Tony Tremblay Develops New Brunswick Literature Curriculum in English

By Monica Furness, BA’18

Dr. Tony Tremblay hopes that his newest project, the New Brunswick Literature Curriculum in English, will promote greater awareness and appreciation of the province’s rich literary history.
 
The curriculum is a free web resource for teachers, students, and others interested in learning more about New Brunswick literature. Tremblay was inspired to create the resource while teaching courses about the subject.
 
“Every time I taught that course I would begin with a little survey. What I discovered was shocking – that the vast majority of students couldn’t name one New Brunswick writer,” he said.

“And the students were perturbed by that. They wanted more content. A majority of St. Thomas students come from New Brunswick, so they had been introduced to some of this content, but not in the depth that they wanted. They felt sort of short-changed as a result. That led me to the idea to put a resource together.”  
 
Tremblay, who recently completed his term as the Canada Research Chair in New Brunswick Studies, set about changing this by developing the curriculum.
 
Designed for use in New Brunswick high schools, the curriculum features 44 authors and poets who were from, lived in, or wrote about the province, such as modernist poet Elizabeth Brewster and Miramichi author Ray Fraser.
 
It includes selected readings, biographical information, and strategies for teachers who wish to use the material in their classrooms.
 
The resource has also been placed online for everyone – not just educators – to access in its entirety.
 
“My interpretation of my Canada Research Chair was to develop resources that people in the province could use,” he said.
 
Tremblay worked closely with several students to create the curriculum and ensure it met curriculum guidelines for use in the New Brunswick education system.
 
“All the projects that I’ve done have had a large student component,” he said.
 
He hopes that the curriculum, which he considers to be the capstone of his term as a Canada Research Chair, will be adopted by teachers, and that New Brunswickers will use the resource to learn more about their literature, their history, and themselves.
 
Visit the curriculum website here: http://stu-sites.ca/nblce/