This fall, a pre-service student teacher at the University of Windsor’s faculty of education expressed concern and worry when he learned that his next placement would be in a grade 10 Civics class. He did not think he had the knowledge or the skill to teach the challenging curriculum. After spending two hours in a CCLET Teaching Civil Liberties workshop, he told the professor of the course that he now felt both ready and excited to begin his placement.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust (CCLET) continues to give pre-service students in Ontario’s faculties of education hands-on workshops that help them to deal with the controversies and dilemmas that, like it or not, will come into their classrooms. The workshops also help teachers of law, social studies, and civics courses fulfill some of their curriculum obligations.

Many of the issues the students consider in the workshops are cases where freedom of religion and the dignity of certain minorities come into conflict – and some deal with cases where the Canadian Civil Liberties Association intervened or played a role. For more information about the Teaching Civil Liberties or the Civil Liberties in the Schools programmes, please contact Danielle McLaughlin at education@ccla.org