Interdisciplinary Humanities

Coast Mountain Academy takes a ‘blended’ approach to the subjects traditionally labeled “English Language Arts” and “Social Studies”. At all grade levels these subjects areas are taught in a single course over the entire year. In a nutshell:

We are going to use English to learn about Politics, Philosophy, and Economics so that we can cultivate a full understanding of History using the Arts and Drama.

In practice this looks like Social Studies topics being driven by literature, media criticism, and expressive creativity.

For example, the award-winning novel Three Day Road by Canadian author Joseph Boyden is the story of two young men, indigenous Residential School survivors, who go to fight for Canada in the trenches of WWI. The book’s setting, characters, and events provide material and starting points for almost all of the learning outcomes in Grade 10 English and Socials.