Canadian Studies · Grade 10

Active learning ideas

The Sixties Scoop & Child Welfare

Active learning helps students engage with the emotional weight and ethical complexities of the Sixties Scoop by moving beyond abstract facts to lived experiences. By analyzing testimonies, policies, and timelines directly, students confront the human consequences of systemic decisions in a way that passive readings rarely achieve.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• ON: Canada, 1945–1982 - Grade 10
• ON: Social, Economic, and Political Context - Grade 10

• 35–60 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 45 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Survivor Testimonies

Display stations with quotes, photos, and news clippings from Sixties Scoop survivors. Small groups rotate, annotating emotional and cultural impacts on sticky notes. Conclude with a whole-class share-out of common themes.

Analyze how the Sixties Scoop perpetuated the assimilationist goals of residential schools.

Facilitation Tip

During the Gallery Walk, group survivor testimonies by themes like family separation or cultural loss to help students see repeated patterns across different voices.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How did the goals of the Sixties Scoop mirror those of the residential school system?' Facilitate a class discussion, encouraging students to cite specific examples from readings or testimonies to support their points.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Jigsaw
• 60 min · Small Groups

Jigsaw: Assimilation Policies

Assign each student an aspect: removal criteria, residential school links, identity loss, or modern reforms. Students research, then form expert groups to teach peers before reporting to home groups.

Explain the profound impact of the Sixties Scoop on the identity of affected children.

Facilitation Tip

For the Jigsaw activity, assign each group a different assimilation policy so they can compare how methods varied by region and decade.

What to look for

Ask students to write two sentences explaining one lasting consequence of the Sixties Scoop on Indigenous identity and one way current child welfare systems are attempting to rectify this historical injustice.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Fishbowl Discussion
• 40 min · Whole Class

Fishbowl Discussion: Welfare Reforms

Inner circle debates the effectiveness of apologies and Indigenous control over child welfare; outer circle notes arguments. Switch roles midway, followed by consensus-building vote.

Evaluate how contemporary child welfare systems are addressing this historical injustice.

Facilitation Tip

In the Fishbowl Discussion, limit the inner circle to five students at a time to ensure all voices are heard without overwhelming quieter participants.

What to look for

Provide students with a short excerpt from a survivor's testimony. Ask them to identify and list two specific challenges the individual faced due to their removal from their family and culture.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 04

• Case Study Analysis
• 35 min · Pairs

Timeline Mapping: Intergenerational Effects

Pairs create timelines linking residential schools to the Scoop and today's overrepresentation in care. Add personal reflections on reconciliation steps using digital tools or paper.

Analyze how the Sixties Scoop perpetuated the assimilationist goals of residential schools.

Facilitation Tip

When mapping the timeline, provide large chart paper and colored markers so groups can visually trace how policies evolved and overlapped.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How did the goals of the Sixties Scoop mirror those of the residential school system?' Facilitate a class discussion, encouraging students to cite specific examples from readings or testimonies to support their points.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach this topic by centering Indigenous perspectives and avoiding sanitized language about 'protection' or 'care.' Use survivor testimonies as the primary text, not supplementary material, to validate Indigenous voices. Avoid framing the Sixties Scoop as an unfortunate mistake—acknowledge it as deliberate policy aligned with colonial goals. Research shows students retain these lessons better when they analyze primary sources in small groups rather than lecture formats.

Successful learning looks like students connecting historical policies to personal narratives, identifying patterns across time, and articulating how past injustices shape current child welfare systems. You'll know students grasp the topic when they explain causality between assimilation policies and intergenerational trauma without reducing the issue to isolated events.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Survivor Testimonies Gallery Walk, watch for students assuming removals were always justified by abuse.

  After the Gallery Walk, have students work in pairs to categorize each testimony quote as evidence of 'imminent danger' or 'cultural bias' to confront this misconception directly with primary evidence.

• During Jigsaw: Assimilation Policies, watch for students viewing the Sixties Scoop as a closed historical chapter.

  During the Jigsaw activity, ask each group to add a 'legacy' line to their policy summary showing how present-day child welfare systems still reflect those same assimilation goals to correct the timeline misconception.

• During Fishbowl Discussion: Welfare Reforms, watch for students attributing removals only to First Nations children.

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk
• Jigsaw
• Fishbowl Discussion
• Case Study Analysis