Prescribed Learning Outcomes
It is expected that students will:
- identify issues facing families in a multicultural and global society
- analyse current trends in families in Canada
- compare customs and traditions of families in various cultures
- describe strategies for taking action on social issues that affect families
To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Family Studies - Families in Society in grade 11 click on an icon below.
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Suggested Instructional Strategies
Families face many challenges in today's multicultural society. Students analyse family trends in Canada in order to identify social and global issues that may affect them and their families.
- Have students investigate and report on a variety of cultural factors that may affect families in Canada (e.g., child-rearing practices, gender roles, religious practices, communication patterns, intermarriage).
- As a class, brainstorm employment challenges for new Canadians. Then have students in groups examine job opportunities for these individuals. Ask students to design a display booth to help new Canadians look for employment, focussing on skills needed, community resources available for retraining, and rights and responsibilities of employees and employers. Invite employment counsellors to critique the booth.
- Ask students to use the Internet or other sources to investigate demographic statistics relating to Canadian families over the past several years (e.g., average number of children, occupations, birth and death rates, levels of disposable income). As a class, have students prepare a graph showing the changes from year to year. Encourage them to suggest reasons for these changes.
- Invite students to make presentations about celebrations from around the world (e.g., Easter, Chinese New Year, Ramadan, Hanukkah). Ask them to describe the origin of each and its significance to families.
- Ask students to identify family ceremonies (e.g., baptisms, naming ceremonies, bar mitzvahs, weddings, funerals) and discuss their roles in an individual's life.
- Invite a guest speaker to discuss Aboriginal customs and the challenges Aboriginal families face today. Form pairs and have each research one Aboriginal custom and its significance to the family. Ask students to share their findings with the class. Have them each develop a portfolio of articles about an Aboriginal issue, including strategies for action.
Suggested Assessment Strategies
- When students analyse demographic statistics on Canadian families, look for evidence of the extent to which they:
- collect and assess relevant information from a variety of appropriate sources
- present accurate and complete information
- include specific statistical evidence
- draw logical conclusions and make generalizations based on the data
- offer reasoned speculations about underlying causes of trends they identify
- Ask students, individually or in pairs, to describe an imaginary or real family using current demographic data and their own observations about trends in their local community. Emphasize the importance of basing their descriptions on current data and knowledge about their own community. Have them compare their descriptions with trends identified in Canadian families:
- What are the similarities and differences?
- How might these be accounted for?
- What are some of the factors that contribute to individual differences within a societal trend?
- Have students work in groups to investigate and report on a social issue that affects families and to identify potential strategies for action. To assess students' abilities to evaluate these strategies and prompt self-assessment, pose questions such as:
- What previous knowledge did you have about this social issue?
- What strategies have already been implemented?
- Which were most effective? Why?
- What role can you play?
- What strategies did your group identify?
- What difference will implementing the strategies make?
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