- Our ecological footprint is exceeding Earth’s capacity to sustain biodiversity and human life.
- Our decisions and actions matter; they have social, environmental, economic, and political consequences.
- Individuals, groups, governments, and corporations have the power to effect change and the responsibility to contribute to a sustainable future.
- The media do not provide neutral reflections of reality; they affect our decisions and actions.
- A global economic system that depends upon and perpetuates unrestrained consumerism is unsustainable.
- Economic and technological development have contributed greatly to society, but often with harmful human and environmental consequences.
- Indigenous knowledge and world views offer alternatives to prevailing assumptions about how to live with one another within the environment.
- Political systems distribute power, privilege, and wealth in different ways, some more justly than others.
- A just society respects human diversity and recognizes universal, equal, and inalienable human rights.
- There is no them or over there: we all belong to the human species, our concerns are interdependent, and we are part of the natural world.
Specific Learning Outcomes
Through inquiry, learners will research, discuss, and gain knowledge and understanding of a minimum of three (3) of the following Areas of Inquiry (class/student choice): media; consumerism; environment; poverty, wealth, and power; Indigenous peoples; peace and conflict; oppression and genocide; health and biotechnology; gender and identity; social justice and human rights.
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how we are affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- concentration of ownership and convergence
- power and profit
- propaganda, social engineering
- bias in media
- critical analysis of media
- selection and omission of news items
- marketing and advertising strategies
- freedom of the press: regulation, ethics, legislation, and censorship
- public control and citizen journalism
- alternative media and social justice
- stereotypes
- psychological influence (e.g., objectification, sexualization, body image, fear)
- violence
- rise of infotainment
- power and influence of advertising (e.g., pervasiveness, embedded messages, product placement)
- popular culture and social mores
- culture of consumerism and environmental consequences
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how are we affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- consumer-based economies
- capitalism and free market economies
- citizen responsibilities and decision-making
- corporate responsibilities and decision-making
- culture of entitlement
- culture of credit
- culture of excess
- commodification of Indigenous cultures
- impact of branding, marketing, and advertising
- mass-media manipulation
- corporate sponsorship, product placement
- perceived/planned obsolescence
- lifestyle and health issues (e.g., obesity, chemical intolerances, allergies, illnesses, sedentary living)
- energy and natural resource depletion
- generation of waste
- petro-politics
- corporate and consumer greed
- sweatshops
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how we are affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- healthy ecosystems, preservation of biodiversity
- water management and quality
- limited resources versus unlimited development/growth
- responsible resource extraction
- energy efficiency and alternative energy sources
- environmental and human disasters (e.g., prevention, response, individual and collective)
- environmental degradation and technological solutions
- sustainable cities, design, urban planning
- alternative transportation
- standard of living versus quality of life
- carrying capacity
- energy consumption, carbon footprint, travel and transportation alternatives, alternative energy sources
- stewardship and equitable sharing of natural resources
- economic and environmental refugees
- population increase, distribution, movement, migration, urbanization
- politics and economics of climate change (e.g., impact of industrialization, responsibilities of developed/less-developed economies, Kyoto Accord; Arctic sovereignty)
- Gaia hypothesis, systems thinking, interconnectedness of human and natural systems, living sustainably
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how we are affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- globalization: economic globalization, multinational and transnational corporations (e.g., control, regulation, erosion of government authority)
- global domination, military industrial complex, international arms sales
- organized crime
- technological advances
- forms of inequality/disparity: income, consumption, access to necessities of life (e.g., food, water, shelter, education, health, employment, safety)
- causes of inequality: colonialism, debt, unequal trade, economic policies (e.g., World Bank, IMF), natural and human causes of inequality/disparity
- bridging the gap between rich and poor countries: development assistance, debt relief, trade over aid, fair trade, rebuild fragile states/promote democracy, labour movements, community-based projects
- economic sanctions
- measuring poverty: absolute, relative
- causes: political, economic, natural
- forms of poverty: discrimination, marginalization
- effects of poverty: infant mortality, maternal health, child labour, working conditions, social vitality, income, basic needs, safety
- solutions/poverty reduction
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how we are affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- ethno-diversity of world’s Indigenous peoples
- the legacy of colonialism, colonization, and decolonization
- enculturation, assimilation, and cultural loss
- disappearance of Indigenous women in Canada
- impact of development and globalization on Indigenous Peoples, cultural homogenization, disappearance of Indigenous Peoples and cultures (e.g., population decrease, illnesses)
- restitution and reconciliation processes
- Indigenous resurgence and development, circumpolar and other international Indigenous organizations
- international rights of Indigenous peoples
- preservation of traditional Indigenous cultures and languages
- commodification, falsification, and marketing of traditional Indigenous knowledge
- recognition of distinctive Indigenous world views and values
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how we are affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- nature and forms of conflict: international terrorism, transnational and intrastate conflict, civil disobedience, terrorism, violent and non-violent revolutions, nuclear proliferation and deterrence
- agents of conflict: economic, military policies, military industrial complex, international arms sales and marketing
- ideology, religion; sources of conflict (e.g., human security, competition for land or resources, religion, racial or ethnic tensions, self-determination, political goals)
- ethical issues in war and military alliances
- impact of conflict: civilians, children, quality of life, environmental impact, economic impact
- intervention and conflict resolution: military, national security, government policies, citizen rights, multilateral intervention (e.g., UN), international humanitarian law (e.g., Red Cross, Red Crescent), reconstruction, international criminal courts, peace movements, pacifism, peacekeeping, peace building, diplomacy, counterinsurgency, policing, international development
- alternatives to war: economic sanctions, diplomacy, aid
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how we are affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- forms of oppression: racial, cultural, ethnic and religious
- inequitable control of land or resources, xenophobia, perceptions of racial or cultural superiority, systemic racism (e.g., Apartheid; state-based exclusion, oppression, or violence)
- political oppression: state authority, dictatorship, enforcement (e.g., role of military, police, secret police), punishment, racial profiling/discrimination, propaganda and dissemination of hatred, bureaucracy, racial laws
- abuse of power and genocide (e.g., Shoah/Holocaust, Holodomor, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Rwanda, Armenia, Darfur)
- compliance, blind obedience, denials of genocide, crimes against humanity, disregard for international conventions, opportunism, ostracism, religion, peer pressure, stereotypes, supremacy, prejudice, ignorance, bystanders, propaganda, fear
- atrocities: concentration camps, exclusion, persecution, crimes against humanity, mass murder, deportation, extermination, genocide, Final Solution
- peace and reconciliation processes: dissent, state restitution/reparations, international tribunals, Righteous Among Nations (Yad Vashem), survivors, upstanders
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how we are affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- science, technology, and human health; economic implications of health care; controversial genetic research (e.g., embryonic and stem cell research, animal testing, patenting DNA, genetic intervention and modification, preservation of genetic material, genetic information privacy)
- longevity and life-preservation measures
- controversial medical interventions (e.g., plastic surgery, in vitro fertilization, euthanasia, abortion)
- epidemic and pandemic prevention and response, disease control (e.g., AIDS, virus control, immunization)
- birth control and maternal and child care, pharmaceutical industry (e.g., Big Pharma, marketing, testing, control)
- food and drug management and testing, alternative health practices, safety, control and marketing
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how we are affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- feminism and views of gender roles
- worldwide gender equity issues, education of women, eco-feminism, women and power, women and the economic system, female health, maternal health, access to birth control and abortion, domestic labour, childrearing, child care, female poverty
- cultural relativism versus rejection of oppressive cultural practices (e.g., female genital mutilation, honour killings of women, women’s dress restrictions [hijab, burqa, niqab], limitations on female rights and freedoms, limitations on female rights and freedoms)
- hetero-normativity, masculine/feminine gender role stereotypes
- same-sex marriage, homophobia
- sexual marketing, prostitution, human trafficking and slave trade, sex tourism, pornography, sexualization and abuse of children
- body image, female sexual stereotyping, the marketing of sexuality, impact on human relations
- Explain why this issue is important.
- Explain why we should care.
- Describe and analyze how we are affected as a planet, as a nation, and as individuals.
- Describe the implications near and far, now and in the future.
- Explain how we contribute to the problem.
The most important issues related to this topic that learners should be focusing on and learning about include the following:
- universal human rights (e.g., ethnicity, race, culture, class, religion, sexual orientation, gender, abilities)
- economic disparities, poverty, quality of life
- access to food, water, health care, education, employment
- child exploitation, human trafficking and slave labour
- action for human rights
- forms of activism (e.g., the power of one, resistance to oppression, civil disobedience, conscientious objectors, boycotts, protests, grassroots movements, local community groups, citizen action groups, social networking and mobilization for change, popular culture and the arts)
- labour movement and unions, strikes, non-violent revolution
- Indigenous rights and self-determination
- crime and punishment, penal systems and economic implications, ethical treatment of prisoners
- environmentalism and environmental organizations
- ethical treatment and human use of animals
- eco-activism
- NGOs and international collaboration, role of governments in international aid (e.g., CIDA, disaster relief, the economics of aid)
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