Multiculturalism In Your Neighborhood

Field Trip AssignmentEDEC 248

Anais Castillo and Elizabeth Destounis

Field Trip to Villeray/Parc Extension Students will be taken to the Montreal vicinity of

Parc Extension/Villeray located in the North West area of the island.

Who and How?

The staring point of this field trip will be at Laurenhill Academy (Senior Campus)

Students who will attend this field trip are those in the Secondary five level (ages 16-17)

Public transportation will be taken to reach Jean Talon metro station.

Trip Objective:

To introduce students to the various cultures that have and still do make up Parc Extension/Villeray. This is a community filled with people from many cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The objective will primarily be to expose students to the ways that a community made up of diverse people can learn to live harmoniously amongst each other in this metropolitan city.

Map of Walking Tour

Continuation

To and From Laurenhill

Materials Needed:

Students will each be provided with:

5 post-its

1 pencil

Teachers will each carry one white board.

Site 1: Jean Talon Market

Description: Once students exit Jean-Talon metro, they will head over to the Jean Talon Market as a group with their teachers. They will be asked to observe the different cultural representations at the Market. We will give students some free time to walk around and try some of the free samples. Students will be informed about the difference between a farmers market, and a grocery store. They will be taught that markets consist of food that is grown locally.

Students will be asked to write down on their post-its what languages they heard while they were walking around?

What are some of the benefits of having a farmers market in the city and what are some pros of buying food from a farmers market?

In which ways is it better to shop at a farmers market than in a grocery store? And when shopping at a farmers market as opposed to a grocery store, who are you supporting?

Discussion Points

Site 2: Little Italy

Description: After the Jean-Talon Market students will walk on Dante Street through little Italy. The instructors will guide students on a small walking tour through the neighborhood. Students will be taught a brief history about Italian immigrants in Montreal. They will be informed that Italians started arriving to Italy in the seventeenth century but the largest wave was during the Second World War. After the 70s Italian Immigration started to dwindle.

Continuation

After walking on Dante they will walk on Saint-Laurent until they reach the corner of Saint-Laurent and Jean-Talon, they will gather around the “Petite Italy” sign on the grass and have a small discussion about what they noticed throughout the guided walking tour.

Discussion Points

Who benefits from Little Italy, are the beneficiaries only Italians? What kind of people did you see in little Italy?

Does Little Italy represent stereotypical values that Italians might have? (These key words will be placed on the white board: nice cars, food, gelato, high heels)

Since Montreal has very few first generation Italians, do you think that by having Little Italy it encourages Italian-Canadians to keep their culture and traditions?

Site 3: Jarry Park Description: Here, they will be asked to make

their way to the Stade Uniprix while focusing on the different activities offered and aspects of the park. Upon arrival at the Stade Uniprix, students will be provided with a brief history of Jarry Park and the Stade Uniprix. Students will be informed about the major sporting events that have taken place (and still do) in this park.

The following pictures will be shown to students to provide them with a visual of the touristic and economic importance of this park. It will be noted that the Rogers Cup takes place annually in the Stade Uniprix, and the former Montreal MLB team, The Expos, played in this park as well.

Students will be asked to consider the

following: What values do the Stade Uniprix and Jarry Park portray on

the behalf of the city of Montreal?

What does the city of Montreal sacrifice by having such a large area of space allocated to a park?

Activity:

Students will be instructed to form groups and discuss in which ways the city of Montreal could have spent their money otherwise in order to better the quality of life for those residing in Parc Extension. They will then each write an answer on their respective post-its and post it up on the white board.

The instructor will then bring to light the answer that came up the most and as why this might be.

Site 4: Koimisis Tis Theotokou Church

This field trip will continue on to bring students deeper into Parc Extension, where they will gather on the steps of a Greek Orthodox Church named Koimisis Tis Theotokou. Here, they will come to know the history of Parc Extension and the large Greek population that resided there between the 1960’s-1990’s.

Lunch

Upon exploring the church and allowing them to compare it to the one they saw in little Italy, teachers will begin to explain to students that there are 3 other Greek Orthodox churches in this geographically small community. Due to the fact that for over thirty years, 70% of Parc Extension was made up of Greeks, there are many establishments made to cater to the wants and needs of those residing in the vicinity. This is where students will be brought across the street to a bakery named after a Mythological Greek Goddess, Afroditi. Here, they will be given the opportunity to purchase their lunches and enjoy Greek food while talking over discussion points.

Discussion Points

Students will be asked to discuss whether or not their parents or grandparents are immigrants to the country. If they are, did they live in a neighborhood that was comprised of people that shared a similar cultural background?

Students will then asked to write which country their parents/grandparents came from and which neighborhood they settled into upon arriving in Montreal. After sticking their answers on the whiteboard, students will have a better idea of how people with similar backgrounds look to forming communities in order to have a superior quality of life.

Site 5: Traditional Indian Dance

For the last portion of the field trip, students will engage in something that may be a bit out of their comfort zone, but nonetheless fun. After eating lunch, students will walk to Barclay School (5 minute walk) where they will gather in the gymnasium.

Here, they will be lectured for about 5 minutes about the vast South Asian community that resides in Parc Extension. With events such as the Indian and Pakistan Independence Day parades that thousands attend at a time, students will come to know how truly culturally diverse Villeray/Parc Extension really is.

Smartphone Activity

Students will be asked to pair up with peers ensuring that each pair of students has access to one smart phone. They will then be asked to Google Search: “Restaurants in Parc Extension”.

They will be given about 3 minutes to complete this task and write one of the first results that popped up on their screens. Upon sticking their papers to the whiteboard, students will come to know that a substantial portion of these results are South Asian restaurants.

Lastly, it will be explained to students that most, if not all of these restaurants were once Greek. This is representative of how predominant cultures in neighborhoods are constantly changing little by little.

Final ActivityTo end their long day of walking, learning and eating, students will learn to dance. A choreographer will come into the Gymnasium and teach students a one minute Bollywood dance. Students will be briefed on the fact that Bollywood is the Hindi language film industry and the movies are comprised of a substantial amount of dancing and singing.