This project examines the historical thinking concept of ‘ethical dimensions’ by exploring the experiences of British Home Children in Canada through a letter written by George Sears, a former Home Child. The resource, designed for the Grade 8 Ontario History Curriculum, aims to move students beyond the identification of facts toward interpreting the ethical dimensions of historical events. The resource uses a choose-your-own-adventure activity where students are secretly assigned varying levels of autonomy (forcing some to rationalize predetermined outcomes while others choose freely) in order to replicate the lack of free will Home Children had before the introduction of the primary source document. This sequence primes students for concepts like constrained agency and inspires active inquiry. A visual ethical dimensions ladder and a graphic organizer are included to guide students from initial observations to making reasoned ethical judgments grounded in historical evidence. Grounded in the work of historians Seixas, Wineburg, and Lévesque, the pedagogical design emphasizes the importance of situating texts within their historical contexts in order to form sound ethical judgments.
