Lesson 3
| The Labour Day Critical Design Challenge
50
Learning from Labour |
Intermediate ETFO Resource
|
www.etfo.ca
Task Component
Instruction
Assessment Focus
Look Fors
Notes for Teachers
How did you get started in it?
What were your experiences?
What was the most interesting/
challenging/ difficult/ rewarding/
dangerous/ boring experience you
had with it so far? What were the
conditions that made it that way?
Teach general interviewing tips
beforehand, as well as journalistic
strategies to probe and probe
again! Encourage students to ask
about and record specific details.
Further Extensions:
Students can use the writing
process to collect oral history
stories and can apply historical
thinking to the raw data of the
interviews:
• What does their community’s
industrial, agricultural,
business or union history
or specialization reveal
about continuity and
change, or about any of the
‘labour’ concepts presented
throughout the unit?
As well, students should be
prepared to expect that some
people stick to answering
questions, while others veer off on
tangents, revealing unexpected
but relevant information.
Share the stories among
classmates afterwards. Discuss
what the stories reveal specifically
about human experience and
generally about our society.
This is an important way to
contextualize and personalize the
ideas presented in the unit.
Reflection
Identify three significant ideas, people, organizations, events or developments that you will NOW think
about on the next Labour Day. Explain why you choose those three.
How has your thinking evolved from what you usually think about on Labour Day?
Next Steps
Send or present your Revitalized Labour Day Proposal to a local official (Municipal Heritage Office, Labour
Organization or Community Centre, District Labour Council) who plans Labour Day events and could
actually make your vision happen!
Create a meaningful Labour Day within your school environment and put on a ‘Labour Day Fair’ for the
Junior or Primary classes.
Use the spark of inquiry about workers’ history in Canada to generate ideas for a future Heritage Fair project.
(New to Heritage Fairs? Check out this website for information about this fantastic national project! http://
www.ohhfa.ca/Home_Page.php )