The Place of Civic Engagement in Introductory Canadian Politics and Government Courses in Canadian Universities

Abstract

Traditionally in Canada, attention to political or civic education has been at the primary- or secondary-school level. This study focuses on the place of civic engagement in introductory Canadian politics and government university courses in Canada by surveying instructors on their attitudes and approaches to civic engagement in the classroom. Surveying 28 instructors from across the country from large and small, English and French institutions, we compared survey results to collected course syllabi from the participants. In our study, we found that there is a clear disconnect between what instructors believe is the most effective way to foster civic engagement and what they are assigning their students to complete for course requirements.

Keywords:

• Canadian politics
• civic education
• engagement
• postsecondary education
• teaching

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the instructors who took part in the survey and shared their course syllabi with us.

Notes

ICPG covers a number of different course names and codes. Here is a short list to name a few: POLI 101 The Government of Canada (University of British Columbia), POL 221 Introduction to Canadian Government (Simon Fraser University), POLI 101 Introduction to Canadian Politics (University of Victoria), PSCI 230 Canadian Politics (University of Regina), POLS 1400 Issues in Canadian Politics (University of Guelph), POLI SCI 263 Politics and Government in Canada (Wilfrid Laurier University), and POL112 The Canadian Political Process (Bishop's University).

We received ethics clearance from the University of New Brunswick Saint John Research Ethics Board.

Questions of age, gender, and race were not asked in an attempt to encourage more participation.