimension by basing their actions onestablished principles, showing appropriateattitudes to culture, applying teachingstrategies that make connections withcultural phenomena and using culturallyrelevant educational resources.
The teachers’ role
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PRINCIPLES8 FOR INTEGRATING THE CULTURAL DIMENSION INTO SCHOOL
“Pedagogy is the effort to adapt culture to students’ needs and capacities and to confrontstudents with the demands of culture” [translation] (Simard 2001). To make the integration ofthe cultural dimension both meaningful and pedagogically effective, teachers should base theirplanning, their actions in the classroom and the consideration of their teaching on thefollowing principles:
Know the history, methods, principles and evolution of the subject taught.Master the competencies, principles and concepts that are intrinsic to the subject.Possess a pedagogical knowledge of the subject taught.Make sure the information given to students is valid.Diversify human, material and technical or institutional educational resources.9Avoid both elitism and excessive populism.Do not be dogmatic or moralistic.Avoid drawing all cultural references from a single kind of culture (immediate or general).
8. A principle is a fundamental basis for action and a guide for behaviour.9. See the examples of educational resources below.
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TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES
Certain attitudes on the part of teachers areespecially conducive to the application of theprinciples stated above, and thus to theintegration of the cultural dimension. Thefollowing are some examples.
Use your own cultural resources,accepting that you do not knoweverything and adopting a stance ofcuriosity, research and self-questioning.Take an interest in the students’ culturalenvironments, paying attention to theirreactions, references, tastes, positionsand questions.Show openness toward culture from hereand elsewhere, past and present.Show and communicate an attitude ofcuriosity, passion and desire for learningtoward manifestations of culture.Communicate in a way that makes culturallearning interesting, attractive and non-threatening (do not use an approach thatis too formal).
TEACHING STRATEGIES10
If the way to integrate the cultural dimensioninto learning situations in the classroom isthrough the use of significant culturalreferences, then it is clear that there arevarious possibilities for doing this whiletaking into account the components of theQEP. There are a multitude of relevantteaching strategies, of which the followingare examples.
Reinforce the value of external culturalresources by reusing them in classroomlearning activities based on the students’cultural experience.Find ways that allow the students to benot only attentive but also active.Ask questions rather than providingcultural knowledge that contains all theanswers in advance.Form research committees on culturalreferences.Use the cultural resources of thecommunity.Bring out different points of view on thesame subject wherever possible.
10. A teaching strategy is a set of procedures planned by a teacher to foster student learning.
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Contextualize cultural references according to the questions, areas of interest and needsthey are associated with or the problems they provide solutions to.Encourage students to seek the extraordinary in the ordinary things in life, and, in order todo so, to explore their environment from a different perspective.Make students aware of the range of solutions found in the past to life situations comparableto the ones they themselves face.Have students make connections between things here and elsewhere, present and past.Plan times for students to share their discovery of cultural references not provided byteachers.Vary teaching techniques (analogies, brainstorming, role plays, lists of attributes, synonymsand antonyms, multisensory approach, etc.).
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
As part of their teaching strategies, teachers should use a variety of human, material, technicalor institutional resources (all associated with culture) in order to integrate the culturaldimension. These resources may take many forms, of which the following are examples:
Human resources: teachers, students, members of students’ families, seniors, members ofthe community, public personalities, artists (in the fields of literature, music, dance, theatreand visual art)Material and technical resources: books (prose, poetry, etc.), objects from everyday life,works of art, sound systems, computers (information and communications technologies),CD-ROMs, television sets (images and information from the news), magazinesInstitutional resources: libraries, concert halls, movie theatres, museums, art galleries,historical sites, science or technology exhibition centres11
The choice of resources is at the discretion of the teachers and should depend on the students’level of development, the competencies targeted, the type of task to be carried out, the culturalreferences chosen, etc.
11. More resources are suggested in Chapter 4. School cultural committees can be very helpful in organizingand coordinating visits to these resources.
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SUGGESTIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL
ACTIVITIES12
Some types of educational activities are bynature conducive to the use of significantcultural references. These activities alsocontribute to the harmonious developmentof subject-specific and cross-curricularcompetencies and may be connected withvarious focuses of development in the broadareas of learning.
The following examples of activities fosterstudents’ overall education (see level 3 ofTable 2, above). They require students’ activeinvolvement in their learning. Studentsshould be encouraged to:
design and use different spaces forlistening, consulting internationalmaterials, reading books, magazines andnewspapers, etc.meet people from the school’s communityfor activities dealing with subjects that willenrich their culture and that use significantcultural referencesparticipate actively in the cultural life ofthe school and the communitygo to cultural venues (museums andeconomuseums, maisons de la culture,interpretation centres, concert halls,sports events, etc.)share their cultural discoveries withclasses in other cycles, other schools or
other countries in activities based onthemes using cultural referencesdiscover traces of the past in objects oflearning related to the presentlook at the same object of learning fromdifferent perspectives (aesthetic,utilitarian, historical, social, etc.)explore various aspects of the cultures ofdifferent peoples, communities, etc. (e.g.devote one month of the year to exploringa country’s music, recreational activities,food, social organization, stories andlegends, etc.)consider the differences between thecultural manifestations of differentpeoples (customs, houses, costumes,history, etc.)make a timetable of cultural programmingin the media (television, radio, etc.) create a press review of cultural materialon various subjects for limited or broaddistributionmake a radio or television program onsome aspect of culture (anthropological,historical, sociological, literary, linguistic,artistic, geographic, scientific, techno-logical, media-related, etc.) for limited orbroad distribution (intercom, school radiostation, community radio or televisionstation, etc.)visit a business that sells products fromother cultures
12. An educational activity enriches students’ knowledge or skills and contributes to their general development.
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correspond with students from another culture organize a “fair of the senses” made up of things chosen for the sensory or aestheticpleasure they provideimagine the history of an object or a character in a work of artimagine the history of an ordinary or unusual objectcreate a time line with various cultural references placed in the different periods as they arediscovered or experiencedstudy the different ways a specific cultural reference such as a calendar has been used indifferent spheres of human activity (fishing and agriculture, religious rituals, astronomy, etc.)participate in discussion with creators and interpreters in the artswatch films and evaluate them according to specific criteriavisit the neighbourhood or village to discover the range of architectural styles in the builtheritage
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By its nature and the synergy of itscomponents, the QEP shows a good deal ofconcern for the cultural dimension.
This concern is evident, first of all, in itsorientations, all of which implicitly aim tohelp students construct their identities andworld-views. To fulfill such aims, it isnecessary to take into account who thestudents are, the physical, family, culturaland social environment with which theyinteract, and the tools they need in order tobenefit from the interaction. At this level,learning is personally meaningful forstudents when it enables them to makeconnections with what they know and thequestions they are asking. In addition,learning is considered socially significantwhen it provides students with tools tobetter understand the social, cultural andphysical world they belong to. Theseobservations bring us back to the definitionsof culture provided at the beginning ofChapter 1 and make more explicit itscontribution to students’ overall education,as discussed in Chapter 2 (openness to theirimmediate environment, openness to realitybeyond their immediate environment, andpersonal development).
In a different vein, the QEP, as we know, usesa competency-based approach, and itdefines a competency as a set of behavioursbased on the effective mobilization and useof a range of resources (preschool andelementary education) or the capacity to acteffectively by drawing on a variety ofresources (secondary school education).
These resources may take many forms.Some of them are internal, in that they areintrinsic to a person and are not necessarilythe result of formal instruction: motivation,specific aptitudes, interest, previouslearning, experiences, etc. Externalresources may also have a culturaldimension. Whether they are material,technical, human or institutional, theyexpose students to significant culturalphenomena whose use enables them toprogress in the development of acompetency.
It is important to remember that cross-curricular competencies are developedthrough contextualization in subject-specificor multi-subject learning situations. Thusthey are all in varying degrees capable ofmaking a contribution, depending on the useof significant cultural references suggestedin the learning situations.
The broad areas of learning deal withvarious questions that students are trying toanswer in their personal, physical, social andcultural environments. Some of the areas arequite closely associated with values(Citizenship and Community Life, forexample). Others concern the students’sociocultural environment (EnvironmentalAwareness and Consumer Rights andResponsibilities or Media Literacy).Whatever their specific characteristics, thebroad areas of learning all have severalfocuses of development that allow the use ofcultural references.
Components
THE CULTURALDIMENSION OF THE
QUÉBEC EDUCATIONPROGRAM
CHAPTER 3
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Subject areas and programs
of study
The subject areas facilitate the integration of the cultural dimension into teaching and learning.The areas of Languages; Arts Education; Mathematics, Science and Technology; SocialSciences; and Personal Development correspond to major components of culture to whichstudents should be exposed in the course of their education. They are the source of the learningplanned for the various programs of study, whose objective is to make significant dimensionsof culture and important aspects of our social, physical and cultural environment accessible andunderstandable.
An analysis of the programs of study shows that some competencies, components and learningcontexts allow connections to be made between significant cultural references and the subjectsin the curriculum. The same is true for many of the essential knowledges (in elementaryeducation) and much of the program content (in secondary education): a good deal of thematerial already consists of significant cultural references, which are used dynamically in thedevelopment of competencies.
The following pages show how each subject in the various subject areas contributes to students’cultural learning, with cultural references playing their own unique role in each subject.
FRANÇAIS, LANGUE D’ENSEIGNEMENT
There are currently more than 110 millionpeople in the world who share the Frenchlanguage and culture. Long a source ofinspiration and a means of communicationfor thousands of thinkers and creators inevery area of human knowledge, the Frenchlanguage is the basis for the construction offrancophone identity.
The French language is a fundamentalresource that enables young people inQuébec schools to express their thoughtsand feelings orally and in writing.Developing competencies in French meansbuilding the future, acquiring a solidfoundation for the full exercise of democraticpower, and integration into the workingworld. It also means gaining the intellectualand cultural capacity to take advantage of amultitude of literary, documentary andtechnological resources.
In French, students embark on a genuinecultural journey. Appreciating print or digitalliterary texts, going on guided visits tocultural venues and being exposed tocultural references associated with theindividual subjects and the QEP as a wholeallows students to discover the riches of theculture and the creative possibilities of theFrench language.
Assisted by adults with cultural awarenesswho act as guides and mediators, studentslearn to create their own cultural referencesand to construct their identities as culturalactors. For them, acquiring culturalreferences means taking an interest in thepast and being open to the present, andviewing culture as both a heritage and arealm of lived experiences.
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Languages
ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
Learning English as a second language is essential for better understanding human activity.Language, the students’ connection with their milieu, and other cultural aspects of theirenvironment are among the factors that foster students’ personal and social identity.
Cultural references are an integral part of the English as a Second Language program. They areat the centre of the development of the three competencies: to interact orally in English, toreinvest understanding of oral and written texts and to write texts.
Cultural references may be classified in three major categories: aesthetic references concernfilm, literature, music and the media; sociological references concern the family, interpersonalrelationships, customs, material conditions, heros and idols, and history and geography;sociolinguistic references concern social skills, paralinguistic skills, language codes andhumour. The use of a variety of cultural references from different places where English is thelanguage of communication provides a solid basis for better understanding the world.
Students are asked to contribute to living culture by creating and sharing their own mediapresentations. The English as a Second Language program encourages creativity andempowerment. Learning another language is an opportunity for students to see their ownculture from a different perspective, because it allows them to distinguish between whatcultures have in common and what is specific to each one. Thus students will be able to lookat their values, beliefs and knowledge in a new way, broadening their world-views,constructing their identities and becoming empowered.
INTÉGRATION LINGUISTIQUE, SCOLAIRE ET SOCIALE
The Intégration linguistique, scolaire et sociale program enables students to learn the Frenchlanguage and become acquainted with the Québec school system and Québec society as awhole. When they enter their new school, the students are imbued with their native culturesand the values of these cultures. They have to quickly become familiar with the cultural aspects
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of their environment that concern themdirectly, such as the school and its culture.They have to gradually become accustomedto the cultural values of their new societyand prepare to fully play their role asresponsible citizens taking part in itsdevelopment and the development of itsculture.
Cultural references are at the centre of theIntégration linguistique, scolaire et socialeprogram. They are used in linguisticinteractions of all kinds and they areessential for becoming acquainted withfrancophone culture here and elsewhere.They represent the many facets of a newenvironment for the students to explore.
FRANÇAIS, LANGUE SECONDE
The aim of the Français, langue seconde,program is to broaden the world-views ofstudents in the English sector. By openingthe door to another linguistic community,
the acquisition of French enables them tohave new cultural experiences that changetheir perception of the world. The students,who are already imbued with their ownculture, are encouraged to understand andappreciate francophone culture here andelsewhere, which enriches their personaland cultural identities. In addition, usingFrench and becoming familiar with theculture associated with it facilitates students’participation in life in French in Québec(basic program) and their integration into thefrancophone community (enrichedprogram).
Cultural references enable students toexplore many facets of francophone culture.By going to cultural venues or reading texts,they acquire material for use in interactionsand productions in French. An integral partof the program content of the subject,cultural references are tools that support thedevelopment of the competencies in theFrançais, langue seconde, program.
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SECONDARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
The Secondary English Language Arts (SELA) program places culture at the centre of languageuse. The language and texts used cannot be neutral: all messages and all meaning are part ofa cultural context. This means that language and the texts to which it gives meaning and formare part of a matrix of values, beliefs and customs, the basic knowledge of culture. For the samereason, language and texts are part of a cultural understanding of the past and present, andthose from two centuries ago have been renewed or adapted or have become obsolete.
The forms of language and its different modes (speech, writing and media) are also examplesof the influence of culture on language. Knowing when to use a particular type of text and thecodes and conventions that make the text a means of communication requires cultural as wellas linguistic knowledge. Similarly, language may be used in formal or informal situations, andthe choice of register depends on cultural and contextual elements rather than linguistic ones.The SELA program therefore requires the teaching of the context as well as the forms andfunctions of the language, since the context is part of cultural understanding.
The SELA program, by stressing young adult literature, a cooperative approach and the use ofthe media, explicitly embeds culture in its tradition. In using young adult literature, teachersshould seek a balance between female and male protagonists and authors, as well as in thesettings. We live in a multicultural community and the texts used should respect this reality.The use of the media in the SELA program shows the role of culture in language and textsbecause the media clearly demonstrate the deliberately non-neutral nature of messages andunderstanding. Because the media aim to shape our views of the world and of problems andevents in general, and our conception of democratic life and our participation in it, the SELAprogram makes the media an important part of critical literacy.
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MATHEMATICS
As part of the cultural heritage of humanity,mathematics, and especially its modes ofexpression and its representations, is a basicelement of culture.
Mathematical culture is universal, but eachperson has his or her own, which differsfrom other people’s in its basis, scope anddepth. It is useful in education and influencesour interpretation of reality and ourdecisions in everyday life.
Mathematical culture depends ondeveloping competencies and acquiringconcepts and processes in the different areasof mathematics: arithmetic, algebra,geometry, probability and statistics. Thusmathematical culture enables students totake part in various spheres of humanactivity and to grasp the omnipresence andthe uses of mathematics.
The historical dimension of mathematicsshould always be part of the teaching of thesubject, so that students can better grasp itsmeaning and uses. They will discover howits development and the creation of its toolsare directly or indirectly related to needs insociety. The history of mathematics shouldmake students realize that knowledge in thefield is the result of long and arduous workby devoted mathematicians, philosophers,physicists, artists and others. Because itopens up perspectives on the past, presentand future, the epistemological dimensionshould be made part of instruction inmathematics. The cultural referencesprovided include some suggestions fordoing so.
Cultural references enable students toappreciate the presence of mathematics ineveryday life, its place in humandevelopment and the contributions ofresearchers and scholars to its evolution.
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Mathematics, Scienceand Technology
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Science and technology are marked by the historical, cultural and political contexts in whichthey originated. They in turn contribute decisively to societies and their cultures. Science andtechnology are developing quickly today and playing an ever-larger role in our lives and oursociety. Citizens are confronted with complex and changing systemic problems, whosesolutions require the rigorous and responsible development of a scientific and technologicalculture rooted in young people’s social and cultural reality. The Science and Technologyprogram takes this need into account.
The introduction of the cultural dimension into the program depends on certain essentialelements. First of all, the emphasis is on the development of three competencies, which arerelated to complementary aspects of the subject, through content based on an integratedapproach to the sciences and technology. Acquiring a set of standardized, socially sharedknowledge and methods fosters students’ scientific and technological literacy. Secondly, theprogram encourages students to make connections with the other subjects and with learningthat may constitute especially rich cultural references. There are many possibilities; the list ofsuggestions is not exhaustive, but it shows several aspects of how students’ culture may beconstituted. Thus, by considering the historical development of scientific concepts ortechniques associated with many individuals, the context of large and small scientificachievements, and certain complex problems that exist today and that challenge their values,students continue to develop their culture and construct new, dynamic, critical representationsthat take into account the connections between science, technology and culture in society.
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chosen for their relevance to a type ofterritorial organization. They may consist ofindividuals who have played a role in thatorganization, artists whose works reflect itselements, place names, major geographiccultural references, extraordinary infra-structures that are emblematic of a territory,or other elements that represent theterritory.
These cultural references enrich thestudents’ learning environment. They are inno way objects of study or memorization andare not subject to evaluation. They are usedto familiarize students with importantfeatures of territories here or elsewhere,present or past.
Social Sciences GEOGRAPHY
The Geography program acquaints studentswith different territories in the world. Thefeatures of these territories constitutecultural references that reinforce the aims ofthe QEP. The cultural references prescribedby the Geography program as representativeof a territory are obviously not exhaustive;they are examples. The study of geographyenriches the knowledge students acquire insecondary school.
In the Geography program, culturalreferences are associated with types ofterritories so as to enable students torecognize significant features of theterritories. These cultural references are
HISTORY AND CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
The History and Citizenship Education program contributes a great deal to the integration ofculture into school and to students’ cultural development. The nature of the subject makes itparticularly rich in cultural learning. The History and Citizenship Education program fostersstudents’ social literacy, that is, their learning of the body of knowledge shared by acommunity, without which citizens would be like foreigners in their own society. This subjectalso enables students to become acquainted with the cultural heritage of communities thatmake up the cultural diversity of the world. Because of its temporal perspective, the History andCitizenship Education program allows students to observe humanity in action and to take partin their turn, enterprisingly, imaginatively and in solidarity with others, in the ongoing creationof the world.
Without specifically being objects of study, cultural references are used in the classroom toenable students to acquire cultural knowledge produced by earlier generations. Thisknowledge constitutes the essence of the world they live in. The program content in the Historyand Citizenship Education program includes examples of cultural references from the culturesof societies of the past and of elsewhere for each of the social phenomena studied. Inexamining them from a historical perspective, students consider the context, actors andwitnesses and the beliefs, attitudes and values–the culture–they are imbued with. As examples,cultural references show different aspects of that culture: people, architecture, founding textsand literary works, territorial references, musical works, iconographic and material documents,currents of thought, etc. The cultural references in the History and Citizenship Educationprogram may also be related to heritage materials, and thus become sources for the students.
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DRAMA, VISUAL ARTS, DANCE AND MUSIC
Students who study any of the four artseducation subjects taught in school usemany cultural references to increase theirknowledge of the subject and enrich theirrelationship to culture. The objects of study,which are works of art to be appreciated,interpreted and created, provide idealpossibilities for integrating the culturaldimension into school. These works, towhich students are exposed through theirinterpretation and appreciation, offerstudents a range of models of expressionand communication that allow them torealize the value of various artistic languagesfrom the cultural heritage here andelsewhere, past and present.
Visual, musical, choreographic or dramaticworks introduce students to a sharedheritage and enable them to understand therole of art in society. These works havemeaning and thus they symbolize world-views, expressing traditions as well asartists’ visions of universal or contemporaryproblems or social currents.
Moreover, creating an image, a dramaticwork, a dance or a musical work requiresknowledge, skills, behaviours, approachesand processes specific to the art forminvolved. These are tools that have been
refined by men and women over time.Artists seek to inscribe themselves in humanhistory and art history through a quest forthe absolute, expressing unconventionalvalues or new ideas through their handlingof their material. Students undertaking toproduce artistic works will make these toolstheir own in order to translate theirperceptions of reality and express theirworld-views through symbolic language.Their creations are in a sense traces of theirown ways of inscribing themselves in thehuman world and reflecting on the problemsthey face.
Active, lively meetings and directrelationships with artists and creators andexposure to their works and culturalenvironment are other ways of placingstudents at the centre of their culture. Theseactivities help them become aware of theunderlying basis of the practice of art andthe related trades and the richness of theircultural environment, and enable them tounderstand artistic works.
Arts education that is rooted in culture givesstudents opportunities to create tools basedon the significant elements of theirimmediate culture or general culture so as toinscribe themselves in it with judgment,autonomy and creativity.
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Arts Education
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PersonalDevelopment
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH
The Physical Education and Health program involves learning associated with many culturalreferences: the evolution of clothing, policies, customs and lifestyles, safety, levels of practice(professional and amateur), important personalities, objects, tools and equipment, events(exhibitions, shows, games and festivals), architecture, the diversity of practices (recreation,tourism and sports), techniques and methods, human performances, rules of ethics and rulesof games, social values and the influence of the media on the promotion of physical activity.These cultural references enable students to enrich their thinking and better understand therelationships that influence the choices of a constantly changing society that is open to the world.
The use of distinctive cultural references in the Physical Education and Health program allowsstudents to better understand the factors that influence the world they live in and to constructtheir identities. Beyond these considerations, these cultural references help students to graspthe importance of certain choices that women and men have made in the past and tounderstand how a society tries to answer questions that arise and thus ensure its survival and development.
The cultural references suggested in the Physical Education and Health program offer teachersrich and varied opportunities to put the program content and the meaningful contexts they tryto create into perspective. The cultural references acquire their full meaning when connectionsare made with other subject areas through their application in real situations or their relationto the past or to recent events (here or elsewhere). This enables students to think in ways thatuse a variety of spiritual, philosophical, social, historical, scientific, economic or artisticreferences.
MORAL EDUCATION
The Moral Education program is concernedwith the distinctive ways of life, beliefs,customs, traditions, norms and valuesshared by members of a social milieu. Itplaces students at the centre of a diversity ofcultures: their own, those of people theycome in contact with every day and those ofpeople who live elsewhere in the world.
The Moral Education program enhancesstudents’ ability to perceive, think andexpress themselves concerning differentways of life, events, practices, values andother cultural references that influencepeople’s actions. Dialogue on these subjetsenables students to listen to others and,especially, to try to understand them. This isan important step towards the trans-formation of students into agents in theirown culture, and it involves not only thinkingabout what fosters community life in oursociety, but putting the values and attitudesthat make it possible into action.
In a more general perspective, the MoralEducation program encourages students tobroaden their world-views. By consideringother cultural contexts when analyzingproblems, students discover different waysof thinking about certain cultural referencesassociated with morality. Placing thesemoral references in cultural contexts of thepast enables students to better understandcertain current phenomena. The history ofpeople who have contributed to theadvancement of humanity by promotingvalues or defending rights enriches students’representations. The Moral Educationprogram thus contributes to the improve-ment of cultural content in various ways: bymaking students aware of the many moralreferences that influence the actions of themembers of a society in different lifecontexts and periods, by enabling them tocreate a meaningful set of references thatallow them to deal with the cultural realityhere and by considering prominent people inhuman history.
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CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS AND MORAL
INSTRUCTION
The Catholic Religious and Moral Instructionprogram contributes in many ways to theimprovement of cultural content. Through itsobjects of study, it enables students not onlyto know themselves better and to betterunderstand other people and the world theylive in, but also to broaden their culture.
For example, by exposing students to thehistorical, geographic, semantic andsymbolic richness of Biblical narratives, theCatholic Religious and Moral Instructionprogram gives them keys that make thembetter able to decode the stained glasswindows of cathedrals, paintings by the oldmasters and the messages of great works ofliterature and film.
The Catholic Religious and Moral Instructionprogram also enables students to enrich
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their cultural knowledge of the world ofscience by discovering that the authors of theBook of Genesis did not possess our modernknowledge of the origin of the world. It thusteaches them that science provides aparticular view of the origin of the world andof life, which is complemented by the viewsof believers in various religious traditions.
Because it draws on the universal religiousheritage as well as that of Québec, theCatholic Religious and Moral Instructionprogram opens other cultural horizons forstudents. The great works of architecture,sculpture and iconography that fill churches,chapels, pilgrimage sites, abbeys andmonasteries are references that contribute totheir cultural development. Finally, themeanings of certain common expressionsthat come from the Judeo-Christian traditionare another important source of culturalcontent.
PROTESTANT MORAL AND RELIGIOUS
EDUCATION
To fully understand and appreciate Westernculture, a person must be able to grasp thescope of the Biblical heritage and itsinfluence on such varied spheres as the arts,architecture, literature, language, values andlaws.
Through the analysis of Biblical texts, theProtestant Moral and Religious Educationprogram enables students to enrich theirunderstanding of the cultural heritagearound them. This subject helps studentsrecognize the active role they play in theevolution of their culture and thuscontributes to the construction of theiridentities. It also encourages students todiscover in their environment culturalreferences that allow them to makeconnections between the values of the Bibleand the expression of these values by peoplewhose works are still present in our society.
Students who explore religion have theopportunity to open up to the cultural,religious and spiritual diversity that
characterizes the society they live in.Becoming familiar with the various forms ofreligious expression and the culturalreferences of the religions studied enrichesstudents’ culture and transforms their world-views. They learn to act with respect andappreciation for diversity.
Solving ethical problems allows students toexamine a situation in light of social, culturaland religious references from varioussources. The students are made aware of thediversity of answers, their changing natureand the role of the period and the culturalenvironment in their choice of solutions.
The cultural dimension is clearly part of theQEP. The very spirit of the programencourages us to pay particular attention tothis dimension. Teachers who are aware ofthis will be able to use the program toadvantage by making connections betweenthe essential elements of the program andsignificant cultural references in learningsituations designed to integrate the culturaldimension into teaching and learning.
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By integrating the cultural dimension into its educational project, the school enhancesstudents’ general education. In addition, by drawing on such resources as the organizations,institutions, businesses, groups and individuals cited in this chapter, it gives students a varietyof opportunities for cultural learning that is essential to their development. It also helpsstudents to open up to the world and integrate into their immediate environment and thebroader society. Finally, it gives them tools that will enable them to better construct theiridentities, because in knowing their own culture, they will know themselves better and be moreopen to the cultures of others.
Schools are increasingly expected to show openness and cooperation with their culturalenvironment in order to fully integrate culture into their educational mission. To do so, they cancount on a substantial network of partners: the Ministère de l’Éducation, the Ministère de laCulture et des Communications, the Ministère du Développement économique et régional andits organizations, and provincial and regional cultural resources, as well as local resources inthe school’s immediate environment. In addition, the actions of school cultural committees alsocontribute to the achievement of what may be called the school’s cultural mission.
Several years ago, the Ministère de l’Éducation and the Ministère de la Culture et desCommunications formed a partnership to “generate, stimulate and develop adapted andinnovative collaborative actions in education and culture” [translation] (Protocole d’ententeentre le ministère de la Culture et des Communications et le ministère de l’Éducation[memorandum of understanding between the Ministère de la Culture et des Communicationsand the Ministère de l’Éducation], 1997). Under the terms of this collaboration, they:
“foster instructional activities requiring participation by partners…plan and develop measures to raise awareness of culture in educational institutions in orderto encourage direct contact among teachers, students, creators and works in all fieldsreferred to in the agreement…jointly support the public promotion of events and projects that enrich education in the fieldsreferred to in the agreement, enhance students’ cultural life and increase collaborationbetween the education community and the arts and culture community…
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THE SCHOOL’SCULTURAL PARTNERS
An agreement oneducation and culture
CHAPTER 4
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encourage and support the creation ofmechanisms for coordination andcollaboration among educational insti-tutions, cultural organizations andmunicipal bodies, and the establishment ofmeasures and activities that encouragestudents to go to cultural venues andbecome acquainted with works of art…encourage initiatives to guide youngpeople toward francophone and culturalcontent on the information highway andin multimedia productsencourage municipal bodies and theeducation community to carry out projectsdrawing on their skills and resources inthe area of libraries and other culturalestablishments bring together partners from theeducation community and the arts andculture community to seek and developsolutions and measures related toproblems concerning the fields referred toin the agreement” [translation]
The Ministère de l’Éducation and theMinistère de la Culture et desCommunications publish informationdocuments and forms for the programs andmeasures related to the agreement everyyear for use by schools.
13. For further information on actions by the Ministère du Développement économique et régional in this area,see the Web site <www.mderr.gouv.qc.ca>.
There are many provincial cultural resourcesthat offer valuable services for teachers andstudents. Through Web sites, directories ofartists or activities designed for youngpeople, they collaborate in achieving theschool’s cultural mission. Their expertise isin the areas of Native culture, science andtechnology, media literacy, heritage,museums, cultural activities, performingarts, literature and reading, visual arts, film,dance, music, theatre, etc.
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CULTURE
Science and technology are increasinglypresent in the lives of people of all ages andsocial backgrounds. Scientific andtechnological advances now affect manyaspects of our lives.
It follows that citizens have to increase theirknowledge and competencies in science andtechnology in order to better understand theworld around them and participate in theexercise of democracy in a context in whichnew laws and major social endeavours areincreasingly based on scientific andtechnological phenomena.
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Provincial cultural resources
One of the mandates of the Ministère duDéveloppement économique et régional is tosupport the development of scientific andtechnological culture and to foster an openand critical attitude to science andtechnology. Hence, the ministry has, since1997, provided the Aide à la relève en scienceet en technologie program to help students inscience and technology by encouraging thecreation of links between schools andbusinesses. This program is consistent withthe spirit of the reform in that it supportsprojects to promote careers in science andtechnology and to encourage young peopleto acquire concrete competencies, as well assupporting innovative pedagogical projects atall levels of education. There are many toolsthat have been developed that are worthfinding out about.13
This ministry also supports partner organi-zations, which play a key role at the regionaland provincial levels. This importantnetwork develops and provides activitiesand tools for teachers and students, such asWeb sites, magazines, workshops and agreat many activities throughout Québec,and thus stimulates young people’s interestin science and technology and increases therange of products of scientific andtechnological culture available to them14.
At the regional level, schools have access toa variety of shows involving dance, music,theatre or several fields in the arts. Somehundred organizations that produce suchshows are listed in the Répertoire deressources culture-éducation. There are alsomuseums, archives and companiesproducing shows and cultural events thatprovide activities designed for schoolgroups.
The immediate environment of the schoolmay offer unexpected cultural resources thatsupport the educational project. The schoolshould encourage participation by localpartners (parents, professionals in variousfields, public personalities, artists, etc.). Itshould also take advantage of historical sites
in the area or local cultural activities. Somecompanies, depending on their areas ofactivity, can also offer possibilities formeaningful cultural learning.
The school’s governing board is responsiblefor cultural events as well as for theadoption, implementation and evaluation ofthe educational project. If the actions of theschool cultural committees and theirassociation are taken in a spirit of closecollaboration and support for the governingboard, they can lead to the integration of thecultural dimension into the heart of theschool’s educational mission and, morespecifically, its educational project.
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Regional culturalresources15
14. In a follow-up document to this one, information will be provided on these Web sites, magazines, workshopsand activities.
15. For information on regional and provincial resources and actions taken by the Ministère de l’Éducation and the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, see the “MEQ–réseaux” and “MEQ–autresministères” pages of the “Pédagogie” section of the Ministère de l’Éducation Web site:<www.meq.gouv.qc.ca/pedagogi/pedagogie.htm>.
The immediateenvironment of
the school
The cultural committees have formed the Association québécoise des comités culturelsscolaires, one of whose objectives is to promote the formation of cultural committees andsupport them in various ways. It also encourages exchanges among the cultural committeesand provides other services. Its actions increase the visibility and the credibility of culturalcommittees, and it represents the schools in dealings with cultural and governmentorganizations.
School cultural committees can do a great deal to accomplish the school’s cultural mission.Their objectives are:
to make schools aware of the importance of their cultural missionto inform the arts and culture community of cultural policies adopted by school boards andthe school’s cultural missionto see that school boards adopt their own cultural policiesto encourage cooperation between the arts and culture community and the school16
These committees bring together schools in the same geographic area. Their territories do notnecessarily correspond to those of the school boards. While they are independent of the schoolboards in their ways of functioning, the types of partnerships they establish and the activitiesthey carry out, their goal is the same: to promote artistic and cultural activities in the school.Their actions contribute in various ways to integrating the cultural dimension into the school.School cultural committees:
enable students to go to cultural venues of quality and take part in interesting culturalactivitiesenable students to attend cultural activities suited to their age and level of developmentprovide opportunities for students to develop certain cultural competencies
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16. Association québécoise des comités culturels scolaires, Objectifs des comités scolaires et de leurassociation, available on the Web site <www.culture-jeune-public.org>.
School culturalcommittees
provide a connection between theeducation community and the arts andculture community, acting as liaisons withregional cultural councils, municipalities,public sector organizations, etc. (since acultural committee may include from 15 to20 schools, representatives of the arts andculture community do not have to contactevery school when activities areorganized; the committee can coordinatethe activities)17
promote a genuine concern for arts andculture within the school board:
by providing support for governingboards, school administrations andteachers in the preparation of theiryearly programming of culturalactivitiesby coordinating cultural activitiesby designing documents for organizingcultural activities or applying learningrelated to themby providing support for schools takingpart in the Artists in the Schools andWriters in the Schools programs
help schools choose from among theproductions and workshops offered, byworking closely with the cultural partnershelp schools with various tasks related toorganizing and presenting artistic andcultural activities
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17. It should be noted that the members of the executives of cultural committees are generally from the schools.However, they may also include people from the arts and culture community.
The fundamental advantage of integrating the cultural dimension into school is that it exposesstudents to a variety of works, ideas, inventions and solutions “that help us to live, to think, tolove, to find answers and to experience pleasure… to look at the world in a way that is notpassive but that enables us to participate in the difficult task of becoming better human beings”[translation] (Zakhartchouk, 1999). This can be done only through the analysis of culturalreferences and through pedagogical practices that use these references in a coherent anddynamic way.
In this way, conditions may be created for teachers to integrate the cultural dimension intoschool on an everyday basis.
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CONCLUSION
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TAB
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Objectifs des comités scolaires et de leur association. Available on the Website <www.culture-jeune-public.org>.
Audet, Claudine, and Diane Saint-Pierre. École et culture, des liens à tisser. Sainte-Foy: Institut québécois pour la recherche et la culture, 1997.
Beaulieu, Denyse. “L’enfant vers l’art : une leçon de liberté, un chemind’exigence,” Autrement, série Mutation, no. 139 (October 1993): 190-197.
Bélanger, Paul. “La scène éducative québécoise : les deux révolutions tranquilles,”Possibles, vol. 26, no. 1-2: 170-193.
Bergeron, Réal, and Godelieve De Koninck. “Vivre et faire vivre sa culture,”Québec français, no. 121 (2001): 29-33.
Bissonnette, Lise. Réforme scolaire et culture. Speech given at Contact + 98, 1998.
Bruner, Jerome. The Culture of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1996.Charlot, B. Du rapport au savoir. Éléments pour une théorie. Paris:
Anthropos, 1997. Commission des biens culturels du Québec. La politique culturelle du Québec,
extrait du mémoire déposé par la Commission des biens culturels du Québec àla Commission parlementaire sur la culture. Québec: Gouvernement duQuébec, 1992.
Conseil de la science et de la technologie. La culture scientifique et technique auQuébec : bilan. Researched and written by Lise Santerre. Québec: Conseil de lascience et de la technologie, 2002.
De Koninck, Thomas. “Éloge de la culture,” Québec français, no. 121 (2001): 34-38.
Dumont, Fernand. Le sort de la culture, Montréal: l’Hexagone, 1987.Ferland, Marie-France. “Des étudiants toujours plus passionnés de culture et
passionnés d’apprendre,” Québec français, no. 121 (2001): 51-52.Forquin, Jean-Claude. École et culture : le point de vue des sociologues
britanniques. Brussels: De Boeck-Wesmael, 1989. Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder, 1970.
. “Cultural Action and Conscientization,” Harvard Educational Review, vol. 68,no. 4 (winter 1998): 1-17.
Gauthier, Clermont. “Former des pédagogues cultivés,” Vie pedagogique,no. 118 (2001): 23-25.
Laplante, Laurent. La mémoire à la barre. Montréal: Écosociété, 1999.. La personne immediate. Montréal: l’Hexagone, 1998.
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