Most Canadians can't identify the war during which Canadians fought at Vimy

[McG]

This is sad.  Clearly it is time to make better investments in education.

Less than half of Canadians know which war the Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought in: new poll
Kelsey Rolfe
National Post
07 April 2014

Less than half of Canadians know which war the Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought in, according to a new poll from Ipsos Reid.

The poll, commissioned by the Montreal-based Vimy Foundation, also shows that one in five Canadians don’t actually know what Vimy Ridge is.

For Jeremy Diamond, the foundation’s campaign manager, the poll’s results suggest that Canadians aren’t as in tune with their history as he thinks they should be.

“It’s disappointing that a seminal moment in our history like the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the centennial that is a few years away just doesn’t have that click in people’s minds,” he said.

According to the poll, two in five Canadians incorrectly believe the battle as being fought during World War II, and only half know that it resulted in a significant win for Canadian soldiers against the German Army in France.

It also shows that older respondents were more likely to know the correct answers to poll questions, with people 55 and older consistently out-ranking people in the youngest age bracket of 18-34.

Mr. Diamond said that’s likely because younger people are more disconnected from the battle.

“We of course don’t have any living First World War veterans anymore. So that living link to this time in our history is gone,” he said. “Those stories just don’t exist [anymore]. And so as a result, to many people it probably feels like it’s 200 or 300 years ago instead of only 100.”

He also noted that only four provinces in the country — Ontario, Manitoba,
Nova Scotia and Quebec, have mandatory Canadian history classes, though even that doesn’t necessarily translate to more knowledgeable respondents.

Mr. Diamond said that he hopes to see at least three quarters of Canadians knowledgeable about the battle by 2017, when the Vimy Foundation will mark the battle’s centennial anniversary in France.

The Ipsos poll interviewed 1,015 Canadians online and then employed weighting to ensure the sample reflected the country’s adult population according to census data. The poll’s sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/04/07/less-than-half-of-canadians-know-which-war-the-battle-of-vimy-ridge-was-fought-in-new-poll/

 

[Nfld Sapper]

:facepalm: What is the school system teaching these kids nowadays?

 

[McG]

:facepalm: What is the school system teaching these kids nowadays?

With the exception of Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec - it is not teaching history.

... or so says the article.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

With the exception of Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec - it is not teaching history.

... or so says the article.

When I was going through the NFLD system we did....not sure about today though.....

 

[blackberet17]

History is slowly, quietly, going the way of physical education is school systems.

 

[Bluebulldog]

We as a society, should be very much ashamed....

 

[dimsum]

We as a society, should be very much ashamed....

Sad, considering I suspect that most Australians and New Zealanders would at least know which war Gallipoli was fought in and it has the same "uniting the nations" mystique that Vimy has for us.  It's always front-and-centre of their ANZAC Day ceremonies. 

 

[medicineman]

People probably think they didn't really fight there, but had blue helmets on their heads and were getting between the Germans and the French...

 

[Nfld Sapper]

:facepalm:

 

[larry Strong]

:facepalm: What is the school system teaching these kids nowadays?

Social Sciences and Humanities..........

https://education.alberta.ca/media/774373/soc20.pdf





Larry

 

[Hisoyaki]

In college (CEGEP), I had a teacher tell the class there were no airplanes in World War I.

 

[Journeyman]

In college (CEGEP), I had a teacher tell the class there were no airplanes in World War I.

A PMed Tech told us that Afghanistan was hot because of the elevation -- it's closer to the sun.  She was a hottie, so we went with it.  Your CEGEP teacher?

/tangent

 

[dimsum]

A PMed Tech told us that Afghanistan was hot because of the elevation -- it's closer to the sun.  She was a hottie, so we went with it. 
/tangent

Do go on..... 

 

[Journeyman]

It was our one day of "Base Theatre - canned briefings from hell";  when pre-depl trg is only 6 days (different union), one can't complain.

That's all there is to tell.

Oh, and while Afg was warmish, her briefing made the snow on the mountains even closer to the sun just puzzling. 



I believe PMedMoe may know her, if she wishes to weigh in.

 

[dimsum]

It was our one day of "Base Theatre - canned briefings from hell";  when pre-depl trg is only 6 days (different union), one can't complain.

That's all there is to tell.

Oh, and while Afg was warmish, her briefing made the snow on the mountains even closer to the sun just puzzling. 



I believe PMedMoe may know her, if she wishes to weigh in.

Maybe she was intentionally trolling to see if anyone was paying attention and correct her?

 

[Journeyman]

Maybe she was intentionally trolling to see if anyone was paying attention and correct her?

Hell, she was the only one any of us paid attention to.  >

 

[JSoff]

unfortunately anything related to history after grade 10 you don't need to take it where I live. Social Studies in Grade 8 to 10 only really focus on the war of 1812 and french revolution but that was a fair amount of years ago so it may have changed. I took everything relating to history it was my favorite subject.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

With the exception of Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec - it is not teaching history.

... or so says the article.

At least, Newfoudlanders have the valid excuse that they were not in Canada at the time.

Bet you most adult Newfoundlanders know what the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel is.

On the other hand, I am not surprised at this result: It seems to me that whenever the history of Canada is taught at pre-university levels, they concentrate all the curriculum on early Canadian history: you know - the Discovery of America, early settlers, the French regime, the British conquest, the Rebellion, Upper/Lower Canada then United Canada, the US independence war and leading to Confederation. And then it seems to stop around that time. Little or no more recent and contemporary history.

In grade 12, my son - a history buff who has read through all my WWII books - was actually teaching it to his teacher.

 

[MilEME09]

It's sad the way schools are going. When I went through high school we learned American History before Canadian history, WWI didn't even come up until grade 12, and it was only a few paragraphs in a text book. I heard that the year after I graduated (2009) that the curriculum was changing and Canadian history was being removed completely in favour of expanded teaching on globalization. Well thats Alberta's education system for you, and it's not the only one. Canadian history should be mandatory nation wide.

 

[ModlrMike]

And yet we grumble that the government is shining some light on Canadian history.