Our approach to civic education is about providing opportunities for students to experience their democracy first-hand rather than by reading about it in a textbook. By reaching students throughout their school career, during and between election periods, we hope to prepare them to be responsible and informed citizens.

CIVIX programming focuses on the themes of elections, government budgets, elected representatives and digital media literacy. Programs available include:

(1) Student Vote - an election enables teachers to bring democracy alive in the classroom

(2) Student Budget Consultation - combines civic education and financial literacy

(3) Rep Day - connects students with their elected representatives for a virtual or in-person meeting

(4) CTRL-F - a module providing quick strategies students can use to investigate and evaluate information

(5) PoliTalks - supports educators in bringing political discussions to the classroom - Materials are free with
registration, and programming is designed for grades 5-12

(6) Democracy Bootcamp - professional development conference for teachers designed to improve their
democratic engagement and delivery of CIVIX programming

Canadian art is a door to learning about a wide range of subjects.

The Art Canada Institute teacher resource guides presented here offer students the opportunity to study a multitude of subjects—from environmental awareness to activism, social justice to gender studies, politics to computer science (to name a few)—through the art and artists who have defined this country’s visual culture.

Following our provinces’ education curricula, the teacher resource guides provide multidisciplinary learning activities that reveal how Canadian art powerfully reflects our world so we can better understand it.

Activities for K-12!

This activity is designed for a social studies, politics, civics or citizenship class. It can be used in secondary and elementary classrooms. Here is an overview of the simulation:

Students take part in a quick open-voting process to understand why a secret ballot is important.
Then they take on the roles of political party members or election officers. They run an election on a community or school issue they care about.
Students vote for a candidate, ballots are counted and a winner is announced.
Finally, students reflect on what they learned about their role in the simulation and what makes elections fair.
This simulation is based on the procedures used for Canadian federal elections. The tools and information in the kit are as authentic as possible while still being classroom-friendly.

Analyze the use and potential overuse of credit by individuals.

Teacher guide is available.

4-7 hours

Heterodox Academy is a group of educators, administrators, and graduate students who believe diverse viewpoints and open inquiry are critical to research and learning. This resources listed on this document are intended to provide K-12 educators with materials to create classrooms that welcome diverse people with diverse viewpoints and that equip learners with the habits of heart and mind to engage that diversity in open inquiry and constructive disagreement.

Complete this short quiz with your students to see where they fit on the political spectrum. This can be very useful when conducting mock elections. http://studentvote.ca/ provides excellent materials for this as well.

While politics is generally seen as the domain of a civics class (and Craig did a great job of teaching US Government & Politics elsewhere on this channel!) it’s something that sociology is interested in too. Today we’re looking at the sociological approach to politics, different types of authority and political systems, and different sociological theories of power.

Student Vote is an independent evaluation commissioned by Elections Canada reports that the Student Vote program is having a significant impact among students in the key areas associated with future voting, as well as increasing the engagement of families in the election.

Teach students how to be informed and engaged citizens.

Mock elections are run at all levels of government and the materials are all provided for free once you register. Bring civics to life for your students!

World Atlas offers interactive maps, clocks, flags and videos. Find interactive maps on all of the continents as well as the countries within. Explore to discover the flags and information about all countries. Watch videos and view pictures on the environment, world facts, travel, geography and did you know facts. Other topics to explore include history, science, economics, politics and society.