Teach & Learn: Canadian Athletes

Print

Objectives

Students reflect on aspects of individual identity and other factors that contribute to decision-making in times of moral crisis.

Links to Historical Thinking Concepts:

• Take Historical Perspective - Students anticipate the perspective of individual Canadian athletes who participated, or who chose not to participate, in the 1936 Olympics.

• Understand the Ethical Dimensions of History - What are the factors and contexts that shaped athletes' decisions about whether to participate in these controversial Games?

• Analyze Cause and Consequence - Students assess the decisions made by Canadian athletes. What were the implications of these decisions?

Charting Identity

Students work independently to create an identity chart filled with words and/or symbols used to describe themselves, as well as the labels others give them. Identity characteristics to include might be: gender, age, personal and physical characteristics, as well as cultural identifiers such as ties to a particular religion, class, neighbourhood, school, and nation.

Students discuss their identity charts in pairs. Consider: what does the chart reveal about you? Are there aspects of your identity and character that are difficult to communicate in the diagram?

Distribute the Athlete Cards to students, ensuring that each student has one card, and have them create identity charts for their individual Canadian athletes.

Students return to their pairs and debrief about their athletes. Discuss: what do you imagine the response to the question posed at the end of the card might be?

Written Reflection

Distribute the Athlete Postscripts, which reveal the fate of the athletes. Students revisit their athlete’s identity chart and write a response about what they learned about their individual.

In their written reflections, student should consider the following questions:

• What was your athlete’s dilemma?

• Did your athlete face discrimination in Canada? If so, in what way?

• What were the considerations that influenced the decisions and actions of your athlete regarding participation in the 1936 Olympics?

• What would you have done in their position? Explain your answer.

• How does your individual’s fate inform your understanding of Canada in the 1930s and, if they participated in the Games, Nazi Germany?

Class Discussion

Teachers select one written reflection relating to each of the four athletes to read to the class.

As a class, students discuss: Do you participate in a sport and/or play on a team? What does it mean to you? How would you feel if you were competing in a setting in which there was discrimination? Have you ever faced a decision similar to those faced by the athletes in this activity? Explain how you juggled multiple, perhaps competing, concerns.

After hearing the various responses, ask students to consider the following question: How does the historical perspective of more than 70 years influence our analyses of the decisions made by the Canadian athletes?

Athlete Cards: [PDF | 3.3 MB]

Athlete Postscripts [PDF | 643 KB]