Historical Consciousness and Community Education: Quebec English-Speaking Community Leaders Fostering Community Vitality and Civic Engagement

• In Event: 16.058 - Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: 16.058-15 - Crossing Curriculum Borders: Global Issues in Curriculum Studies

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a mixed qualitative study on how Quebec English-speaking community leaders’ historical consciousness conditions their social posture for educating group members about civic engagement and community survival. In viewing historical consciousness as both an object of inquiry and theoretical approach, the study employs a narrative analysis methodology for analyzing the content and form of participants’ narrative formulations regarding the community’s past, the workings of history, and how these are used and prioritized for mobilizing concerted social action. Forty participants from five main English-speaking centers are examined and serve to compare results between Montreal and its outlying regions. Insights about community leaders’ educative potential for informing the public and strengthening Anglo Quebec vitality emerge.

Author

• Paul Zanazanian, McGill University