Happy first of July
It's almost Canada Day, and you know what that means. It means it's time for the Dominion Institute to issue its annual media release to tell us that we suck at Canadian history. This year, apparently we suck because only 8% of us can identify Sir Frederick Banting by his face. I'm trying to work up the appropriate sense of horror at this revelation, but somehow I can't quite do it.

Every year the Dominion Institute release reminds me of a conversation I once had with a prominent Canadianist while I was TAing for his colonial history course. "It's great that there's a lobbying organization dedicated to Canadian history," he said (in these words or something close to them), "but I suspect that I lose good students over it. The smart ones know when they're being manipulated and they associate this field with nationalist manipulation, so they take other courses."

With this in mind I went and took a peek at the Dominion Institute site. After looking around for a bit, I'm a little less worried about Canadians' ignorance of their history. That's not to say that the site is completely without its teachable moments. If I ever TA an introduction to Canadian history again, I think the Canada quiz would make a good jumping-off point for a tutorial discussion. Maybe the first tutorial of the year, or one around essay time when you know that no one has done any reading.

Lots of discussion questions come to mind when I take the quiz.

• What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of multiple choice tests? Can a multiple choice test adequately evaluate someone's understanding of history?


• When I first took the test, seven of the ten questions asked me to identify politicians. Is the history of politicians the most important kind of history? What other fields of Canadian history could you study?


• Under what circumstances might someone's ignorance about the Lafontaine-Baldwin coalition impede their ability to function as a Canadian citizen? Provide specific scenarios.


• The question about Vimy Ridge is the only one referring to an event that happened outside Canada's borders. Should a course on Canadian history stick to events that happened inside Canada? If not, how much of the course should be about Canadians interacting with the rest of the world? What about the history of Canadian immigrant groups before they came to Canada? Should that be part of a Canadian history course too?


• Did all Canadian women get the right to vote in the same decade? Why does the test accept only one correct answer? Does this suggest something broader about the Dominion Institute and its mandate?


• I've TA'ed Canadian history courses at the University of Toronto, but I flunked the question about which hockey team won the most Stanley Cups. Have I failed my students?


• I took this quiz a few years ago and I think they used the same questions. What are the advantages and disadvantages of always using the same questions versus thinking of some new ones? Does history change?


• What's the difference between national history and national propaganda?