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Ipsos Reid / Dominion Institute
What Do Young Adults Know About Canadian History?
10 Year Benchmark Study
Toronto, ON, November 9, 2007 – Over the last decade a major push has been made by public institutions, private foundations and advocacy groups such as the Dominion Institute to educate young people about Canadian history. Noteworthy initiatives include the CBC’s A People’s History, The Historica Foundation’s “Heritage Minutes” and the construction of new Canadian War Museum at the cost of $134 million. With the support of the Aurea Foundation, the Dominion Institute and Ipsos-Reid have undertaken a national survey of 18 to 24 year olds to discover whether or not the last ten years of significant and ongoing investments in history education in Canada have translated into greater levels of knowledge among young people. To do this, the Institute and Ipsos-Reid asked, by telephone, a nationally representative sample of 18 to 24 year olds thirty basic questions about Canada’s past. These questions were identical to those that the Institute used to survey the same age group ten years ago in 1997.
Access the entire press release, with charts, at:
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=3714
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Ipsos Reid / Dominion Institute
Remembrance Day Survey
Toronto, ON, November 9, 2007 – On the heels of its ten year benchmark study on what young adults know about Canadian history, the Dominion Institute’s annual Remembrance Day survey explores 18 to 24 years olds’ attitudes about the teaching of history. Overall, young adults ‘strongly’ (64%) or ‘somewhat’ (25%) support the idea that every high school student should be required to take a course dedicated to the teaching of Canadian history in order to graduate. This includes the vast majority of young adults who reside in the six provinces – BC., AB., SK., NB., PE., NF. – where students are currently allowed to graduate from high school without taking a course dedicated to Canadian history (see companion report for a summary of high school history instruction in Canada). While young adults are much more likely to rank English (47%) and Math (27%) as subjects that provide the skills necessary to succeed in everyday life, they support (31% strongly, 39% somewhat) the Dominion Institute proposal that high school students be required to pass the exam given to newcomers to Canada in order to graduate from high school. Young adults also believe (54%) that history courses should focus on the “history of Canada, the nation” – a view not reflected in many provincial curricula that give equal or greater weighting to regional and local histories.
Access the entire press release, with charts, at:
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=3713
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