Tag Archives: Québec history

As part of the ERU “Making History” Speaker Series, associate professor with the Faculty of Education at McGill University, Paul Zanazanian, will be discussing the historical memories related to English-speaking community leaders and the ongoing quest for Anglo-Quebec vitality. Attend in person or participate online: http://connect.uottawa.ca/edu6504

As part of the ERU “Making History” Speaker Series, associate professor with the Faculty of Education at McGill University, Paul Zanazanian, will be discussing the historical memories related to English-speaking community leaders and the ongoing quest for Anglo-Quebec vitality.
Attend in person or participate online: http://connect.uottawa.ca/edu6504

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Dans: Anglophone Québec History

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In the December issue of The Literary Review of Canada, you’ll find a book review by Ray Conlogue about Je me souviens? Le passé du Québec dans la conscience de sa jeunesse.

The Allure of Bias

How Quebec students view the province’s turbulent past.

If obsessive rumination on one’s own history is a measure, Quebec is now highly civilized. Consider the widespread publicity accorded to University of Laval historian Jocelyn Létourneau’s new book, Je me souviens? Le passé du Québec dans la conscience de sa jeunesse. Provocatively, the book’s title is Quebec’s proud motto (“I remember”) undone by a question mark. A study of historical memory in Quebec based on questionnaires completed by more than 2,700 students, it has attracted numerous…

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Dans: Je me souviens

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Published in the THEN/HiER blog by UOttawa didactician Stéphane Lévesque.

“It all started with a defeat…” is but one of the numerous catchphrases used by Québec students to describe the narrative experience of their province according to Jocelyn Létourneau’s most recent book, Je me Souviens? Le passé du Québec dans la conscience de sa jeunesse (Fides, 2014), published last week.

For the last 10 years, Université Laval Professor Létourneau has been interested in the historical consciousness of young Canadians. Refuting survey results showing abysmal lack of historical knowledge among youth, he collected over 3500 historical accounts of Québec high school and university students, asking them to write a short story and sum up in one phrase the historical adventure of their province. The results are both fascinating and troubling.

Despite what political leaders and the media claim, young Québécois are not historically disconnected nor are they amnesiacs. If many undeniably lack basic historical knowledge, often confusing dates and figures, their visions of history are nonetheless rich and telling. They are based on narrative structures which provide intelligibility and orientation to otherwise disparate and incoherent facts. Among the most significant events listed are “Jacques Cartier and the explorers,” “Les filles du roi,” and the “Conquest” of 1759, which top the list. Beyond the recurring themes and historical actors, one is struck by the students’ narrative orientation. One dominant template emerging from the stories of francophone Québécois is that of “la survivance” of a melancholic and unhappy representation of Québec’s place in Canadian history, and still hesitant about its future.

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Dans: Articles

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Published in ActiveHistory.ca

This research helps us reflect on how to teach history to youth. We know to which extent, over the past twenty years, the historical thinking paradigm has influenced academics and teachers. Without diminishing the important contribution this intervention has made in teaching history, we need to acknowledge that historical thinking is not easily implemented in the concrete context of the curriculum or classroom.

We have arrived at this conclusion by examining a subset of students in Quebec’s mandatory History and Education to Citizenship course who, in principle, have been introduced to historical thinking methods. It appears from their submissions, however, that even after learning about historical thinking, students continue to adhere to canonical visions of Quebec’s past; a past that’s binary, simplistic and divided. Of course, it is possible that the historical thinking paradigm was not fully applied in the classroom and therefore these responses have nothing to do with its putative failure to fulfill its promise. It is equally possible, however, that the strong voices supporting this paradigm under-estimate a number of significant realities:

  • Youth develop their understanding and vision of history outside of the classroom as much, and often more, than inside the classroom.
  • Youth quickly forget most of what they are told or learn in class.
  • The grand national narratives remain a ready-to-use framework or template for young people diligently searching to make sense of the past that allows them to live efficiently in society (or at least pass the exam!).

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” […] To the question: “If you had to tell me what Quebec history was all about in one sentence, what would you say?” student Alexandre Thibault responded: “The invasion of Indian lands by French people and the subsequent invasion by English people.”

Fellow students Alex Miller-Pelletier and Mariana Racine-Mendez saw Quebec’s history as a struggle for identity.

“Since the Plains of Abraham war, French people have felt the oppression of English people,” they said.

Létourneau found that young anglophones are half as likely as francophones to have a positive view of Quebec’s history.

He said that he believes it’s time we move past the simplistic, black and white script. […]”

Publication de Global Montreal.

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“But his book, Je me souviens? Le passé du Québec dans la conscience de sa jeunesse (Fidès, $19.95) is not about pointing out the mistakes in young people’s understanding of history.

Rather, it explores how half a century after the Quiet Revolution, many young Quebecers — from both official-language groups — still perceive the past through the distorted lens of grievances.

“The central idea is that both young francophones and young anglophones are in a sense prisoners of their identity trap,” Létourneau said.“

English high school history students summarize Quebec history in one sentence, at the John F. Kennedy High School in Montreal, Friday, February 21, 2014. (Marie-France Coallier / THE GAZETTE)

English high school history students summarize Quebec history in one sentence, at the John F. Kennedy High School in Montreal, Friday, February 21, 2014. (Marie-France Coallier / THE GAZETTE)

 

 

survey gazette

 

 

 

A team of researchers led by Université Laval historian Jocelyn Létourneau asked 3,423 students from Secondary 4 to university to summarize the history of Quebec in one sentence. These are the words that came up most often. Red words are from anglophone students, blue from francophones. The size represents the frequency of the word as a percentage of respondents. Photograph by: Wordle.net

A team of researchers led by Université Laval historian Jocelyn Létourneau asked 3,423 students from Secondary 4 to university to summarize the history of Quebec in one sentence. These are the words that came up most often. Red words are from anglophone students, blue from francophones. The size represents the frequency of the word as a percentage of respondents.
Photograph by: Wordle.net

 

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“Some fear that the new curriculum may only emphasize a troubling trend uncovered in a novel 10-year study by Université Laval historian Jocelyn Létourneau. The scholar asked high school and university students to sum up the history of Quebec in one phrase. He found that while students may not have all the facts, dates and figures, they are clearly marked by an overwhelmingly negative view of the Québécois saga — one defined by endless struggle and repeated defeat.”

Message sur le babillard by The Toronto Star.

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