Formative Evaluation of Canada’s Citizenship Week
Executive Summary
The theme of Canada’s Citizenship Week is “Canada: We All Belong!” It is intended to encourage all Canadians to reflect on the value of citizenship, what it means to be Canadian, and the rights, privileges and responsibilities of citizenship.
From 1993 to 1999, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) partnered with the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Heritage Foundation to deliver Citizenship and Heritage Week in February. In 2000, in order to focus attention on citizenship and immigration themes, CIC assumed sole responsibility for the week, renamed it Canada’s Citizenship Week (CCW) and moved the week from February to October.
The core of programming activities for the week is provided through the Integration Promotion (IP) unit of the Integration Branch and CIC regional staff across the country. With a budget of $300,000 for CCW, IP allocates 38 percent to an activity guide for teachers and youth leaders, 18 percent for distribution costs, 15 percent for related products, and 29 percent for printing and other material costs.
The program has developed a year-round activity kit targeted to students in grades 5 and 6. It is offered to primary, middle school and early secondary school teachers and youth leaders. This cross-curricular kit includes an activity guide, a poster and a sample of Times of My Life. The guide contains activities designed to foster self-knowledge and connect youth to each other, their community and their country. Other important components of the effort to enhance an understanding of the value of Canadian citizenship are citizenship ceremonies, where newcomers to Canada take the Oath of Citizenship and become Canadian citizens, and Reaffirmation Ceremonies, where Canadians reaffirm their citizenship by reciting the Oath of Citizenship. In past years, there have also been Citation for Citizenship presentation ceremonies. Even though Citizenship Week is aimed primarily at young children, the messages are targeted at all Canadians. Although the focus is on programming activities for CCW (a one-week period), IP recognizes that the objective is not time bound and designs its material to be useful throughout the year.
Findings
CCW is not just a week. The point of this observation is that the evaluation of CCW cannot be done in an isolated fashion. CCW is an important element of IP, with which it shares common objectives. All of the key documents, items, events and messages associated with CCW are year-round in terms of both their utility and availability. CCW is merely a week designated as being of higher profile than most of the rest of the year.
Program delivery could be better integrated with the regions and with Strategic Communications (SC). More integration would enhance the already positive reality of open communication, a willingness to share plans, and a cooperative spirit among all the key actors involved with CCW, and would likely result in more coordination and synergy.
A small number of teachers and youth leaders receiving the activity guide were interviewed. Based on their judgments, the activities presented in the activity guide are valuable for classroom use and for youth leaders. They reported the activity guide to be clearly written and concise, and to present useful activities. They were also positive about the other material such as flags, posters and the family tree. This conclusion is limited by geographical and calendar constraints since teachers and youth leaders in only two cities, both in the same region, were telephoned.
An analysis of the operational processes for CCW shows the procedures to be complete and to hold promise in achieving the Week’s objectives. The organizational and dissemination objectives appear to be achieved; however, the performance measurement feedback loop is deficient. Basic “uptake” statistics that compare target markets with actual orders and with actual use of material are not maintained. A manual calculation of uptake for Ottawa and Gatineau (where teacher interviews took place) found the uptake in both cities to be about 20 percent. This may be a satisfactory result, but such judgment cannot be supported in the absence of a standard.
Conclusions
The Department should track uptake and plot it on a time line in order to use change in the historical record for evaluative purposes.
The development of a new activity guide each year leaves behind previously successful activities and presents new activities. Consideration should be given to a format that retains activities from year to year. Among the possibilities are a presentation format that favours individual activities rather than an annual theme-focused, bound, integrated booklet, and whether the activities are to be presented on the website or in hard copy.
Teachers and youth leaders ask that the activity guide, in particular, and the other material be distributed in the first two weeks of September, as well as at all other times during the year. Early September is the time of the year when teachers and youth leaders are involved in planning for the next 10 months.
Any progress that can be made to have these materials formally recognized by education specialists and by Guide and Scout program leaders will be advantageous. Teachers and youth leaders who use the material find it valuable and some have spontaneously suggested a closer link with curriculum experts.
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