Posts com a Tag ‘MANDZUK David (Res)’
Freedom to Play: We Made Our Own Fun – LEWIS (CSS)
LEWIS, Norah L. Editor. Freedom to Play: We Made Our Own Fun. Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2002. 224p. Resenha de: MANDZUK, David. Canadian Social Studies, v.39, n.2, p., 2005.
Norah Lewis’ book Freedom to Play echoes a sentiment that is heard increasingly often these days among teachers and t
To her credit, Lewis openly discusses some of the challenges in trying to reconstruct the past with a book like hers. She notes that memories can be faulty as they can be colored with time, subsequent experiences, and frequent retelling [and] contributors tend to be selective in which memories they retain (p. 4). However, the end result is still a reasonable reflection of how things were different at a time when life seemed to be simpler but perhaps was simply different than it is nowadays. As a result of reviewing the countless letters, interviews, and writings, Lewis suggests that there are nine characteristics that distinguish thehe general public. That message is that children used to be better able to make their own fun than today’s children and that the nature of what it means to be a child has drastically changed during our lifetimes. Essentially, Lewis’ book is a compendium of recollections from older Canadians, selections from writings by Canadian authors, and letters written by children during the period from 1900 tFo the mid-1950s at a time when play was very much a part of childhood. The book is sFreedom to Playtructured into six basic sections under the following headings: Go Outside and Play, Playing is Playing When Shared, Playing is Playing Games, Creating Their Own Equipment, Animals: Friends, Foe or Food and There Was Always Something to Do. Overall, Lewis provides the reader with 100 letters, excerpts from interviews, and anecdotes that illustrate how the nature of childhood has changed over time. Interspersed throughout are over 20 photographs that make that distinction even clearer. idyllic world of childhood in the days before television and electronic games became realities: parents regularly sent children out to play to get them out from under foot and to ensure young people got plenty of fresh air and exercise; children in rural and urban areas were free to play, to roam, and to explore and they felt free to do so; many of the games were physically active and were self-organized; toys and equipment were frequently limited but children created or modified whatever was needed to play the game; playing was often more important than winning and therefore, most available children were included; domestic animals played important roles as companions, and wild creatures were sources, of interest, food, and income; holidays were welcome breaks from daily chores and seasonal tasks; although the letter writers highlighted in this book belonged to organizations for children and youth, adults tended not to recall organizations such as The Pathfinders Club, The Maple Leaf Club, and The Young Canada Club to be a vital part of their childhood; and, children of pre-television times do not recall being bored as there was always something to do. On this final point, Lewis points out that children for whom life was difficult – or who were confined in detention camps, residential schools, or crowded inner city areas – tried to adapt what time and materials they had to suit their situation.
In fairness to Lewis, she does try to avoid the tendency to overly romanticize how life used to be and how children used to be treated. She admits that today’s children are probably more knowledgeable and better informed on many topics than were their grandparents (p. 23). She also admits that many of the games and activities discussed in the book such as hopscotch, snow angels, and skipping stones are still as popular today as they were in the past. However, in spite of these provisos, one still gets the impression that she feels that children were better off in the past.
Of the 100 anecdotes and letters, a number are particularly reflective of a time gone by. For example, Helga Erlindson’s A Trip on a Steamer written in 1911 recalls a Victoria Day excursion on Lake Winnipeg that takes an unexpected turn when the captain of the ship drops a party of girls off on an island and does not arrive until almost 12 hours later. A letter from 1944 called Boy Scout Week reminds us of the role that Victory Gardens played during the Second World War. Finally, an anecdote called Charlie Riley’s Pasture for Gopher Shoots reminds us of the perils of gopher hunting and the money that children could make in collecting such things as gopher tails, crows’ eggs and crows’ feet.
Overall, I found reading of this book to be reasonably satisfying. The introduction sets the stage well by providing the necessary context before the reader is allowed to dive into the many letters, interviews and anecdotes and the photographs add authenticity and interest. As interesting as I found the reading, however, I do feel that the book has a number of weaknesses. The most obvious for me is the organizational structure of the book. The six headings simply do not, in my mind, provide enough of a framework for conceptually organizing the book and because the individual sections lack proper introductions, one is left with the impression that more thought could have been put into its overall organization. For this reason and others, I cannot see this book being used by teachers of Social Studies other than as a general interest collection. Therefore, if readers feel like reminiscing and are looking for an easier read, this might be the book for them. If they are looking for more of a critical analysis of how childhood is different now than it was in the past, I suggest that they look elsewhere.
David Mandzuk – Faculty of Education. University of Manitoba. Winnipeg, Manitoba.
[IF]Children in English-Canadian Society: Reframing the Twentieth-Century Consensus – SUTHERLAND (CSS)
SUTHERLAND, Neil. Children in English-Canadian Society: Reframing the Twentieth-Century Consensus. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2000. 355p. Resenha de: MANDZUK, David. Canadian Social Studies, v.36, n.1, 2002.
Neil Sutherland’s Children in English-Canadian Society, originally published in 1976 and now reissued, is a book that every teacher and parent in English-speaking Canada should read for a number of reasons. First, it traces how peoples’ attitudes towards children have changed dramatically over the last one hundred years. Second, it provides a very detailed account of reform efforts that have affected families, schools, and health and welfare agencies. Third, it reminds us of the people who had the most significant influence on these reform efforts, both at the international and the national levels.
In the early chapters, Sutherland describes how peoples’ attitudes towards children have changed over time. For instance, he describes how, in the 1870s, children were seen as sources of wealth for their families who often needed children to contribute to family economies; in short, children were valued for the work they could do, not for who they were as individuals. In Sutherland’s words, English Canadians of the time saw a child as a partially formed and potential adult [they] would have been baffled by the 20th century concerns for the emotional life of their own and of immigrant children (p.11). Soon, people become more concerned about the conditions of children working in factories, fearing that they were placed in unsafe and unhealthy conditions and did not have opportunities to become properly educated. Sutherland explains that, by the 1890s, parents came to see a child as a seed of divine life for them to nurture and tend (p.17). Therefore, in a matter of decades, children come to be valued for their own worth; moreover, parents become much more aware of the effect of the home environment on their children’s overall growth and development.
Another strength of Sutherland’s book is how he so meticulously details the types of reform efforts that shaped English-Canadians’ attitudes towards children. Some of these reform efforts such as reducing infant mortality, dealing with juvenile delinquency, and advocating for educational reform had a tremendous impact on how Canadian society was shaped for future generations. In particular, we learn about such significant changes as inoculating children at an earlier age, moving delinquent children from institutions to homes, and debating whether schooling was to become more child-centered or more practical in order to properly prepare children for the world of work.
A third and final strength of the book is that is familiarizes the reader with people who led many of these reform efforts and who ultimately had a significant impact on how English-Canadians treated their young. We learn of such international figures as Pestalozzi and his emphasis on activity-based, sensory learning that began to shape education in the elementary grades and Frederich Froebel who was among the first to recognize the importance of a child’s environment in his/her mental, moral, and physical development. We also learn of such Canadian figures as Adelaide Hoodless who argued that, in order to change social conditions, Canadian schools needed to become agents that would shape Canadian homes for future generations and James W. Robertson who reminded Canadians that the whole child goes to school body, mind, and spirit and the training of the hand, head, and heart should go on harmoniously (p. 181).
All in all, Children in English-Canadian Society is a tremendously comprehensive account of the forces and the people who influenced how Canadians viewed and treated their youngest citizens at a time in history when both the nation and the world were changing dramatically.
David Mandzuk – University of Manitoba.
[IF]Eyewitness – THOMPSON (CSS)
THOMPSON, Margaret. Eyewitness. Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 2000. 190p. Resenha de: MANDZUK, David; MANDZUK, Jayne. Canadian Social Studies, v.37, n.1, 2002.
Eyewitness by Margaret Thompson is a nicely crafted piece of historical fiction that is sure to appeal to young adolescents and adults alike. It tells the tale of Peter Mackenzie, a young boy who grows up without his parents in Fort St. James during the time of the Fur Trade in what is now British Columbia. In the book, Thompson interweaves a variety of interesting characters such as Sir George Simpson, Carrier Chief Kwah and James Douglas, many of whom actually lived during the time.
In our view, the book’s three major strengths are its rich descriptive passages, its ability to capture what life must have been really like for a child at the time, and its ability to capture both the respect and tension that characterized the relationship between Canada’s native people and the Europeans whose arrival changed the natives’ way of life forever. There are many passages throughout the novel that are rich in description and demonstrate Thompson’s love of language. One of these passages is found on page 70 where the protagonist of the story, Peter, describes the sled dogs and the beauty of a cold, winter’s night:
But on those winter nights so clear and cold that it seemed that the air must splinter and shiver into a million, tinkling shards, when the Northern Lights rippled and swelled across the sky, the dogs would waken and howl, filling the night with song, as if they, too, sensed the great silent chords that I could feel shuddering in my head as the lights swirled majestically overhead.
Another strength of the book is Thompson’s ability to recreate what life must have really been like for a child during the time of the Fur Trade. For instance, we learn what it is like to wake up with a skiff of snow at the foot of your bed, what it is like to eat fish for months on end, and the sheer tedium of waiting out the long Canadian winters. The following passage is particularly effective in this last regard:
There was little traffic between posts once the fish had been stored, the wood cut and the year’s returns packed and hauled away. The Fort settled into its dreamy winter state, the grey buildings huddled in the snow on their little eminence above the frozen lake, smoke from the tiny chimneys standing straight up in the still air, the inhabitants concentrating on keeping warm and whiling away the empty hours (p. 119).
A third strength of the book is Thompson’s ability to capture both the respect and tension between the native people and those of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In fact, Peter realizes how his friend’s people have probably been changed forever when he states that, in a sudden, bleak understanding, I realized how complicated life had become for Cadunda’s people, now that we were there, a different clan, with very different ideas, spreading everywhere and more of us coming all the time (p. 179).
Although we would recommend this book for young readers, we do have a few suggestions for the author and for teachers thinking of using this book with their classes. First, we felt that the cover was neither colourful enough nor eye-catching enough to attract the eyes of young readers who often rely on the title page to attract them to a book. Second, we both felt that a glossary would have helped the reader follow the story by explaining terms such as babiche and capot, words quite specific to Canada and the Fur Trade era. Finally, we believe that the novel might be reduced simply to an adventure story if students read the book without any knowledge of the Fur Trade and how it influenced settlement in Canada.
In general, however, we highly recommend this book for young adolescents and their teachers in the middle grades; in fact, it would be a wonderful complement to a Social Studies unit on the Fur Trade. For those middle years teachers who also integrate Social Studies with Language Arts, we believe that this book would be an excellent companion to Joan Clark’s The Hand of Robin Squires. Both books involve the interaction between white and native cultures, both take place in Canada, and both are jam-packed with action which is certainly an advantage in encouraging young adolescents to read!
David Mandzuk – Ph.D. Faculty of Education. University of Manitoba. Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Jayne Mandzuk – Grade 4 Student. Ryerson School. Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Canadian Society: A Changing Tapestry – BAIN et al (CSS)
BAIN, Colin; COLYER, Jill; NEWTON, Jacqueline; HAWES, Reg. Canadian Society: A Changing Tapestry. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1994. 284p. Resenha de: MANDZUK, David. Canadian Social Studies, v.35, n.4, 2001.
Canadian Society: A Changing Tapestry is an appealing textbook that introduces secondary school students to the social sciences, in general, and human behavior and social trends, in particular. The book is comprised of nine chapters that cover the following broad areas: the human species; social behavior; human communication; the impact of culture; social institutions; alienation and conformity; aggression and violence; social issues; and, the future. The authors introduce each of the major issues explored in these chapters with key words and terms and conclude with relevant follow-up activities that involve skills like interpreting, analyzing, communicating, and synthesizing. In addition, each of these chapters concludes with a discussion of careers in the social sciences and active learning opportunities such as debating, observation, and research possibilities.
In my mind, three of the nine chapters are particularly relevant for secondary school students; they are Chapters 5, 6, and 8 on social institutions, alienation and conformity, and social issues respectively. Chapter 5, for example, addresses social institutions such as the Canadian school system, the Canadian justice system, and the Canadian military. Teenagers’ feelings about peer groups and family influences are also explored. Chapter 6 discusses the concepts of alienation and conformity. In this chapter, the authors examine how teenagers experience alienation in school and in the workplace and the social pressures that cause them to conform. In addition, the concepts of obedience and deviance are also examined.
I believe that one of the most engaging and extensive chapters is Chapter 8, which addresses social issues. Some issues that are examined are illegal drug use, family violence, and gun control. Bain, et. al. point out that social issues like these have a variety of solutions which are frequently incompatible with one another; in other words, if one solution is adopted, the others are automatically ruled out. The authors, for example, pose the dilemma of what to do with first-degree murderers. Some people believe that they should be rehabilitated while others believe that they should be executed; therefore, because people who have been executed obviously cannot be reformed, these solutions come into direct contact with one another. The authors use this scenario to argue that, in order to solve the important social issues of the day, we must follow a structured process. They go on to describe a detailed 12-step process for solving such issues.
In step 1, Bain, et. al. explain how to translate general concerns into defined problems. In step 2 students are asked to identify alternative solutions. In step 3 the students are expected to decide among the alternatives and develop criteria for evaluating them; and, in step 4 students are asked to rank the criteria according to importance. For example, criteria such as protection of society, reforming offenders, and financial cost to society are suggested when considering what to do with people who commit serious crimes. Step 5 involves another stage of the problem solving process where students begin to collect data using strategies such as content analysis, anecdotal notes, and focus groups.
Step 6 highlights organizing data using tools such as Venn and tree diagrams, classification charts, and cross-classification charts. Step 7 encourages the predicting of consequences. Step 8 focuses on forming conclusions; and, step 9 moves into assessing conclusions. The final stages of the problem solving process, steps 10 through 12, involve preparing, presenting, and evaluating conclusions.
Although I find this extensive process to be worthwhile, I wonder if it might be too lengthy given the audience for which it is intended. In other words, my hunch as an experienced teacher is that students would still gain an appreciation of the complex nature of social issues if the process were simplified. In spite of this criticism, however, I do believe that the authors are right on the mark with this approach to introduce the social sciences to secondary students. They have tried to make this text as relevant for Canadian readers as possible and they have tried to appeal to a younger audience by integrating cartoons and other visuals such as photographs, tables, and graphs. I strongly recommend this text for secondary schoolteachers who are interested in introducing their students to the social sciences in a balanced and thoughtful manner.
David Mandzuk – Henry G. Izatt Middle School. Winnipeg, Manitoba.
[IF]