I have always thought of history when I heard the
words social studies but the truth is that it encompasses so much more!
According to Teaching Social Studies in the Elementary School, the National
Council for Social Studies defines it as the “integrated study of the social
sciences and humanities to promote civic competence” (Lyman, Waters, Foyle,
& Lyman., n/d). I was surprised to learn that social studies is actually an
umbrella term that includes four disciplines; history, geography, civics and
economics. Learning the definition also came as a huge surprise to me primarily
because of its association to history. I define social studies as the “story of
our origin” but I see now that my definition is a far better fit for history
than it is for social studies.
If we investigate how we define social studies even
further, we will discover that across the United States the definition varies.
This opens the discussion of “should there be more than one definition of
social studies?” This would mean that students across the nation are learning
different things which in my opinion creates confusion and disorder. Chances
are that if different states define social studies differently then their
curriculums are different as well. In-stead of spoon-feeding students dry and
bloodless definitions of social studies, this would be a great opportunity to
use inquiry by allowing students to reflect and use their higher order thinking
skills to, with the guidance of the teacher, arrive at a definition. In my
graduate social studies methods class, my colleagues and I were tasked with a
similar activity. The difference was that toward the end we were given a
politically correct definition already created. Going into the activity, I felt
confident that my definition of social studies was going to be simple and
correct. Since we were all given a one size fits all definition at the end, I experienced
mixed feelings. On one hand, I felt enlightened because I learned how social
studies is so much more than just history. On the other hand, I felt invalidated
for myself and my colleagues. I would have used guided inquiry to form a class definition
of social studies. I believe that teaching the lifeless definitions packaged
and created by institutions such as the National Council for Social Studies robs
students of opportunities to think for themselves. Now more than ever, we must
investigate what social studies means to students since classroom diversity is
a reality. One size doesn’t fit all especially now because social studies mean
something different depending on the student’s background. As educators, we
must adopt this philosophy in order to include all students.
If we look at the history of our education system, we
will discover how the original five subjects evolved and grew into a far more
diverse bracket of knowledge. Learning the history of our education system
fascinated me for the very reason I love to study history, that is, how studying
different times is like traveling to foreign lands. The way I know education is
the only way I can every truly know it. In other words, it is hard to imagine
learning alongside students of different ages and grade levels. It is even harder
to imagine the use of corporal punishment as a behavior management tool.
Learning the old ways of education really gives perspective and makes me appreciate
my education more than ever before. For example, education after the birth of
our nation was hard pressed to supply individuals with basic literacy skills.
As a graduate student, I often think of Benjamin Franklin who was a
self-educated founding father. Even though I belong to an educational
institution, I find myself using my skills to educate myself as he once did.
Home schooling is an institution from the days of antiquity that still survives
however, parents who home school their
children must follow a curriculum and learn the same material as those in
public schools. Now, they are all subject to standardized exams which were absent
in the beginning.
Standardized tests are the scourge of educators. As I
have asserted previously, spoon feeding students a fixed set of facts that
everyone must memorize is counterintuitive to learning. For social studies
instructors the challenge is worsened because new history is made each day. Therefore,
as time marches on, social studies teachers are forced to rush through to cover
everything in the curriculum. This robs students of vital learning
opportunities where they could explore things about social studies that
interest them. Our goal as educators is to foster a desire for lifelong
learning. What we have done in-stead is create a collective of students who aren’t
fond of school. We must measure our students by their enthusiasm and clear
demonstrations of learning such as a multimodal project where the only criteria
for success is “the more creative, the better!”. Here, I will step in as a
future educator by following the curriculum and encouraging my students to
think and research for themselves to find the truth. Maybe the State’s medieval
rule over educators is here to stay but it doesn’t mean that I can’t also teach
them to read and think on their own.
Lyman, L., Waters, S.,
Foyle, H. C., & Lyman, A. L. (n.d.). Teaching Social Studies in the
Elementary School: Communities, Connections and Citizenship. Retrieved
March 1, 2021, from https://www.nsspress.com/php/startup_lyman_teaching.php5
Social studies department. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2021, from https://sites.google.com/a/ccsd.edu/social-studies-department/
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