Foundation of Social Studies

SSE 100
 RAP - Review and Preview

1) Why do we need to study social studies?

2) Discuss your answers with the person to your
right. Find out what you had similar and
different. Be prepared to share with the class.
 Definition of Social Studies
• From the National Council for the Social Studies’
website:
• NCSS defines social studies as “the integrated
study of the social sciences and humanities to
promote civic competence.” Within the school
program, social studies provides coordinated,
systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as
anthropology, archaeology, economics,
geography, history, law, philosophy, political
science, psychology, religion, and sociology.”
• In essence, social studies promotes knowledge of
and involvement in civic affairs.”
 What is the purpose of social studies
education?
The purpose of social studies education is
to help students develop:
1. social understanding (i.e., knowledge of
human societies) and
2. civic competence (i.e. democratic
citizenship).
 Civic competence defined
• Civic competence is the readiness and
willingness to assume citizenship
responsibilities. These responsibilities include
more than just voting. For in a democracy, it is
also one’s responsibility to serve on juries, to
be lawful, and to be just.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere,” Martin Luther King, Jr.
 Importance of studying social studies
Without historical understanding, there can
be no wisdom; without geographical
understanding, no cultural or environmental
intelligence. Without economic
understanding, there can be no sane use of
resources and no rational approach to
decision making and, therefore, no future.
And without civic understanding, there can
be no democratic citizens and, therefore, no
democracy.
• “Citizens must have some depth of historical,
political, and cultural understanding. Making
good decisions requires that. It's one thing to
have a nation of diverse opinions, which is
crucial for democracy, but opinion before
knowledge, or without tolerance, leads to
demise.”
• “Many argue that young people today are not
educated to care about political matters,
understand complex issues, make informed
decisions, and contribute to a just society.
 Subgoals of Social Studies
• Knowledge
• Skills
• Attitudes
• Values
Knowledge
 Which social knowledge is most
important?
• Disciplines (also called fields) of study. These
are the seven social science disciplines and
the humanities. Within these disciplines,
knowledge is systematically created,
interpreted, critiqued, and revised continually
in a never-ending process of disciplined (i.e.,
it’s systematic, not random or without rules of
inquiry) knowledge construction.
 Themes
• Another approach is to identify a set of basic
content themes. Themes help curriculum
planners and teachers narrow the scope
somewhat and give them a better idea of
which social knowledge deserves the most
attention.
 Themes
1. Culture
2. Time, Continuity, and Change
3. People, Places, and Environments
4. Individual Development and Identity
5. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
6. Power, Authority, and Governance
7. Production, Distribution, and Consumption
8. Science, Technology, and Society
9. Global Connections
10. Civic Ideals and Practices
 Topics
• A third way to answer “Which knowledge is
most important?” question is to identify
topics. There is no shortage of topics, and of
course they cannot all be taught and no one
would want to learn them all.
 Topics
For example, elementary students should know:
• Great river systems of the world
• Desert cultures and forest cultures
• Food, clothing, transportation, and shelter (now
and then, near and far)
• Ancient societies and modern societies
• Geographic regions of the United States
• The American Revolution and Constitution
• Rights and responsibilities of citizens
Attitudes and Values
• The second subgoal of social studies
learning—attitudes and values—is directed
less at cognitive knowledge and more at
emotion, feeling, and beliefs about right and
wrong.
 Typical attitudes and values used in
the curriculum guide
1. Beingcommitted to the public values of this
society as suggested in its historical documents,
laws, court decisions, and oaths (e.g., from the
Declaration of Independence, “all men are
created equal”; from the Pledge of Allegiance,
“liberty and justice for all”)
2. Being able to deal fairly and effectively with
value conflicts that arise when making decisions
about the common good (public policy)
 Typical attitudes and values used in
the curriculum guide
3. Developing a reasoned loyalty to this nation
and its form of government. (Note that the
Pledge of Allegiance is made not to a person,
but to a form of government: a “republic”;
that is, a constitutional democracy)
4. Developing a feeling of kinship to human
beings everywhere—to the human family
5. Taking responsibility for one’s actions and
fulfilling one’s obligations to the community
Skills
 Skills
• The third subgoal—skills—identifies what
students should know how to do. Of course,
doing involves knowing; skillful behavior is
skillful to a great extent because of the
knowledge that supports it. A child is skillful at
something because he or she knows how to
do it well. A skill, then, is also called know-how
or procedural knowledge. Skills are often
subdivided as follows:
I. Democratic Participation Skills
A. Listening to and expressing opinions and
reasons
B. Participating in classroom, school, and
community decision making, especially
participating in group discussions of public
issues (classroom, community, international)
with persons with whom one may disagree;
leading such discussions; mediating,
negotiating, and compromising
C. Working cooperatively to clarify a task and plan
group work
D. Accessing, using, and creating community
resources
II. Study and Inquiry Skills
A. Using and making time lines, maps, globes,
charts, and graphs
B. Locating, reading, and analyzing information
from a variety of resources, such as books,
encyclopedias, the Internet, newspapers, and
libraries
C. Writing reports and giving oral presentations
D. Distinguishing between primary and
secondary sources
E. Forming and testing hypotheses
III. Intellectual Skills (critical thinking and
problem solving)
A. Comparing and contrasting
B. Making and evaluating conclusions based
on evidence
C. Identifying and clarifying problems and
issues
D. Distinguishing fact from opinion
E. Inferring cause-effect relationships
 Foundation of Social Studies
1. History – a study of the past with the help of
written records and artifacts
2. Government – a group of people who have
the power to make and enforce laws for a
country or area.
3. Economics – study of how people manage
resources by producing, using, and
exchanging goods and services.
 Foundation of Social Studies
4. Culture – beliefs, customs, laws, art, and ways
of living that a group of people share.
5. Geography – the study of all the physical
features of the earth’s surface including its
climate and the distribution of plant, animal,
and human life.
 Exercise
Many school subjects comprise
knowledge and skills, but social studies
emphasizes attitudes and values, too. How
are they different, and why are both
important?
Meaning, Nature, and
Scope of Social Studies
 Definition
• Social Studies is a field of study which
deals with man, his relation with other
men and his environment.
• its content is drawn from several social
sciences. It is a course of study including
anthropology, history, geography,
economics, political science, sociology,
law, civics, etc.
• According to Michaelis, “the Social Studies
are concerned with man and his
interaction with his social and physical
environment; they deal with human
relationships; the central function of the
social studies is identical with the central
purpose of education – the development
of democratic citizenship”.
• National Council for the Social Studies
defined Social Studies as “the integrated
study of the social sciences and
humanities to promote civic competence".
 Focus of Social Studies
• The life of man in some particular place at
some particular time
• We use every possible subject to help us
understand his problems and how he dealt or
deals with his problems
• The main aim is to give a better understanding
of present problems
• We are attempting to provide understanding
aboutthe development of man
 Scope of Social Studies
1. Social studies as citizenship education
2. Social studies as a skilled development
3. Social studies as ecological studies
4. Social studies as social science
5. Social studies as cultural integration
6. Social studies as a discipline
7. Social studies as a dynamic education
8. Social studies as a relevant education
9. Social studies as education for living
Importance of Teaching Social Studies
1. Vast scope – presents the total environment
of the child
a.People of one’s own nationality and people
across the world.
b. People and various kinds of institutions.
c. People and Earth.
d. People and Time.
e. People and resources.
Importance of Teaching Social Studies
2. Source of knowledge –integrated knowledge
of various disciplines
3. Separate subject – separate but unified
Importance of Teaching Social Studies
4. Suitable up to secondary level –provides
general, not specialized knowledge
5. Helpful for enlightened citizenship – civic
competence
6. Helpful in desirable skills – critical thinking,
problem solving
Social Studies Social Science

a branch of social the genesis of social

science. studies.
all disciplines are Every discipline stands
integrated into one out on its own
piece.
studies man in general. studies man in various
aspects of his life.
learned at secondary taught at higher levels
or primary stages of education
Social Studies Social Science
Practice part of Theory part of
human affairs human affairs
Selected portions in Larger in scope
social sciences
Instructional utility Social utility

Learning situation Part of cultural

and insight in all knowledge that have
knowledge bearing on any field
 Models in Teaching Social Studies
1. Expanding Horizons Model - according to
this model, children should learn about an
ever-widening world, from family, to
neighborhood, to city, to state, to nation,
and to world.
2. Decision-making model - aimed at helping
youth make wise, democratic choices. The
model has three dimensions: good citizens
are informed, reflective, and active.
 Effect on SS Teachers
1) becoming deeply informed about ideas,
events, and issues,
2) presenting fair and balanced views and
values, and
3) teaching deliberation, decision-making, and
civic action.
 What this means for students
• becoming informed,
• thinking it through, and
• taking a stand.

3. Democratic-method-in-action – Harold rugg

(1936). It meant: getting information, making
decisions, and taking community action.
 Explain
1. Social studies is a means to an end, the end being
engaged and active, democratic citizenship.
2. Is citizenship a noun or a verb, is it mastery of
knowledge or capacity to participate, is it
something one studies or something one does?
3. “Many argue that young people today are not
educated to care about political matters,
understand complex issues, make informed
decisions, and contribute to a just society. Studies
point to a glaring gap in civic knowledge based on
test scores correlated with socioeconomic
background and race or ethnicity.”
• Expanding horizons
• Decision making
• Democratic in action model
 Teaching Models
• They are larger than a particular strategy,
method or tactic. They are supported by the
theoretical frameworks of instruction that
help in shaping the course.
 Six Widely Acceptable Teaching
Models
• Discovery Learning Approach
• Problem-based Learning Approach
• Inquiry Learning Approach
• Cooperative Learning Approach
• Decision-making Approach
• ACES Approach
 Discovery Learning Approach
• content is not given to learners in finished
form
• discover something and not merely to learn
the content
Problem-based Learning Approach
• presenting students authentic and meaningful
problems
• driving questions or problems and having
interdisciplinary focus
 Inquiry Learning Approach
• application of scientific method to teaching
• provides learning activities reflecting the
highest form of higher-order thinking skills
 Cooperative Learning Approach
• learners work together in small groups and are
rewarded for their collective accomplishments
• combination of independent learning and
group work
 Decision-making Approach
• requires students to select the best alternative
choice on a set of conditions
• making of intelligent choices by identifying
objectives
 ACES Approach
• Activity, Analysis, Abstraction, Application
mood-setting activity to closing
 Presentation Techniques in Social
Studies
• Bubble Tree Web
• Concept Map
• Discussion Web
• Factstorming Web
• Semantic Web
• Venn Diagram
 Bubble Tree Web
• is used with information that can be
categorized beneath a core or main
understanding
• tree begins with a top bubble containing the
core understanding and the branches labeled
as major ideas
 Concept Map
• is used to define a concept or illustrate an idea
• helps in organizing categories of concepts
 Discussion Web
• helps students organize arguments in
connection with a given lesson
• is used in addressing issues in which there are
balanced pro and con arguments
 Factstorming Web
• shows the coverage of the lesson or unit of
study
 Semantic Web
• helps students organize complex ideas
• is used when the core question calls for four
answers(a) core question, (b) web strand, (c)
strand support,(d) strand tie
 Venn Diagram
• compares two sets of ideas or concepts
 Conclusion
• In using the various teaching models and
presentation techniques in Social Studies, we
can create a meaningful teaching-learning
atmosphere where learners become active
constructors of their own knowledge and
dynamic participants in understanding the
various realms of social realities.
 Exercises
• Using any of the three models of teaching
social studies: expanding horizons model,
decision-making model, and democratic
method in action model, create a lesson that
would best exemplify the model you choose.
• Demonstrate in class.
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