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A Matter of Chemistry
Here’s a link to two pages of the 1966 Ontario Grade 12 Chemistry curriculum. Excluding the title page, table of contents, and a one-page preamble, there are only 18 pages of curriculum content. This is a very short, clear, and specific outline of the year-long (non-semestered) course that teachers were expected to cover. Those who disparage old curricula on the grounds that they emphasize rote learning and regurgitation might be surprised to read the following in the preamble.
“It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the aim of the course is to create an understanding of the subject, rather than to provide information to be memorized. The course provides an introduction to the experimental study of chemistry, to the simple theoretical concepts of structure, bonding, reactions, and solutions, and to the language of the subject. To achieve understanding, the student must learn to think and to experiment for himself. To communicate his ideas to others he must become familiar with the language of the subject and be able to illustrate theory by the use of facts.”
The scientists among us might be interested to compare the 1966 Ontario grade 12 curriculum with its counterpart, the recently-revised 2008 grade 11 science curriculum. This link leads to a page whence one can access both the 2000 and 2008 versions of the grade 11 curriculum. We would be interested in your feedback.