SeniorYearRationaleforTeachingSocialStudies

Andrew Didden
Rationale for Teaching Social Studies
11/25/13

The five main subjects that students in the United States focus on are English, Foreign
Language, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Despite this, the SATs only test English
and math skills, the CMTs only test English, Math, and Science, and in 1989 social studies was
removed from the ACT.i Many people consider social studies less important than the other
subjects, and issues with education budgets are causing the social studies to lose classroom-time
and significance in many school districts. However the subject of social studies offer schools and
students a wide range of skills and knowledge that are not only exclusive to social studies, but
will aid students in their other classes as well their everyday lives.
Most Americans learn and understand language arts and math, but those that thrive must also
understand the society that they live in. It is my belief that one purpose of social studies
education is to help students understand American society, as well as preparing them to become
active citizens within our society. An essential part of teaching in a democratic country is
encouraging civic action and empowering students to take part in their community and
government. This includes gaining the knowledge, experience, and skills to become an active
citizen in local, regional, or national politics and history. However this information must be
passed down in an unprejudiced manner. The goal of teaching social studies is not to indoctrinate
our students to become patriotic drones controlled by the curriculum, but to create citizens that
are interested and involved in our society that will make their own decisions.ii However this goal
is unattainable without first teaching students to critically think about content knowledge and the
society that they live in.
One of the reasons that social studies is viewed as boring or useless is because for so many years
it was taught with rote-memorization. The time of rote-memorization is over, while it is my job
as social studies teacher to usher in an era where students are forced to critically think about

history and issues.iii Critical thinking involves many things. To history specifically it means that
students will be able to look at an issue and comprehend the different perspectives of the issue,
their specific motives, and what decisions it led them to make. This historical understanding
makes kids think outside the box and do history, rather than simply looking back at it.iv
Doing history lets students empathize, form opinions, and make past-present connections that
they would not by simply memorizing the information. Historical understanding and critical
thinking are extremely vital and should be inherent in any social studies classroom. Critical
thinking is just one of a broad range of skills that social studies classrooms need to teach in order
to aid students across the many facets of their lives.
Many teachers say that high school acts as the preparation for college, but it also should be
training for everyday skills. A social studies classroom is a fantastic place to teach students skills
they will actually use; skills that demonstrate transferability through every aspect of modern life,
such as critical thinking.v Unlike a subject like math, where there is only one correct answer, the
social studies offer students the ability to make their own choices. These choices can then be
tested in things like debates and speeches, but these skills have to be taught, and the social
studies classroom is a great place for them to learn them. A lot of students find history boring,
but quickly become engaged when there is a debate on a topic. These speaking and debating
skills can be extremely beneficial in the students future. Many common core standards are
requiring social studies classrooms to focus on literacy skills such as reading and writing. These
skills need to be sharpened, practiced, and performed so that students may succeed in college as
well as future professions. A history classroom is also one of the first places that students do
research papers. Students learn about the most reliable sources to use, where to find the best

answers, and how to find these answers through books, the Internet, primary and secondary
sources.
Academic skills are extremely important, but social studies offers a variety of different
skills that students use in non-academic aspects of their lives. It is a fantastic place for students to
find a niche with their classmates. Social studies provides many opportunities for groupwork that
focus around collaboration and cooperation.vi The ability to work with other students may be just
as important, if not more important, as academic skills. Strong social skills transcend the limits
of education, they are skills that students will always use. Beyond this, social studies classrooms
are fantastic places to improve film-viewing literacy because it provides some many chances
where film can be used effectively.vii Film is much more engaging and thought provoking than
many teachers lectures. Films like Dances with Wolves, Iron Jawed Angels, and Gandhi can be
used to effectively teach students historical issues. By using films in the social studies
classrooms we also teach students to be critics of films they see because they will most likely
watch movies for the rest of their lives. By critics I mean that they understand that films are
written with certain perspectives and biases in mind, which means that films cannot be fully
trusted by themselves; that they must be compared to other sources to discover the past.viii This
belief that students must become literate in film also holds true with other resources such as
museums. Many adults go to museums, but few understand how to appraise the museums
information.ix Since many field trips start in the social studies classroom, teaching students how
to successfully learn from museums is important because this is not a skill they will learn
elsewhere. Social Studies teachers need to make students think about who created the museum,
what message they are sending, and why they chose the exhibits they did to truly understand and
learn from museum visits.

It is imperative that the social studies are taught in schools today. The most important reason it
needs to be taught is to introduce and explain current events. First of all current events can
connect to every aspect of the social studies; psychology, sociology, economics, geography,
political science, and especially history all have some connection to current events. Every current
event stems from some historical event and making past-present connections between them can
be especially helpful as students attempt to establish their critical thinking skills. A social studies
classroom should reflect the society is educates. There should be debates and questions about
current events. Controversial historical events should be compared to controversial current
events while the morality of these actions is uncertain. They help inform students of what is
going on around in the world they live in. Teaching current events in an unbiased way and with
debates allow students to observe different viewpoints and compare them to their own. This way
they can see both sides of the issue and get a different perspective than what they hear on the
news or from their parents. To become engaged citizens that take part in our society they must
know and be concerned with the strengths, weaknesses, and issues of American society. Students
must learn about American policies to climate change, foreign policy, the economy, and civil
issues, but they have to do it in an environment where the information isnt being brought to
them in a biased way.x
It is impossible to measure the importance of different school subjects against each other. All the
subjects come together to form a complete and broad education, but what makes social studies
such an essential subject is the transferability of its skills across many subjects and its ability to
create citizens that become involved within our society.

i erikthered . http://www.erikthered.com/tutor/sat-act-history.html.
ii Westheimer, Joel. "Should Social Studies be Patriotic?" Social Education, 2009, 316-20
iii Levine, Thomas H. "Social Studies Classrooms as Communities." .
iv Marcus, Alan. Lecture. Historical Understanding. 9/12
v Wiggins,GrantP.,andJayMcTighe.Understandingbydesign.Alexandria,VA:Associationfor
SupervisionandCurriculumDevelopment,2005.4059
vi Levine, Thomas H. "Social Studies Classrooms as Communities." .
vii Marcus,AlanS.Teachinghistorywithfilm:strategiesforsecondarysocialstudies.NewYork:
Routledge,2010.
viii Marcus. Teaching history with film.
ix Marcus,AlanS.,JeremyD.Stoddard,andWalterW.Woodward.Teachinghistorywithmuseums:
strategiesforK12socialstudies.NewYork:Routledge,2012.
x Loewen,JamesW.Liesmyteachertoldme:everythingyourAmericanhistorytextbookgotwrong.
NewYork:Simon&Schuster,2007.Chapter11

Reflection:
I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was ten years old, but it took me a little bit
longer to decide on what subject I wanted to teach. First I wanted to teach
English, but in 7th grade I realized I wanted to teach history, after watching a
documentary on Alexander the Greats conquests. At this point in my life, history
was just fun and interesting, but I didnt know the importance of teaching it. It
wasnt until I started teaching it that I really understood how integral teaching the
social studies really is. This rationale really helped me put my thoughts down on
paper on why this is. The Social Studies provide a genuine learning opportunity for
students that they can connect to, and will aid them in their other classes and in
their futures.