Introduction and Guiding Principles

The Global Gathering Place project began in 1997, as a collaboration between the Multicultural History Society of Ontario (MHSO) and the Centre for Instructional Technology Development (CITD) of the University of Toronto at Scarborough. The project is founded upon the belief that it is essential to Canadian civic culture that young people develop a good understanding of Canada’s multicultural heritage. This includes gaining knowledge of the contributions that immigrants from all times and places have made to building Canada in every respect — physical, social, intellectual, political — and informed awareness of the challenges and rewards which cultural diversity brings to a society. The Global Gathering Place site recognizes and pays tribute to that diversity by presenting original historical materials from the MHSO, together with overviews of their historical and present-day contexts.

The Project’s Past, Present and Future

The GGP project has been created by educators and researchers in human rights, multiculturalism, antiracism, and Canadian history, and specialists in instructional technology, most of whom have donated their time and expertise. Teachers of classes in history, social studies, and information technology have also been instrumental in its development; evaluation and field testing in classrooms is an ongoing feature of the GGP plan.

Initially, the project was supported by a small CITD seed grant, which permitted some project planning and development of the prototype site, including some modules of ethnic history created using the historical materials from the MHSO. In 1999, the CITD and MHSO jointly applied for, and received, funding from Canadian Heritage to continue the GGP project. The site is now being revised and expanded; development and testing of the GGP site will continue at least until late 2000. There will also be an introductory guideline booklet and workshops as additional support for teachers who wish to use original source materials and new media for multicultural education in the classroom.