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| Agnes Macphail comments on a rough passage |
Lessons & Games
Agnes Macphail overcame many obstacles to become a teacher and held rural education in highest regard even as she stood on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Included here are lesson plans and educational games. Don't forget to create a postcard or two from your favorite images in the Digital Collection!
1. Have your students become reporters on Parliament Hill and interview famous Members of Parliament (MPs) such as Agnes Macphail. Make sure your reporters find out what political affiliation their Member belongs to, how long they have been in office, what their party's platform is, what issues are important to them personally, and their background story. Reports can be presented in formats such as a news broadcast, a newspaper article, or a talk show.
2. Write a one-act play, song, poem, or short story about Agnes Macphail and the hurdles she had to overcome to get elected. Students can work individually or in groups. Since she was elected five times, a class could be broken up into five groups and each group could focus on one election, including what the major issues were and any attempts to thwart her nomination.
3. Agnes Macphail was actively involved in the formation of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the precursor to the New Democratic Party (NDP). What causes does the NDP advocate for today? What do the other major political parties in Canada advocate for? Bring in campaign posters from local MPs that show party symbols. Have students arrange them in order of right to left, based on "right wing" and "left wing" politics. Are there any that do not fit? What are the major issues that each party is pursuing right now, either locally, regionally, or nationally?
4. Agnes Macphail did not have much credibility in Parliament when she was first elected, yet she managed to make some significant contributions and changes. Macphail is an excellent example of the power of one voice. Many films, books and poems deal with the topic of one person making a difference. How do your students feel they can contribute to humanity? Who are their role models or heroes, and what have they done to inspire your students? Have your students write to your MP about an issue that concerns them or have each student make a short speech to the class on a topic of their choice.
5. Agnes Macphail was concerned with her image as a woman. When she first came to Parliament Hill, her focus was on acceptance by her male peers. As she proved her worth as a politician, Agnes became more occupied with maintaining her gender. She hated her image as a single matronly woman. Ask your students how Agnes might have felt. How do women today maintain their "femininity" in male-dominated careers, such as business, law enforcement and technical trades? Bring in some magazines (especially teen and women's magazines, like Seventeen, Teen, Canadian Living, Chatelaine,etc.). How does the media portray women today? How would Agnes have fit in as a single woman today?
6. For more activities relating to Canadian Parliament that can be repurposed to relate to Agnes Macphail, Click Here!
Disclaimer: The lesson plan ideas were taken from the Historica Canada education portal. Visit the site for more lesson ideas and information on Agnes Macphail!
