CBC Archives

Brainstorm with students the types of television and radio programs produced and available in Canada. Record their answers on the board or chart paper. Lead a discussion based on the following questions: Does television and radio programming reflect the values of a society? Does television and radio programming influence the values of a society? Provide students with the download sheet Portraying Canadian Women. Students work in pairs to arrive at conclusions about how women in Canada are currently portrayed through these media.

Revisit the original questions and responses from the board and ask students to reconsider their answers.

Direct students to the topic A Woman’s Place: Programming for the Modern Homemaker on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. They will browse the site to find examples of how women were portrayed in television and radio from 1945 to 1969. Students should record their answers on the Download Sheet Portraying Canadian Women. Tell students that the purpose of this activity is to compare and contrast how women are currently portrayed in television and radio to how they were portrayed in television and radio when these media were relatively new.

Lead a class discussion on students’ findings. Record the main similarities and differences of the portrayal of Canadian women in television and radio within the two time frames in the form of a Venn Diagram. To what degree has programming changed? Why might this be the case? Ask students to reconsider the initial questions.

Students can write an essay based on their findings and include an opinion about how media programming reflects or is influenced by societal values.