July 2000

Dr. Jerry Aschermann, MWSC Dept. of Education


Social Studies Education
"A Rationale"
Hist465-/EED 340
 Dr. Jerry Aschermann

What is social studies?  Why teach social studies?  How would the world be different if social studies did not exit?  What is actually taught in social studies?  What resources guide today's social studies teachers?

The purpose of this module will be to prompt you to begin thinking like a social studies teacher ---- a teacher who has the background to make decisions relating to both pedagogy and content.  This will be one of the philosophical sections of the course where you will be building the foundation on which you will build your social studies teaching philosophy.

MAJOR TOPICS:

RESOURCES: AS YOU READ THE ABOVE  Missouri Curriculum Framework  National Standards for Social Studies
 This is a hyperlink to the NCSS main electronic document. On the page,  look for the key words or questions  that are listed below

Assessment:

1.  Computer delivered quiz on the above material and textbook readings.

2.  Response to parent inquiry.  See below and refer to scoring guide.

Today you received the following note from a parent.   Your task is to respond to the parent.  This is early in the school year and you really don't know much about the parent.  Ideally you would like to visit with the parent and have a face to face conference; but, that is not possible right now.  You will need to respond in writing.

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Dear Teacher:

Last night I looked at the textbook that my daughter received for your class.... I thought to myself.... here we go again.  This is the third time that she has studied American history.  Why does she need to repeat this class again, having taken it already in the 5th grade and the 8th grade?  History classes just seem to be a mish-mash of the same old stuff each year.   

My experience with history---from grade school all the way through college---has been that we memorize dates, battles and generals.  Added to this we have memorized the capitals of all the countries of the world and "important" information like the number of tons of tin that Bolivia exports.  I have never really found information like the above to be useful in the real world:  simply, it does not put bread on the table.

All of the history teachers I have had use the same basic instructional pattern:  read the textbook, answer the questions at the end of the chapter, have a discussion of the text and then a test on Friday.  I am not a teacher but this really doesn't make sense to me.  I am also concerned that rather than teaching history you will be dealing with controversial topics like racial relations, gun control, the United Nations, the death penalty.  Is this really what public schools should be doing?

I am not sure that you have any vision about the purpose and nature of social studies in today's schools.  I don't want to have to come home from work each night and then conduct a social studies class for my children.

Definitely I would like to talk to you about my concerns; but, I will be on a business trip to China for the next three weeks.  The best way to communicate with me is through a Webpage.  I have your main URL.  I will find it if you create a sub directory called /philosophy.html     I am expecting to find your response on the above Webpage in seven days.    Have a good day!

Mr./Mrs./Ms.  I.M. Good

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What will you do?  How will you respond? Exactly, what issues is the parent raising and how do you respond to these in a mature, diplomatic, reasoned and 'scholarly' manner?   Based upon the above readings what might you tell this parent?

[Oh yes.... the letter happens to be from the president of the local school board.  Right now your school is requiring four units of history/social studies.  You have heard rumors that this person is trying to reduce the social studies/history graduation units to the state minimum and increase the graduation requirements for business, science and math.  If this happens, your school will need three less social studies/history teachers----guess who is on the bottom of the seniority list!]

Your paper will be written with standard English and without grammatical or spelling errors.  The "paper"  will be based more than just your current opinions---you will demonstrate evidence of having read, integrated and reflected about the above materials. Make specific reference to the NCSS and Missouri electronic documents that you reviewed. You do not need to use footnotes, but make specific references to your readings within your writing as "Dr. Shaver says....."  You will be developing your personal "rationale for social studies education."

You will directly explain your position about character/values education and which of the major strategies for teaching social studies you accept and will be using.

What are "five things" that you hope all of you students will learn from your social studies class?  How do you justify the amount of valuable school time it will take for your students to learn these "things"?

Include within your paper the results from the adult survey.

The "paper"  will be approximately  five electronic pages long. Remember that this will be developed as a WEBpage with the URL as  http://www.missouriwestern.edu/jra5434/philosophy.html  You will change the green jra5334 to your MWSC userid.

 This paper will/can become one of the major pieces of your electronic portfolio.  [So, do some deep thinking and writing!]

[Avoid statements like "we need to study history so that we will not repeat the mistakes of the past."]

Final Paper Format:

Refer to the scoring guide/rubric to the module.  High light each of the scoring guide content items on the parent letter with a different color ink.  This might break-up what might be a normal flow of words to the parent but do it anyway.

After writing/developing your rationale/purpose, develop a synopsis of one paragraph that contains the essence of your response to the parent.  Put the synopsis on the top of the page and  under your name.

Write a personal reflection on this module? How was it beneficial to you in terms of learning to be a social studies teacher?  Place your reflections on the bottom of the letter to the parent.  Highlight the section with Personal Refelections.

NCATE/NCSS Assessment

TITLE:  Social Studies Education--A Rationale

FOCUS:  Reflection and Development of a Personal Rationale for Social Studies Education

PEDAGOGICAL STANDARDS:  1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9
 
 

  NATURE OF EVIDENCE STANDARDS
   Testing
   Performance
  • Learning and Development
  • Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
  • Inquiry, Collaboration & Supportative Interaction
  • Planning Instruction
  • Reflection & Professional Growth
  • Professional Leadership
 TYPE OF TASK STANDARD ELEMENTS  LOCATION
 Integrative/Multiple Social studies teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities and dispositions to
  • provide learning opportunities at the appropriate school levels that support learner intellectual, social and personal development
  • use at appropriate school levels a variety of instructional strategies to encourage student development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills
  • use at the appropriate school levels media communication techniques that foster active collaboration
  • plan instruction for the appropriate school levels based on understanding of subject matter, students, the community and curriculum  goals
  • develop as reflective practitioners and continuous learners
  • foster cross-subject matter collaboration and other positive relationships with school colleagues and positive associations with parents and others in the larger community to support student learning and well being
 Secondary Social Studies Methods Course  Hist 465