Residential Residential

UNCOVERING THE PAST:
A JOURNEY FROM RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS TOWARD RECONCILIATION
OVERVIEW OF UNIT
BIG IDEAS (Statements that reflect the understanding or belief that you want students to
have developed by the end of the unit.)
This unit was developed in response to the call by the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada (TRC)
to develop age-appropriate curriculum about Indian Residential Schools. By the end of this
unit, students will have an understanding of First Nation, Métis and Inuit perspective, Residential
Schools and the experiences First Nation, Métis and Inuit peoples endured as well as the
reconciliation process.
Students will understand how:
• First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities have made significant contributions to
Canada’s development.
• Different groups may experience the same development or event in different ways.
• Significant events in different communities (Non-Indigenous and Indigenous)
contribute to the development of the identity of that community and of Canada.
This unit focuses on the following concepts of social studies thinking: cause and consequence
and perspective.
Line 1 " Line 2 " Line 3 " Line 4
Background Key Factors Event (immediate impacts) Long term impacts
OVERARCHING INQUIRY QUESTION (The question that students will be wondering about
and grappling with throughout the unit.)
How do we best respond to the legacy of Residential Schools?
OVERARCHING CRITICAL CHALLENGE (The task, which students will communicate their
response to the overarching inquiry question.)
What does reconciliation look like? Take a meaningful step toward authentic reconciliation.
OVERARCHING INQUIRY LAUNCH
In the lessons, students will become aware of the government’s apology to First Nation,
Métis, and Inuit Peoples for Residential Schools, begin building background knowledge about
the legacy of Residential Schools, and generate questions that will guide how they will
respond to the overarching question, “how do we best respond to the legacy of Residential
Schools?”
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