Project Background

When OISE was created in 1968, an essential part of its mandate was to provide support to the schools and educational communities of the province.  It has become one of the largest, most research-intensive, and highly regarded faculties of education in Canada.

The Archives of Ontario, Ontario’s premier source of documentary heritage, has joined forces with OISE/UT to create innovative learning tools to facilitate the use materials from the Archives’ collection in the development of teaching materials and provide students with a first-hand look at the province’s history.

Teacher candidates at OISE were invited to produce curriculum-centred lesson plans based on original records featured on the Archives of Ontario’s website.  The lesson plans included in this section represent the first contributions by the students and are here to be shared with colleagues and schools across Ontario and beyond.

This site also allows teachers to share their knowledge and enthusiasm by inviting them to contribute materials they have developed using records found on the Archives of Ontario website.

The project has greatly benefited from the guidance and insights of Professor Ruth Sandwell, one of Canada’s foremost experts on teaching history using primary documents, and Professor John Myers, a teacher passionate about the importance of connecting history to those who lived it using the records they left behind.

This project is a co-operative effort among archivists and support staff at the Archives of Ontario, OISE/UT instructors and their teacher candidates, as well as practising teachers.

We welcome and encourage teacher submissions, recognizing that we may need to edit and fine-tune lessons so they are easily accessible to those who wish to use them.

For information on how to structure lesson plans and background on teaching using primary documents follow these links:

• Components for Archives-Based Lessons
• All About Teaching With Primary Documents

If you have questions or would like to contribute to the project please contact us at: reference@ontario.ca