Brief Program Descriptions
Brief Program Descriptions connect relevant curriculum outcomes as developed by the Nova Scotia Department of Education
If I Lived at the Citadel
A Field Trip for Grades Primary to 3
In this interactive educational program, children will have fun learning what it was like to be a member of a military family serving in Nova Scotia during the time of Canada’s Confederation!
This interactive guided experience has been developed to help match provincial Social Studies curriculum outcomes for these grade levels. For example:
Learning Outcome: Students will identify the material and non-material elements of a culture.
At the Citadel: Children will have an opportunity to handle many examples of material culture, like reproduction clothing, furnishings, writing materials and toys. Children will also encounter non-material culture elements such as bagpipe music and military routine.
Citadel School Days
A Field Trip for Grades 4-6
Crawford Fleming was an army schoolmaster, astronomer, naturalist, author and poet. Described as delightful, friendly, and enthusiastic, Fleming was not a strict man. He believed that school children should enjoy themselves!
In this fun and interactive educational program, students will experience what it was like to go to school in the years when Canada was emerging as a nation. This program has been developed to help match provincial Social Studies curriculum outcomes for these grade levels. For example:
Learning Outcome: Identify the distribution of power and privilege in Canadian society and the sources of authority in the lives of citizens.
At the Citadel: Students will interact with various characters who represent power and privilege, in the Victorian army, including officers, sergeants, soldier’s wives, and the schoolmaster.
From Colony to Nation
A Field Trip for Grades 7-9
As a strategic military base, the Halifax Citadel served from the colonial wars of the 18th century to the end of the Second World War. In this interactive guided experience, students will have hands-on fun as they learn about the role the Citadel played in the development of Canada from colony to sovereign nation.
This program has been developed to help match provincial Social Studies curriculum outcomes for these grade levels. For example:
Learning Outcome: Analyze the distribution of power and privilege in society and the sources of authority in the lives of citizens.
At the Citadel: Students will learn about the role of the army in society, its hierarchy, and interact with interpreters who represent officers, wives, sergeants, civilian contractors, and ordinary soldiers.
Warden of the North
A Field Trip for Grade 11 Students
The strategic significance of Halifax in global affairs over a two hundred year period is the focus of this advanced interactive guided experience. Participants will learn the role the Citadel played in the defence of the British Empire and of Canada, and also its peacetime role as a place where families lived and worked.
This program has been developed to help match provincial Social Studies curriculum outcomes for this grade level. For example:
Learning outcome: Analyse and evaluate how Canadian and other political and legal systems establish order and security while meeting the needs and desires of citizens.
At the Citadel: Students will discover how the presence of the army and navy in Halifax had a profound influence on the culture of the city, its position in various global conflicts, and its economy.
In The Wake of Empire
A Field Trip for Grade 12 Students
Participants will learn the role the Halifax Citadel continued to play in the defence of Canada despite its obsolescence with the introduction of modern weapons and tactics during the First World War. Students will also visit the Army Museum to learn about the evolution of the Canadian forces from colonial militia to a professional military force, and also to examine the changing nature of defence policy from World War II to the present day. This program has been developed to meet provincial Social Studies curriculum outcomes for this grade level. For example:
Learning Outcome: Evaluate group, institutional, and media influences on people and society in both historical and contemporary settings.
At the Citadel: Students will learn the historic relationship between the military and naval establishment in Halifax and the civilian population, and what it meant to be a member of one of those groups, through a series of narratives, exhibits, and hands-on interpretation.