Activity 4: Faces of Our Community

Level   

• All

Purpose   

• To become familiar with the individuals who contribute to your local community and make it unique.
• To build awareness of your community from a variety of perspectives.

Materials  

• Photographs in the exhibition (or slides)
• Paper, pencils
• Optional: audio or video recording equipment, cameras and film

Procedure  

• Oral History Interviews

1. Before you visit the exhibition tell students the photographs were taken by students in Banff, Canmore, and Morley. Investigate where these communities are and discuss what we expect to see in photographs from those places. 

2. After visiting the exhibition ask students if their expectations were met. Explain that these images reflect the community as seen by the people who live there. As outsiders, we may see it differently.

3. Ask students: What picture would you take to represent your community? Who are the people, what are the places or events that matter to you in your community?

4. As a class, brainstorm a list. Items can be places, events, people living or dead, etc. and of personal or public significance.
a) Identify individuals associated with places and events i.e. if the playground is on your list, include the groundskeeper or people who visit it. For a person no longer alive, list a living relative, a historian, or biographer. 

5. Working individually or in groups, students select a person identified above and define why they are important to the community. Students will be interviewing this person, so the teacher should check to make sure the selected individuals are appropriate. Students then create a list of questions they would like to ask that person. Questions should be a combination of open-ended and specific, and should reflect knowledge of and respect for the subject.

6. The next step is to conduct oral history interviews with the selected individuals. For younger students, a few individuals may be selected and invited to the classroom where the class can ask questions as a group. Older students may follow up on their own. Depending on the level of the students, the teacher may make the initial contacts. Students should submit their questions to the teacher for approval and coordinate any overlap of individuals. Consider audio or video taping the interviews, or taking photographs of the subject.

7. Students will create a report summarizing what they learned from the interview and explaining what their individual means to them and to the community. A written report could be accompanied by drawings, photographs, or tapes.

8. Share and discuss the variety of individuals chosen, and how they are all necessary to make the community work.
 

Evaluation 

• Thoughtfulness in selecting individual.
• Appropriateness of oral history questions.
• Quality of final report.

Curriculum Connections 

• Social Studies, Visual Art, Language Learning
   

– Introduction – The Art of Seeing – Camera Equipment and Darkroom – Gallery –
– Educational Resources – Through the Lens – Whyte Museum –