The Echo Project
Students making connections between the living past and critical themes in Canadian Identity

The Echo Project is about exploring an aspect of 20th century Canadian history through a generational lens. This is done by making a personal connection to the past through interviews and scouring intimate primary documents such as family journals, letters, and photographs as well as what students find with broader research. Students think critically about sources and patterns, develop historical empathy, and get creative with how they represent the past. While many students choose topics related to the World War II era (our focus in 2015), they may discover they have ties to stories and events before or after the war such as the Great Depression of the 1930s or the Cold War of the 1950s and 60s.
echo
An echo is a great metaphor for the act of learning valuable lessons from the past and carrying them on for your own benefit and the benefit of those that follow. An echo also refers to a demographic cohort, a group of people growing up at the same time. This is your peer group -- you are in fact called the Echo Generation, also known as the Y or Millennial Generation. That’s the group of Canadians born from about 1980-2003. For the most part, your parents are the last of the BABY BOOM generation (1946-1964) and early GEN X (1965-1979). For many of you, this means your grandparents or great-grandparents or other elderly people you may know were born before the end of WWII and have lived through and remember some of the most significant events from 1930-1970, as well as their own ordinary and extraordinary stories. What can you learn from them? Another way to look at this: you are the last group of students that has a living connection to those who served in and endured World War II -- the average Canadian WWII vet was 91 years old in 2015.  In addition to vets, there are many Canadians alive today and dwelling in your community that remember the beginning of WWII 76 years ago.  If you reach back two generations or shout across a 50+ year gap, what will the echo sound like? 

This is a significant project in Social Studies 11 that will occupy your time off and on for about 10 weeks. While we may spend a few classes in the library in order for you to work on this project, much of it will need to take place on your own time -- a fair trade-off considering I don't assign much homework!  Your goal is to connect two kinds of research: a topic or set of topics that interests you concerning events in 20th Century Canadian history, and some heritage inquiry where you interview someone with firsthand knowledge of the matching time period. The product of your research may involve a report, a presentation, a poster, a video, or a re-enactment. 

To start with, take a survey through some of the topics that might interest you in the mid-20th century. Below are some examples of research topics and historical issues that you might place at the centre of your Echo Project. Many of them were added to the list because they came from past Social Studies 11 students' family stories. While you are encouraged to focus on the World War II era (because the informants who remember this time firsthand will not be with us forever!), you are welcome to go where your hunches take you. Next, start thinking about how you can make a personal connection, usually through an interview or some heritage inquiry.  Perhaps you did some of this last year in Socials 10 and have some leads you can now follow.

This is also a chance for cross-curricular learning. Maybe your research and presentation will involve creative writing, artwork, music, food, construction, acting/dramatization, performance, demonstration, or computer programming. For some of you this will be new territory -- how your project unfolds, and what kind of research questions you ask, will be up to you and your own interests and connections to history.

Why take this seriously?  Don't take it from me, take it from students who got a lot out of their Echo Projects.

Watch the beginning of this video to see why it is important to learn from previous generations firsthand before it is too late: The Fallen of World War II

Example Topics

  1. “Our” War Stories: specific connections and experiences of Canada and Canadians in WWII
  2. “Their” War Stories: experiences of ancestors from other countries that were involved in foreign conflicts
  3. Impact and challenges faced by displaced persons coming to Canada after WWII
  4. Experience and challenges of veterans in Canada after World War II
  5. WWII and War Brides: (48,000 British or European women married Canadian servicemen)
  6. Experience and adaptations of ordinary Canadians in a specific region during the Great Depression
  7. Response of Canada and Canadians to conditions and events during the Great Depression
  8. The Residential School System -- experience, survival, legacy, and healing (be careful how you ask questions about this -- your teacher can help you with this topic)
  9. Compare/Contrast NATO and the Warsaw Pact
  10. The role and effectiveness of the United Nations -- start with its origins
  11. Coldwar politics: anti-communism, “us against them”
  12. Canada’s role in the Korean War
  13. Pearson and the Suez Crisis -- the start of Peacekeeping and how this helped define Canada
  14. Defending Canada: NORAD and Canada-US agreements
  15. The Cuban Missile Crisis - impact on Canadians and how Canada responded
  16. Changes in Canada’s Postwar Immigration policy and how this led to multiculturalism
  17. Differing Views on the Avro Arrow project
  18. Comparing contributions of Diefenbaker vs Pearson
  19. Canada’s role in the Vietnam War, including our reception of draft dodgers
  20. Canadian counterculture in the 60s & 70s, protests, lifestyle, etc.
  21. Socialism comes to Saskatchewan: the rise of the CCF
  22. Why the Cold War ended -- explore more than one perspective
  23. Positive and Negative Impressions of Trudeau’s legacy (at home or abroad)
  24. Pros/Cons of Trudeau’s Foreign Policy
  25. Mulroney’s legacy on Canada/US ties
  26. Impact of the Baby-boom on Canadian Society
  27. New World Order: Should USA be the world police?
  28. American pressure on Canadian culture
  29. Women’s movement and rights in the postwar era (Canada)
  30. Environmental movement in the postwar era (Canada)
  31. Impact of the Automobile in the postwar era (Canada)
  32. Impact of the Television in the postwar era (Canada)
  33. Aboriginal self-government & related issues
  34. Regionalism -- focus on western alienation
  35. Quebec Nationalism -- causes and examples 1960-1979
  36. Quebec sovereignty referendums, compare 1980 and 1995
  37. Constitutional Change -- Patriation, the Charter, Meech Lake, Charlottetown Accord
  38. Impact of Globalization -- global economics, but also culture, politics, and communication
  39. How personal computers or the internet changed society, and what they replaced
  40. Land claims in British Columbia -- general background and specific case studies
  41. Canada’s Multiculturalism policy and how views have changed over time
  42. Canada Apologizes: things our government has said sorry for and why
  43. Arctic Sovereignty and issues surrounding the Canadian Far North
  44. Indian Residential Schools: A focused case study on one school
  45. Impact of 911 on Canada
  46. Anti-racism in Canada: past, present, and future
  47. Democratic Reform in Canada: Attempts to change our electoral system (provincial or federal) or the Senate (federal)
  48. Importance of Climate Change Action and in Canada and how that's going so far.
  49. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission: why it happened, what is means for Canada, and what do we do next.
  50. Shifting Economies: take a "then and now" look at the challenges faced by key industries in BC (or elsewhere in Canada) such as forestry, mining, agriculture, or fisheries.

Examples of Interview Questions

  • Tell me about going off to war? How did your life change?
  • What can you tell me about your wartime experience?
  • As a young person which Canadian musician, artist, or writer did you admire most?  Explain why?
  • What were some of the trends, fashions, or pastimes when you were younger?
  • As a young person, which TV shows were your favourites?
  • Of your favourite TV shows, which ones were Canadian-made?  Which ones were American?  Do you know?
  • What factors do you think make up the culture of a country?
  • During the post-war era, from the 1950s to the 1970s, did Canada have a separate culture from the USA or the rest of the world?
  • Do you think it was important for the Canadian government to protect the culture of the country after World War II?
  • What do you remember about _____? (e.g. Cuban Missile Crisis, Canada's New Flag, the 1972 Summit Series, etc.)
  • What else stands out for you as an important part of the post-war era, the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

Types of Project Submissions

Your analysis of the issue or exploration of the topic could take many forms, including:
  • poster or visual display, optionally with a brief class presentation
  • a multimedia slideshow presentation (a “talk”) e.g. prezi, powerpoint, PechaKucha
  • prerecorded audio or video presentation (for the class or for posting online) - good way to include photos and video clips
  • written report, perhaps combined with graphics, maps, etc. - could include or take the form of creative writing
  • performance or dramatic re-enactment, recorded or presented

Examples of what you might do to build your Echo Project

  • use of family photos or heritage research (including interviews or recollections) and creative writing to re-imagine what life was like during the Great Depression (or another time period)
  • recreating a Depression-Era experience (food, lifestyle, homelessness), journalling about the experience and connecting to real (recorded) factual experiences of the Depression
  • interview with a WWII vet and research into the information shared (e.g. conditions of war)
  • gathering records from a relative who survived a u-boat attack early in WWII and matching recollections and family stories about this to the existing historical record of the Battle of the Atlantic
  • a critical look at changing technology in the 1950s and 60s, particularly social impacts on Canadians, and comparison with what you can learn from an interview subject who grew up during this time
  • exploring an issue (e.g. from the list already provided) and including primary evidence, preferably from an interview but perhaps from other kinds of documents or artifacts
Check out the EXAMPLES page for more past projects to inspire you!

For Teachers

Here's a short pdf document explaining the value of the Echo Project and offering suggestions for delivery and assessment

Here's a sample template with a rubric-based tool for student self-assessment and another one for teacher evaluation of student Echo Projects.

Process of Inquiry

Whatever you choose, you should think critically about your subject:
>  EVIDENCE -- who was involved, where did it take place or affect, include primary sources
>  PATTERNS & CHANGE -- relate it to time period and relevant events, relate to place/landscape
>  CAUSE & EFFECT -- explained through relevant details, show the connection
>  JUDGEMENTS -- what did Canadians learn from this, how will history view this topic
>  PERSPECTIVES -- explore multiple viewpoints and compare biases
>  SIGNIFICANCE -- how is this issue important for Canada, how is it meaningful to you
Regardless of format, find some way to include your reference list -- the sources you used to conduct research and learn about your topic.  You are strongly encouraged to use a firsthand interview or other primary sources to gain perspective or add to your understanding of the issue and the time period... you may have noticed some sample interview questions above.  You are also encouraged to use technology meaningfully and only if it supports what you are trying to do.  Powerpoints on their own with no person in front of them is a "tired" idea... but there are still powerful uses of technology to consider like video mashups, recording of interview clips, visually displaying data (showing your research), use of Google Earth, etc.

Interview tips: Talk to someone who lived through the Depression, WWII, Coldwar/Postwar era or has experience with the topic or issue you have chosen.  Design questions to help you understand:
  • changes in society and how people lived
  • impressions of governments and politicians
  • understanding of what Canadians found important
  • how people adapted to different lands, resources, work and economic conditions
  • thoughts about major events taking place of the world
Of course, sometimes the fun part of an interview is simply learning what was life like for individuals in the past -- dress & habits, hobbies & pastimes, jobs & lifestyle, relationships, interesting stories. The stories you unearth, and the stories you tell, can be simple observations and connections between things going on in Canada and how they were experienced by ordinary people.

How to Start

As you explore topics, interview sources, and other aspects of your project, you should spiral inwards onto an essential questions.  This will help remind you of what's important, and will make the experience memorable (seems weird to say but you'll see what I mean if you take this seriously). Essential questions should:
  • spark the imagination 
  • introduce a problem that has a means of being solved
  • have depth -- dimension and significance
  • push thinking, creativity, and broad inquiry
For the purposes of the Echo Project, essential questions should also address the assignment goals of making solid connections to themes in Canadian history and exploring Canadian Identity.

Good luck... I am thrilled to see the results.