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Resources for Teachers
Canadian Education Association Profile of CCLET
Asking the Hard Questions (Education Canada article by Danielle McLaughlin)
CCLET Bernard Chernos Essay Competition Information
Winners
Civil Liberties In Our Schools
Introduction:
It is often said that, of all the systems of government in this world,
democracy especially requires a well-educated citizenry. The Canadian Civil
Liberties Education Trust profoundly supports this proposition. Indeed, the
Trust has devoted much of its efforts to the promotion of public education
around issues related to the philosophy and practice of democratic
institutions.
But our organization has gone even further. It has developed a special -
perhaps, even unique -approach. Some organizations focus on harmonious
feelings. Others attempt primarily to transmit helpful information. The
Trust's chief concern is to help people think relevantly about the dilemmas
endemic to life in a democratic society.
This means going beyond conflicts between good and bad. Our main
interest is what to do when good conflicts with good and right with right.
Our message to people is that every value we hold dear inevitably collides
with another value we hold dear. It is not possible to have everything we
want all at once. Some worthy objectives must be sacrificed - at least to
some degree - in order that we can attain other worthy objectives. There
are rarely easy and unencumbered choices.
The question for democrats is how to make the choices that confront us.
To what extent should one value be subordinated to another and in which
situations? As an organization, the Trust is less concerned with answers
than with the methods for reaching those answers.
This approach has particularly characterized our interactions with the
educational system. Over the years, the Trust has been invited to address
both students and teachers. Invariably, we have confronted our audiences
with these difficult dilemmas. Almost without fail, such encounters have
produced exciting and stimulating discussions and debates. On numbers of
occasions, both students and teachers have reported how uniquely engaged
the classes were when our speakers involved them in discussion - discussion
that continued well beyond the walls of the classroom.
The document entitled The Fundamentals of Our Fundamental Freedoms
explains the purposes behind our basic freedoms and safeguards. It sets out
some examples of the problems that arise where those freedoms collide with
one another and with other social interests. These are the kinds of issues
presented by representatives of the Civil Liberties in the Schools Project.
Representatives of the Trust address students and teachers at
universities, colleges, high schools, and elementary schools. For more information
about Civil Liberties in the Schools, contact Danielle McLaughlin at the
CCLA office (phone 416-363-0321; fax 416-861-1291 email: education@ccla.org.
The Fundamentals Of Our
Fundamental Freedoms -- The Booklet
2004 FOOFF PDF (English)
2004 FOOFF PDF (French)
Contents
The Freedom of Each
and the Equality of All
The Right to Due Process of
Law
The Right to Dissent
The Right to Security
of the Person
The Right to Personal
Privacy
The Protection of Our
Fundamental Freedoms
Problems
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Civil Liberties
in the Schools is supported by a generous grant from
The Law Foundation of Ontario
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