Social Studies Standards for the Province of British Columbia

Link to BC Ministry of Education curriculum website

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6—Global Issues and Governance

Big Ideas

• Economic self-interest can be a significant cause of conflict among peoples and governments.

• Complex global problems require international cooperation to make difficult choices for the future.

• Systems of government vary in their respect for human rights and freedoms.

• Media sources can both positively and negatively affect our understanding of important events and issues.

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Students are expected to know the following…

• the urbanization and migration of people

• global poverty and inequality issues, including class structure and gender

How does discrimination and prejudice in modern Canadian society compare with that during other periods in Canada’s past or in other societies (e.g., systemic discrimination, overt racism)?

• roles of individuals, governmental organizations, and NGOs, including groups representing indigenous peoples

• different systems of government

• economic policies and resource management, including effects on indigenous peoples

How should decisions about economic policy and resource management be made?

How should societies balance economic development with the protection of the environment?

• globalization and economic interdependence

• international cooperation and responses to global issues

• regional and international conflict

• media technologies and coverage of current events

 

7—The Ancient World to the 7th Century

Big Ideas

• Geographic conditions shaped the emergence of civilizations.

• Religious and cultural practices that emerged during this period have endured and continue to influence people.

• Increasingly complex societies required new systems of laws and government.

• Economic specialization and trade networks can lead to conflict and cooperation between societies.

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Students are expected to know the following:

• anthropological origins of humans

• human responses to particular geographic challenges and opportunities, including climates, landforms, and natural resources

• features and characteristics of civilizations and factors that lead to their rise and fall

• origins, core beliefs, narratives, practices, and influences of religions, including at least one indigenous to the Americas

• scientific, philosophical, and technological developments

• interactions and exchanges between past civilizations and cultures, including conflict, peace, trade, expansion, and migration

What is the impact on language of increased trade and interactions between civilizations and cultures?

• social, political, legal, governmental, and economic systems and structures, including at least one indigenous to the Americas

 

8—7th Century to 1750

Big Ideas

• Contacts and conflicts between peoples stimulated significant cultural, social, political change.

• Human and environmental factors shape changes in population and living standards.

• Exploration, expansion, and colonization had varying consequences for different groups.

• Changing ideas about the world created tension between people wanting to adopt new ideas and those wanting to preserve established traditions.

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Students are expected to know the following:

• social, political, and economic systems and structures, including those of at least one indigenous civilization

• scientific and technological innovations

• philosophical and cultural shifts

• interactions and exchanges of resources, ideas, arts, and culture between and among different civilizations

– linguistic changes

• exploration, expansion, and colonization

• changes in population and living standards

 

9—1750–1919

Big Ideas

• Emerging ideas and ideologies profoundly influence societies and events.

• The physical environment influences the nature of political, social, and economic change.

• Disparities in power alter the balance of relationships between individuals and between societies.

• Collective identity is constructed and can change over time.

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Students are expected to know the following:

• political, social, economic, and technological revolutions

• the continuing effects of imperialism and colonialism on indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world

– impact of treaties on First Peoples (e.g., numbered treaties, Vancouver Island treaties)

– impact of the Indian Act, including reservations and the residential school system

– interactions between Europeans and First Peoples​​

What were the motivations for imperialism and colonialism during this period?

What role does imperialism and colonialism from this period have on events in present-day Canada and around the world?

• global demographic shifts, including patterns of migration and population growth

• nationalism and the development of modern nation-states, including Canada

• local, regional, and global conflicts

• discriminatory policies, attitudes, and historical wrongs

– discriminatory policies toward First Peoples, such as the Indian Act, potlatch ban, residential schools

How might specific examples of past incidents of inequality (e.g., Head Tax on Chinese immigrants, internment of Japanese-Canadians, residential schools, suffrage, discriminatory federal government labour practices related to gender and sexual orientation) be handled today under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

• physiographic features of Canada and geological processes