Presentations:

Growing up "rural" in Quebec: Supporting high school students’ understandings of culture and citizenship through visual narration

Joanne Pattison-Meek, Bishop's University 

In September 2024, Quebec rolled out a new Culture and Citizenship in Quebec (CCQ) curriculum across the province, compulsory between grades 1 through 11. Drawing on classroom case studies, this paper will provide insights into how participating high school teachers invited students in their grade seven and eight (Secondary I and II) CCQ course to explore and share their rural realities through visual storytelling. Drawing on PhotoVoice as a research methodology, students inquired into the social and cultural roots of their rural reference points, practices, and beliefs through their own lenses. Images became a powerful means for students in their English-language school to see themselves reflected in an otherwise urban-centric, Francophone curriculum. 

Students were prompted, through a sociological exploration of what it is like to grow up "rural" in Quebec, to develop analytical, reflexive, and relational skills by engaging in visual narration and dialogue about the social and cultural fabrics of their rural communities. Students reflected individually and collectively on their personal images using the following prompts: how are my experiences of growing up rural similar to and different from my peers? How might our images, as a class, help students who are not from our (school) community to understand our rural realities?

Education Program Tailored for a Border Community

Stéphanie Robert, Colby-Curtis Museum

Entitled "Stanstead Graduates," this educational program by the Colby-Curtis Museum in the Eastern Townships is rooted in the desire not only to promote access to culture and heritage for young people in the Stanstead community, but also to encourage them to stay in school through repeated participation in a wide variety of activities. This presentation explains the pedagogical basis and empowerment theories that make Stanstead Graduates so successful.