Canadian Studies · Grade 10

Active learning ideas

Women in the Workforce & Pay Equity

Active learning helps students move beyond abstract facts about policy changes to see how real people shaped workplace rights. When they analyze primary documents or debate historical impacts, they connect the Royal Commission’s recommendations to lived experiences of discrimination and progress.

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

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Inquiry Circle
• 45 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: The 1970 Royal Commission

In small groups, students analyze a selection of the 167 recommendations from the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. They identify which recommendations have been fulfilled and which issues (like affordable childcare) remain ongoing challenges today.

Analyze how the World Wars significantly altered women's participation in the workforce.

Facilitation Tip

During the Collaborative Investigation, assign each small group one recommendation from the Royal Commission and have them map it to a law passed within five years.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Beyond equal pay for equal work, what is the fundamental difference pay equity seeks to address, and why is this distinction crucial for achieving workplace equality?' Facilitate a class discussion where students can share their interpretations and examples.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Activity 02

• Formal Debate
• 45 min · Whole Class

Formal Debate: The Impact of the 'Pill'

Students debate how the introduction of the birth control pill in the 1960s changed women's lives in terms of education, career, and family planning. They discuss the social and economic consequences of women having more control over their reproductive lives.

Explain the persistent barriers women face in achieving workplace equality today.

Facilitation Tip

For the Structured Debate on the Pill, provide students with two primary sources: a 1960s medical journal article and a feminist magazine piece to ground arguments in historical voices.

What to look for

Provide students with a short case study describing a historical or contemporary workplace scenario. Ask them to identify at least two barriers to women's equality mentioned or implied in the text and suggest one policy that could help overcome them.

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

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: The Morgentaler Case

Students read about Dr. Henry Morgentaler's long legal battle for abortion rights. They discuss with a partner the significance of the 1988 Supreme Court decision and how it reflected the changing values of Canadian society regarding women's autonomy.

Evaluate the progress and challenges in the fight for pay equity in Canada.

Facilitation Tip

In the Think-Pair-Share on the Morgentaler Case, ask students to jot down one legal and one social change that followed the decision before sharing.

What to look for

On an index card, have students write one specific way the World Wars changed women's roles in the Canadian workforce and one persistent challenge women face in achieving pay equity today.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should avoid presenting second-wave feminism as a monolithic success story. Instead, use primary sources to show internal debates about who the movement included and excluded. Research suggests pairing historical policy wins with counter-stories of marginalized women to deepen understanding of intersectionality. Avoid framing early feminism as solely oppositional; highlight coalitions with labor groups and Indigenous activists that strengthened policy demands.

Successful learning looks like students confidently linking specific Royal Commission recommendations to laws passed, debating the Pill’s effects with historical evidence, and recognizing how legal cases like Morgentaler shifted cultural and policy boundaries. Their discussions should show depth, not just agreement with feminist aims.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Collaborative Investigation on the Royal Commission, watch for students assuming the 167 recommendations were all immediately adopted.

  Use the activity’s source packets to have students track which recommendations became law within five years and which stalled, then discuss why some faced resistance.

• During the Structured Debate on the Impact of the 'Pill', students may reduce the movement’s goals to personal liberation rather than systemic change.

  Have debaters cite specific policy outcomes tied to the Pill, like changes in divorce laws or workplace protections, using the debate sources as evidence.

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Methods used in this brief

• Inquiry Circle
• Formal Debate
• Think-Pair-Share