During (Working on it) 20 minutes


Divide students into groups of three; each person in the group will be responsible for researching the working conditions, struggles and discrimination experienced by Chinese, Irish and Black workers by visiting one or two website links in the readings section and completing one-third of the Lives of the Im- migrant Worker worksheet (see page 42). Students will then assist group members in completing the remaining two sections of the comparison worksheet by discussing their re- search.


LIFE OF THE IMMIGRANT WORKER JIGSAW COMPARISON CHART


Instructions


Step 1 Choose one of the following immigrant groups in pre- and post-Confederation era Canada; Irish workers on the Rideau Canal, Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia, Chinese rail- road workers in B.C. Each person in the group should choose a different ethnic/racial group to research.


Step 2


Using one or two of the websites provided by your teacher, complete the chart outlining the living/working conditions of that group.


Step 3


Share your fi ndings with the other two mem- bers of your group in order to help each other to complete the information about the re- maining two ethnic/racial groups.


Step 4


Be prepared to report your fi ndings to the class by answering the question, “How did discrimination and racist attitudes towards the Chinese, Irish and Blacks affect the work- ing conditions of those groups during the mid-late 1800s?”


After (Refl ecting/Connecting/Consolidat- ing): 10 minutes


Ask some of the students to give an oral re- port on their fi ndings by answering the fol- lowing questions:


• What were some of the working conditions faced by the workers that you researched?


• How did racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Chinese/Irish/Blacks affect the working conditions of those groups during the mid to late 1800s?


REFLECTION


Ask students to answer the following ques- tions in their journals: “Is there evidence that the racialization of work still exists in present-day Canadian workplaces?” and “Are some ethnic and racial groups still over- or under-represented in some types of work?” The racialization of work will most likely


be a new expression for most students, how- ever the notion that certain ethnic or racial groups were suitable or unsuitable may be familiar concepts.


NEXT STEPS


Research the work that unions are doing to- day to combat racism and discrimination by visiting websites such as The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, cbtu.ca/ or the Ab- original Iron Workers website, www.aborigi- nalironworkers.ca/.


WEBSITES


B.C. Archives: Chinese Restrictions. Source: Canada (1885). Select Committee on Chi- nese Restrictions. Report of Select Com- mittee on Chinese Restrictions. Chapter 39. archives.leg.bc.ca/EPLibraries/leg_arc/docu- ment/ID/LibraryTest/1639230236


Black Loyalists. Equal Pay? Retrieved June 6, 2015 from blackloyalist.com/cdc/story/ prejudice/pay.htm


Black Loyalists. Shelburne Riot. Retrieved June 6, 2015 from blackloyalist.com/cdc/ story/prejudice/riot.htm


Explorail. Chinese Railroad Workers in Brit- ish Columbia: Railways and Immigration to Canada. histoiredurailhistory.ca/immigra- tion_en.html


Government of Canada. Black Loyalist work- ers in Nova Scotia: Government of Canada. cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/black/ history.asp


Multicultural History Society of Ontario. The Ties that Bind Multicultural History Society of Ontario. mhso.ca/tiesthatbind/ ChineseRailWorkers.php


Rideau Canal the Kingston Irish Folk Club. Rideau Canal. kingstonirish.wordpress.com/ irish-history-2/rideau-canal/


Watson, K. W. (2003). Irish workers on the Rideau Canal: Those Who Laboured. Rideau Canal. rideau-info.com/canal/articles/la- boured.html


ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 41


“THE RACIALIZATION OF WORK WILL MOST LIKELY BE A NEW EXPRESSION FOR MOST STUDENTS, HOWEVER THE NOTION THAT CERTAIN ETHNIC OR RACIAL GROUPS WERE SUITABLE OR UNSUITABLE MAY BE FAMILIAR CONCEPTS.”


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