LIBE463 - COMMUNITY ANALYSIS AND REPORT (Assignment #1)

 ÉCOLE SECONDAIRE HUGH MCROBERTS SECONDARY COMMUNITY ANALYSIS 

PART A:  SCHOOL COMMUNITY

École secondaire Hugh McRoberts Secondary is an average size school (933 students) in the city of Richmond, BC.  The school is located in the middle class community of Broadmoor in central Richmond.  Over 40% of the school population is registered in the French Immersion program.  Students in this program come from all over the East side of Richmond which creates a slightly more diverse community.  The school also welcomes international students that account for just over 10% of the school population.  Fewer than 1% of students receive ELL teaching.  In 2017, McRoberts had 8 students declaring Aboriginal Ancestry and 58 students qualified for Ministry funded support. (*Data pulled from the Ministry 1701 report for the 2017-2018 school year)

There are 50 teachers currently working at McRoberts Secondary.  8 teachers teach in the French Immersion program teaching either Français langue, Sciences humaines, Sciences naturelles and/or Mathématiques. 

Our library is currently in transition to become a Library Learning Commons.  The process began two years ago, however the librarian that began the project moved to another school.  We have a new librarian who is continuing the transformation.  The library has a flexible schedule and teachers can sign up their classes for a block or more to do research, get an orientation, access computers or use the larger space for presentations.  

Now... about Richmond...

In 2016, the city of Richmond registered a population of 198 309.  The school is located in the Broadmoor neighborhood which is the third largest neighborhood in Richmond after City Centre and Steveston.  Over 22 000 people live in this community.  54% of Richmond's population identify their ethnic origin as Chinese.  Other large groups include English, Filipino, Canadian and Scottish.  In the Broadmoor neighborhood where McRoberts is located, 49% declare Chinese as their ethnicity and fewer than 1% have aboriginal ancestry.   Over 30% stated that English was their mother tongue followed by 22% declaring it to be Cantonese and 20% saying it is Mandarin.   Finally, the community is largely middle class and many own their homes. (City of Richmond)


PART B:  LEARNING OBJECTIVES/CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

The focus of this analysis will be Social Studies and more specifically, the grade 12 course "XXth Century World History".  The primary reason is due to recent changes in the Social Studies curriculum and graduation requirements.  Social Studies 11 no longer exists as a course in the curriculum.  Students are required to take a senior Social Studies class of their choice.  Our school surveyed all students to see where their interests lied.  The courses we are currently running are based on the survey results.  In English, we are offering:

• Explorations 11 (x1)
• Asian Studies (x1)
• Economics (x2)
• Law (x5)
• Genocide Studies (x1)

In French, we are offering the following two options:

• Explorations 11 (x2)
• Histoire mondiale du XXe siècle (x1)

This year, I have 27 students enrolled in Histoire mondiale du 20e Siècle.  They are all in grade 11.  There are 9 boys and 18 girls.   (This gender distribution is typical for French Immersion...)

Although I have taught 20th Century World History for over 10 years, this is the first time the class is being taught in French.   There is no textbook and finding resources online in French that are engaging, age appropriate and at the right cognitive level has proven to be a challenge.  A brief survey of the school library shows that the resources connected to 20th Century World History are dated and lacking in numbers.

(BC's New Curriculum: 20th Century World History 12 - 2018)

There are three Big Ideas in 20th Century World History:

1. Nationalist movements can unite people in common causes or lead to intense conflict between different groups.
2. The rapid development and proliferation of technology in the 20th century led to profound social, economic and political changes.
3. The breakdown of long-standing empires created new economic and political systems.

Another important thing to note is that the curricular competencies for Social Studies are essentially the same from K-12.  They focus on developing Historical Thinking skills or rather, what I call the skills of the Historian/Social Scientist.  Therefore, one must look at the content for ideas on how to grow these skills in our students. To this end, I am going to focus my work on the first inquiry of the year:  "Lenin:  Hero or Tyrant?"  (content = Russian Revolution and Communism). This unit will focus on the following curricular competencies:

• Assess the significance of people, locations, events, and developments, and compare varying perspectives on their historical significance at particular times and places, and from group to group (significance)

• Assess how underlying conditions and the actions of individuals or groups affect events, decisions, and developments, and analyze multiple consequences (cause and consequence)

• Explain different perspectives on past or present people, places, issues, and events by considering prevailing norms, values, worldviews, and beliefs (perspective)

It is important to note that teachers of English 10 - Literary Studies read Animal Farm (1944) by George Orwell and do a big inquiry around the power of persuasion.  Any new resources found on the Russian Revolution/Communism will potentially also serve the English 10 teachers and their students.

 PART C:  COLLABORATORS/PARTNERS

I am not currently a LC Librarian.  However, as Head of the French Immersion department, I have often had to take on the responsibility of ordering books for the library as our library has not had a French speaking librarian in over 10 years.  A good district resource in Richmond has been the district Librarian who happens to speak French.  In time of need, she has been able to locate some sources and recommend digital tools to help with planning and teaching.  We also have a district French Immersion Teacher Consultant who is very supportive and can act as a liaison to other districts that have FI programs.  This helps to connect schools/individuals that are often quite isolated.

Last year, in LIBE461, I had to interview a TL in another school and met the amazing team of inspiring Librarians at Churchill Secondary School in Vancouver.  As 2 of 3 librarians speak French, they have become a supportive resource for me when trying to locate French language material.  Connecting with other teachers in the program has also helped build important relationships.

(Vancouver Kidsbooks logo)

Another important partnership has been with Kidsbooks book store.  The store owner and career librarian Phyllis Simon has been an indispensable collaborator over the last two years.  Even though her French is limited, she has been able to connect me with publishers and get recommendations of sources for our FI program.  Now that I am looking for information texts, I can locate the books I want, send her the information and publisher and she coordinates the orders.  I have also built relationships with other book publishers and distributors like Archambault, Librairie Monet, CFORP, Chenèlière, etc. 

A big challenge that Social Studies is facing is that teachers can no longer depend on textbooks to teach content for them.  Publishers are hesitant to produce any material for the new curriculum and even less so in French.  My quest for resources for 20th Century World History in French or English has been challenging.  Therefore, the world wide web has become one the most important tools to find sources be they lesson plans, primary source documents or even accessing quality online translators like Deepl.com to help translate more efficiently material that already exist in English.

CONCLUDING REMARKS...

École secondaire McRoberts Secondary is a unique school belonging to a unique community.  According to Mardis (2016), "Effective school library programs are dependent on a collection that is responsive to the needs of students and teachers..." (p.35) At present, my needs as a 20th Century World History teacher in French are not being met with the resources that are currently in the library.  At a glance, it is evident that the collection of 20th century world history books in both English and French has not been reviewed for several years and desperately needs some attention. 

The changes to the Social Studies curriculum and in particular to the grade 11 year, has created an opportunity to take a closer look at the collection and assess what is needed to support not only me but the entire Social Studies department as well as our students in both French and English.  I am looking forward to the next step!

SOURCES:

1701 Report for McRoberts Secondary School for the 2017-2018 school year. (accessed Sept. 2018 at school)

City of Richmond. "Population & Demographics". 2018. https://www.richmond.ca/discover/about/demographics.htm

Mardis, Marcia A. 2016.  The Collection Program in Schools - Concepts and Practices (6th Ed.). Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.

Orwell, George.  1944. Animal Farm. Australia: University of Adelaide (e-book). https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwell/george/o79a/complete.html

Province of British Colombia. 2018.  "BC's New Curriculum". https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/