Social Justice Courses Grades 11 (HSG3M) and 12 (HSE4M)
Social Sciences and Humanities (2013), The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 to 12 – Curricular Links to the Holodomor
- Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice, Grade 11, Work Place Preparation (HSG3M) [p.71]
- Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, Grade 12, University/ College Preparation (HSE4M) [p.81]
The Holodomor strongly complements the newly developed social justice courses titled, Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice, Grade 11, Work Place Preparation (HSG3M) and Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, Grade 12, University/ College Preparation (HSE4M). Both courses address the topics of equity, diversity, identity, empathy, power relations, and social action through exploring “historical and contemporary issues” (Ontario Ministry of Education, Grades 9 to 12 Social Sciences and Humanities, 2013, p.70). The Holodomor, a prime example of ethnic and religious discrimination and annihilation, does not only fit with the above topics, but also provides historical context for Ukrainian-Russian relations.
Similarly, the specific expectations within the courses are met by covering the Holodomor. These topics include media manipulation and propaganda; the denial, recognition, and commemoration of the Holodomor; biases, stereotypes, and discrimination regarding Ukrainians and identifiable groups; the denial of the Ukrainian identity through the elimination of Ukrainian language, culture, and religion; and the examination of primary and secondary sources such as government decrees, correspondence, and eye witness accounts. Through the teaching and examination of the topics, students develop critical thinking skills and gain historical context.
Direct Curricular Links Regarding the Holodomor
| Grade | Course (name and code) | Unit | Overall Expectation | Specific Expectation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice, Work Place (HSG3M) | A.Research and Inquiry Skills | A1. Exploring: Explore topics related to equity, diversity, and/or social justice, and formulate questions to guide their research. | A1.1: Explore a variety of topics related to equity, diversity, and/or social justice (e.g., stereotypes in textbooks, newspapers, and magazines; general discrimination in sports) to identify topics for research and inquiry. | Holodomor is a topic that may be included as an example related to social injustice. To this day we continue to bring the history of the Holodomor to light and continue to work towards having the Holodomor recognized as a genocide throughout the world.
Identifiable groups in Ukraine (kulaks) were dehumanized and by legal government decrees were isolated and destroyed. |
| 11 | Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice, Work Place (HSG3M) | A.Research and Inquiry Skills | A1. Exploring: Explore topics related to equity, diversity, and/or social justice, and formulate questions to guide their research. | A1.2: Identify key concepts (e.g., through discussion, brainstorming, use of visual organizers) related to their selected topics. | Key concepts that students can identify by studying the Holodomor are the Holodomor as genocide, food as a weapon to orchestrate genocide, the totalitarian nature of the government which created the genocide, and Holodomor as a collective term for the destruction of the Ukrainian people under the Soviet regime. |
| 11 | Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice, Work Place (HSG3M) | B. Foundations | B2. Power Relations: Demonstrate an understanding of the dynamics of power relations in various social contexts. | B2.3: Demonstrate an understanding of the difference between individual and systemic forms of discrimination and oppression (e.g., antisemitic remarks, racial profiling, gay bashing, racist slurs, homophobic comments, lack of captioning of television programs or videos, employment barriers, restrictions on gay men being blood or organ donors, the reserve system for First Nations peoples in Canada, failure to make buildings accessible for elderly people and people with disabilities). | The Holodomor may be used as an example of a systematic form of discrimination and oppression towards Ukraine’s farming population. Stalin discriminated against the Ukrainian farmers (kulaks). He took away their land and possessions and through government decrees destroyed them and their culture, religion, and identity. |
| 11 | Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice, Work Place (HSG3M) | B. Foundations | B2. Power Relations: Demonstrate an understanding of the dynamics of power relations in various social contexts. | B2.4: Describe the effects of discrimination and oppression on individuals and groups (e.g., feelings of marginalization, powerlessness, anger, hopelessness; motivation to seek societal change or engage in advocacy, action). | The Holodomor may be used as a case study regarding the effects of discrimination and oppression of an identifiable group. Students can examine the effects the Genocidal Famine had on the Ukrainians then and how Canadians today address the memory of the Holodomor. |
| 11 | Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice, Work Place (HSG3M) | B. Foundations | B3. Social Awareness and Individual Action: Demonstrate an understanding of the impact individual action can have on equity, social justice, and environmental issues, and of how the media can create awareness of these issues. | B3.3: Explain how the media and popular culture can help create awareness of equity, social justice, and environmental issues (e.g., through Internet campaigns, social marketing, documentaries and other films; by publicizing positive role models). | Holodomor education has brought to light the atrocities of the Holodomor. Through public campaigning, research and education, and documentaries the Holodomor has been recognised as a genocide in Canada with a day of commemoration in November – Holodomor Memorial Day. |
| 12 | Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, University/ College (HSE4M) | A.Research and Inquiry Skills | A1 Exploring: Explore topics related to equity and social justice, and formulate questions to guide their research. | A1.1: Explore a variety of topics related to equity and social justice (e.g., media representations of women in politics, effects of social networking on activism) to identify topics for research and inquiry. | Holodomor is a topic that may be included as an example related to social justice. To this day we continue to bring the history of the Holodomor to light and continue to work towards having the Holodomor be recognized as a genocide worldwide. To this day International Courts have yet to condemn Soviet Communism for the Genocidal Famine in Ukraine. |
| 12 | Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, University/ College (HSE4M) | A.Research and Inquiry Skills | A1 Exploring: Explore topics related to equity and social justice, and formulate questions to guide their research. | A1.2: Identify key concepts (e.g., through discussion, brainstorming, use of visual organizers) related to their selected topics. | Key concepts that students can identify by studying the Holodomor are the Holodomor as genocide, food as a weapon to orchestrate genocide, the totalitarian nature of the government which created the genocide, and Holodomor as a collective term for the destruction of the Ukrainian people under the Soviet regime. |
| 12 | Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, University/ College (HSE4M) | B. Understanding Social Construction | B1 Approaches and Perspectives: Demonstrate an understanding of a range of perspectives on and approaches to equity and social justice issues, and of factors that affect inequity and social injustice. | B1.3: Explain how individual and systemic factors (e.g., fear, greed, isolation, pressure to conform, poverty, individual and systemic discrimination) can cause or perpetuate inequity and social injustice. | The Holodomor may be used as an example of social injustice. Stalin used systematic factors such as fear, isolation of groups of society, and systematic discrimination against the farming population in Ukraine and through the passing of government decrees destroyed them and their culture in the process. |
| 12 | Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, University/ College (HSE4M) | B. Understanding Social Construction | B2 Power Relations: Analyse, in historical and contemporary contexts, the dynamics of power relations and privilege as well as various factors that contribute to power or marginalization. | B2.2: Analyse the effects of bias, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and oppression on individuals and groups (e.g., feelings of marginalization, powerlessness, anger, hopelessness, apathy, lack of self-worth, defiance; ghettoization; formation of support groups; motivation to seek societal change or engage in advocacy, action). | The Holodomor may be used as an example of discrimination and oppression of an identifiable group, the Ukrainian population, under the Soviet Union, as the second largest ethnic group. Students can analyze eye witness accounts of survivors of the Holodomor to understand the effects of this discrimination and oppression. |
| 12 | Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, University/ College (HSE4M) | B. Understanding Social Construction | B2 Power Relations: Analyse, in historical and contemporary contexts, the dynamics of power relations and privilege as well as various factors that contribute to power or marginalization. | B2.4: Demonstrate an understanding of how the use of language can empower or marginalize individuals and groups (e.g., the impact of forcing colonized people to be educated in or to use the language of the colonizer; the implications of androcentric language; the benefits of groups “reclaiming” pejorative language). | The bringing in of Russian by Stalin and his government to replace Ukrainian as a language in government and education circles led to the Russification of Ukraine. |
| 12 | Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, University/ College (HSE4M) | B. Understanding Social Construction | B3 Media and Popular Culture: Assess the impact of media and popular culture on equity and social justice issues. | B3.2: Analyse the viewpoints in news reports
(e.g., in print media, on television, on the Internet) on equity and social justice issues. |
The Holodomor may be used as an example of varied viewpoints. Reporters in the 1930s either denied or wrote about the Famine in Ukraine. Media was used for propaganda purposes, which led to the denial and cover-up of a major genocide for decades. |
| 12 | Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, University/ College (HSE4M) | B. Understanding Social Construction | B3 Media and Popular Culture: Assess the impact of media and popular culture on equity and social justice issues. | B3.3: Demonstrate an understanding of various ways in which media and popular culture can be used to raise awareness of equity and social justice issues (e.g., how popular music, feature films, documentaries, photographs, and the Internet can raise social awareness). | Holodomor education has brought to light the atrocities of the Holodomor. Through public campaigning, research, education and documentaries the Holodomor has been recognised as a genocide in Canada with a day of commemoration in November, Holodomor Memorial Day. |
| 12 | Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, University/ College (HSE4M) | D. Personal and Social Action | D1 Promoting Equity and Social Justice: Demonstrate an understanding of how personal values, knowledge, and actions can contribute to equity and social justice, and assess strategies that people use to address equity and social justice concerns. | D1.2: Describe how education can help promote equity and social justice (e.g., by fostering critical thinking, increasing awareness, exposing students to multiple perspectives). | By studying the Holodomor students will understand that genocides do not only occur in wartime, but also in times of peace. Students can learn also that different methods can be used to bring about genocide such as the use of “food as a weapon” causing a man-made Famine, as was done to Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s. |
| 12 | Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice, University/ College (HSE4M) | D. Personal and Social Action | D1 Promoting Equity and Social Justice: demonstrate an understanding of how personal values, knowledge, and actions can contribute to equity and social justice, and assess strategies that people use to address equity and social justice concerns. | D1.4: Assess the effectiveness of various strategies that have been used, both historically and in the present day, to address equity and social justice issues (e.g., Internet campaigns; boycotts; petitions; letters to the editor; lobbying; participation in non-governmental organizations [NGOs], rallies/demonstrations, revolutionary movements). | Holodomor is a topic that should be addressed in the International Courts as a Communist crime against the Ukrainian people. Through education, students may be encouraged to address their schools, governments, and international courts to recognize and commemorate the Holodomor. |
Bibliography
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2013). The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 to 12 Social Sciences and Humanities. Ontario: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.