Perceptions of Canadians: A sense of belonging, confidence and trust

Article: Perceptions of Canadians: A sense of belonging, confidence and trust (PDF)

Objectives

• To understand and define the meaning of social capital
• To understand how social capital is developed

Classroom instructions

1. Young people engage in different types of social communities including school, extracurricular groups and family where they learn what is expected of them and what to expect from others. In these places, young people learn powerful lessons about the role of the individual in society. Schools create and depend on social capital. For example, several provinces have volunteering as part of their curriculum which builds the social capital of the community, but schools depend on the involvement and cooperation of parents and organizations to fulfil their role. Research the meaning of social capital and then discuss its importance.
2. At the core of social capital is trust. One of the ways used to gauge the level of trustworthiness of the members of a community is to measure the expectation of having a lost wallet or purse returned with its contents if found by someone they know or by a stranger. Take a quick student survey to determine what percentage of the class would expect to have their wallet or purse returned if another member of the class found it. What are the expectations of a returned wallet or purse if found by a stranger? Discuss how trust might be improved.
3. Communities with strong social networks are more likely to encourage people to behave in a trustworthy manner as the reputation of untrustworthy people travels fast in well-connected communities. Discuss how people trust others in their day-to-day activities. If trust dwindles, what are some of the repercussions?
4. In recent elections, there has been concern that young people are less likely to vote than older people. Some have suggested the decline in voter turnout rates does not signal a decline in civic participation, but rather a shift to more unconventional activities such as participating in petitions, boycotts and public demonstrations. Discuss why young people are less likely to vote and how they are engaged in civic activities.
5. Confidence in public institutions such as schools, the health care system, the police, the justice system, banks and federal parliament is also a measure of strong communities. Which public institutions have the highest level of confidence in your class? Discuss why your class is more confident in some institutions than in others. Compare your class results with the Canada-wide results given in the article.

Using other resources

• 2003 General Social Survey on Social Engagement, Cycle 17: An Overview of Findings, (Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 89-598).
• Check out the Statistics Canada Website to find lesson plans, articles and data for elementary and secondary schools. There are more than 150 lesson plans for high school classes, many articles, E-STAT access and other data.
• See the Family studies kit for detailed graphs that you can use to make overheads for your class.

Please e-mail comments or examples of how you used this exercise in your class.