Picture 2: This photograph is stunning and there are several opportunities to expand students’ knowledge in how physical geography shapes communities identity, how the land sustains communities and diverse ways that people have of living with the land. As you mentioned, students also can wonder how the First Nations and settlers of Canada survived in harsh climate conditions. As a metaphor, the lonely person in the wilderness can be interpreted as someone looking for answers inside oneself, reflecting and evaluating their own values, beliefs and desires. I believe everyone needs an alone-time to think about their passion, talents, how to deal with challenges, and ultimately, shape their own identity.

 

Picture 3: This is a great example in how to transform a complex concept like citizenship in something that people can relate to their daily lives. Of course, we can answer that been a citizen means to have rights and duties towards our country. However, citizenship is not only voting and participating in the political and economic decisions of our nation, but also be engaged in our local communities, as well. The absence of fences and lockers is a great indicative of the values and trust of this particularly community. This image also reminds me the metaphor of the teachers as a gardener, responsible to nurturer their students and help them grow.

 

Picture 4: It is impressive how two simple colors (blue and pink) can have this powerful symbolism about gender identity. This is definitely a controversial current topic and addresses many possible dialogues about equality, diversity, respect, identity, human rights and democratic processes. The vision of the Alberta social studies program recognizes that diversity of experiences and perspectives is central to the pluralistic nature of Canadian society (Alberta Education, 2005, p.1). Therefore, it is evident that this topic deserves to be explored in our classrooms.