For several years, Greenwood has been participating in experiential education initiatives with the non-profit organizations Student Vote and CIVIX. I have had the good fortune of facilitating participation in one of their projects every semester I have taught Civics. First, with the Toronto Municipal election, then the Federal Election, followed by the Provincial Election. I've have found that these experiences provide excellent opportunities for students to engage in real-world events while learning about concepts of citizenship.
This semester, CIVIX approached Greenwood to participate in their inaugural Ontario Student Budget Consultation (OSBC). My colleague, Garth Nicols, and I were eager to be part of this project, based on the positive experiences we have had with their other programs. Taylor Gunn, the director of CIVIX, also asked Garth and I to review the curriculum before releasing it to schools province wide. This was an excellent opportunity for me as a new teacher to participate in the development of curriculum.
To introduce the project, I created a guided reading exercise for students to understand the Drummond Report. This was followed by a series of lessons created by student vote to help understand the budgeting process in Ontario. Finally, students watched videos on the OSBC website, and then answered a series of factual and opinion- based questions. As the teacher, I had access to their answers, so I was able to ascertain if they had understood the content, and go back and discuss anything they may have missed.
I found this project to be an effective way to make learning authentic for students - the work that they were producing directly related to something beyond the walls of the school building.
x
