EDEE 283 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Social Studies
22 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Citizenship Education: An overall rationale for Social Studies Education/Mind Mapping:
-One thing that always astonishes me is how fuzzy students are about why we teach social
studies as a subject in schools.
-Learning to be a good citizen is rarely mentioned even though social studies programs across Canada
have a long history of citizenship education as their primary goal
-A scan of the literature on teachers’ and students’ perceptions of social studies as a school subject from
the last three decades would seem to suggest that this lack of overt attention to citizenship education is
typical.
-A number of research studies consistently found that social studies is often the least liked course that
children and youth take in school and the one that they feel most lacks relevance to their lives
-More positive student reactions to social studies have been found in classrooms where the teacher has
clearly articulated goals and a strong sense of purpose as well a personal enthusiasm for the subject
-Sears (1996) attributes the problem with social studies to a mismatch between what is reflected in the
official curriculum and the way in which it is being represented in the classroom.
-Often, “knowledge content gets fragmented into disconnected bits that can be memorized but not easily
learned with understanding of their meanings or appreciation of their potential significance”
—> one way to address this problem is for teacher to begin to see themselves as “curricular instructional
gatekeepers.” Such a view of the teacher’s role requires that they concern themselves with the bigger
picture and not just with transmitting the officially sanctioned knowledge in the curriculum”
-The purpose of social studies in Alberta is described as providing “opportunities for students to develop
the attitudes, skills and knowledge that will enable them to become engaged, active, informed and
responsible citizens” who are “aware of their capacity to effect change in their communities, society and
world”
-It also addresses pedagogy —> here students are described as learners who “bring their own
perspectives, cultures and experiences to the social studies classroom. They construct meaning in the
context of their lived experience through active inquiry and engagement with their school and
community”
-Social studies experiences should “provide learning opportunities for students to develop skills of active
and responsible citizenship and the capacity to inquire, make reasoned and informed judgments, and
arrive at decisions for the public good”
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Citizenship education: an overall rationale for social studies education/mind mapping: One thing that always astonishes me is how fuzzy students are about why we teach social studies as a subject in schools. Learning to be a good citizen is rarely mentioned even though social studies programs across canada have a long history of citizenship education as their primary goal. A scan of the literature on teachers" and students" perceptions of social studies as a school subject from the last three decades would seem to suggest that this lack of overt attention to citizenship education is typical. A number of research studies consistently found that social studies is often the least liked course that children and youth take in school and the one that they feel most lacks relevance to their lives.
