standards- social studies

Background

The 21st century will bring us face-to-face with the information-electronic biotechnological age. A new set of issues, together with persistent problems, will confront us and tax our intellectual and moral fiber, making it even more difficult to realize the fundamental democratic ideals of our society (Cleveland 1985). Demographic and statistical data speak clearly to the rapidly changing nature of our families; the reconceptualization of work; the distribution of justice and poverty; the securing of human rights for all; the conditions of illiteracy; and the age, class, and ethnic makeup of our citizens. The world is diverse, globally interdependent, and ethically challenged, and the task of "bringing the American dream to all" calls for citizens with a new sense of purpose. It is within this context that social studies takes a leading role in helping students understand their social world--how it came to be, how it relates to natural systems, and how to constructively and actively engage themselves in its development. Robert Bellah and his associates (1986) have described it well:

Citizenship is virtually coexistent with getting involved with one's neighbors for the good of the community.... one of the keys to the survival of free institutions is the relationship between private and public life, the way in which citizens do, or do not, participate in the public sphere. (Habits of the Heart, p. 200)

Content Standards

The last decade of the 20th century seems to be a time of establishing standards, developing assessment designs, and limiting
curriculum experimentation. These activities seem curious and, perhaps, contradictory, given the fact that the reform topics of
"restructuring schools" and "site-based management" are but two contemporary and important educational thrusts encouraging
teachers themselves to become standards setters. Indeed, the problem in social studies has never been a lack of content; the
problem has been one of overload. The multiplicity of standards being developed in each of the social sciences (history, civics,
economics, geography) threatens, once again, to overwhelm teachers and students and confuse a public already dismayed by the inability of educators to agree on programs that deal with the problems confronting society.

The Nature of Knowledge

Almost everything about the social world is more complex than we have allowed students to understand. Allowing students to
discover how the world works always involves the dilemma of the proper relationships among information, knowledge, and reality. It is extremely important to recognize that there is a significant difference between information and knowledge. Information is one-dimensional--linear or horizontal, fragmented , and quite useless in and of itself. On the other hand, students gain knowledge about regions, for example, when they can take information about places on the earth, structure it to show relationships among those pieces of information, and use it to construct their own concept of region. Once formed, the students' concept of region can be enhanced and refined and used again and again, each time with greater clarity and analytical power. The process of structuring and using information develops knowledge. Information provided by a teacher or textbook is generally, and wrongfully perceived as knowledge. Such collections of information, structured according to frameworks designed by textbook writers, or preconstructed by adults, remains information, not knowledge. Knowledge is something created through a process of personal involvement that allows for complex relationships between the learners (including the teacher), the materials of instruction, and the context of the classroom, even when that classroom includes the larger community.

The challenge for teachers is to design varied experiences that promote the use of information from the several areas of the social sciences, as well as from the humanities, science, and mathematics, to help students create knowledge for themselves. For this creative process to work with integrity, the most powerful content-based concepts must be used, for they are the best ideas available for helping students formulate personal and public policy decisions. Big ideas such as justice, equality, freedom, and diversity become powerful content containers when students grasp principal connections within and across subject areas and use these ideas to conceptualize reality, deal with causality and validity, and create meaning.

The nature of this knowledge must be seen from the vantage point of two interrelated questions: (1) What content should be selected to best serve students in their efforts to understand the human condition? and (2) What abilities should students develop to engage in this search?

Some Directions

In the Secondary years, students should receive a good grounding in the history and government of their own nations, and the
cultures of other areas of the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The social studies program should involve geography and the undergirding notion of global interdependence. It should also allow students to explore and use the various social sciences. The placement of these topics and their instructional treatment should be based upon sound developmental and learning theory, the expertise of teachers, and community consultation. In addition to history, geography, and culture studies, the program should consistently involve personal decision making and public policy issues that ask students to use historical and social science data. With the trend toward four years of social studies, a final year of public policy--domestic and global--would provide a worthy capstone for a well-designed program.

Excerpted from A. Glatthorn's Content of the Curriculum, 1995 (pp. 225-230).

Examine the Standards

National Standards as reported by McREL: This is an attempt to synthesize all of the professional organizations, state agencies and national organizations who have proposed standards in content areas for all the nation's children, with benchmarks at early and upper elementary grades and the middle and high school levels. You will need to select "Browse Standards" and then your content areas. Psychology and Sociology have been grouped under the heading of "Behavioral Studies."

Standards for Teaching Psychology: Psychology is not included in the Michigan Curriculum Framework. Look at these Standards for Teaching Psychology in the High School developed by the American Psychological Association.

Suggestions for Teaching Sociology: This site has been created by an individual to provide curriculum resources and guiding framework to those who are teaching Sociology.

Michigan Department of Education: Select your content area from the list on the middle, right side of page of the front page, under K-12 Curriculum..