The Canadian College of Teachers
Le Collège canadien des enseignantes et des enseignants

Web Project Receives First Museums & Schools Partnership Award

A dynamic, web-based project designed to enhance the study of Canadian history in high schools was the recipient of the first-ever Museums-Schools Partnership Award. This award is co-sponsored by the Canadian College of Teachers (CCT) and the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN), in collaboration with the Canadian Museums Association (CMA).

The winning project is the result of a close collaboration of francophone and anglophone teachers from Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick, in partnership with three museums. The result is a new, bilingual educational initiative for integrating museum collections and research with school-based education. It features two resources accessible on the McCord Museum’s Web site, www.mccord-museum.qc.ca. Keys to History and ClioClic were developed by the McCord Museum in partnership with the New Brunswick Museum, the Musée acadien de l’Université de Moncton, the Polyvalente C. Armand-Racicot (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec), John McCrae Secondary School (Ottawa), and three schools under the supervision of the New Brunswick Department of Education (Districts 1 and 11). “We’re delighted to be recognized by the museum and teaching communities for this innovative project,” says Dr. Victoria Dickenson, Executive Director of the McCord Museum. “It’s an effective way of using our collections to bring history alive for students, through stories related to real artifacts.”

Keys to History (phase 1) gives students and teachers access to digitized documents and artifacts relating to major events in Canadian history and everyday life, such as the Rebellions of 1837-38 and Confederation, as well as themes such as technology, healthcare and leisure. ClioClic is a teaching tool that uses on-line museum resources for project-based learning. Teachers and students from the participating schools helped evaluate and assess the information on ClioClic, which features over 60,000 images that complement curriculum-based history activities.

“This project stood out for two main reasons,” explains Mary Ellen Herbert, award coordinator, and Community Services manager with the CMN. “One was the way it brought together the expertise of many partners and the other was the potential for students to use museum collections for their own uses.”

Two projects received honourable mentions: the West Vancouver Museum and Archives, and West Vancouver Secondary School collaborated on a mural project celebrating the school’s 75th anniversary; and Yellowknife’s Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and Sir John Franklin Secondary School participated in the Northern Excursion Club, in which students and teachers undertook a 400-km trek through the wilderness.

Nominations for this inaugural award represented over 40 institutions from across the country. The award recognizes the quality of partnerships between schools and museums for educational programs that enrich students’ understanding and appreciation of Canada’s cultural and natural heritage.

Projects were assessed on a number of criteria including their vision, collaboration potential and relevance of the project to the community served. “All were innovative programs that helped instill in students a strong sense of their Canadian heritage and identity,” added Sadiq Awan, past National President of the CCT.

The Museums-Schools Partnership Award is open to any Canadian school or school board that collaborates with any Canadian non-profit public museum, including zoos and science centres. The deadline to receive nominations for the next award is July 31, 2004. For more information, click here.