Social Studies Rocks!

In this post, I expect to focus on the analytical and turn of the currere cycle even though as a preservice teacher, I lack a classroom that would provide me any real feedback to build on.

Misco (2014) says, "Social studies education is moribund. In U.S. schools it exists primarily in name only" (p. 241). This is a depressing statement for an aspiring social studies teacher. While I admit that in high school my social studies education was hit or miss, I always liked learning history and government. A key reason I transferred out of engineering in college was because I couldn't take the classes in the history and government departments that I wanted to and still graduate in 4 years as an engineer. (At the time, I probably couldn't admit it to myself, but I know that I would have been miserable as an engineer.) I have never regretted that decision.

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Another in a series of posts in my currere exploration

of my notions of social studies curriculum

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As I consider my future social studies classroom, one must keep in mind that I am doing so shortly after Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election which strongly colors my view that social studies teachers are even more important today. In addition to it being where I live, I want to teach in DC so I don't have to deal with the ridiculous mandates about using the state's preferred pronouns and no the student's or that I might have to suggest the slaves benefitted from their bondage because they learned a trade and their needs were cared for. (Anyone who believes, I assume is volunteering for a life of servitude. I am an unaware of any of the slaves volunteering.)

When I think about the future, I want to teach student to be skeptical and questions things, think for themselves and not just accept naked assertions, be able to dig into the evidence to determine fact from fiction, and be an active democratic citizen. This is the central theme to who I want to be as a social studies teacher that I come back to over and over again. I sometimes feel a bit repetitive about it.

I keep expecting this fervor to settle down a but, but every day some news item from the people who will take over the U.S. government next month only stokes the fire higher. I will have to learn to bite my tongue to some extent to avoid this becoming a hindrance in the classroom because I do not want to teach students what they should think, but to give them the tools that allow them to think.

In that vein, I will endeavor to teach students to think critically for themselves, to be able to evaluate the credibility of what they are being told, and then make an informed decision, while having a sense of the historic, political, social, and geographic context of the issue and decision. This will equip them to be informed, thinking, and democratic citizens who can impact their own future and the lives of those around them. So in my mind, I don't expect my classroom to be "moribund."

References

Misco, T. (2014). Powerful social studies unit design: A companion to powerful social studies teaching and learning. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 87(6), 241–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2014.938598