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The Scope of Social Studies in Education

Scope of Social Studies - bbcpulse.com

INTRODUCTION

In this article you would be abreast with the scope and concept of social studies and its goals and objectives. This is the continuation of Chapter One. This piece is a research work.

This chapter encompasses review of the related literature. It presents review of authors, opinions of experts and media both empirical and theoretical perspective on this field of study to offer support and credibility to the current work. The following sub-headings were discussed.

1. What is Social Studies?

2. The Scope of Social Studies.

3. Goals and objectives of the Social Studies curriculum.

4. What are the major causes of pupils’ poor attitude towards Social Studies?

5. Motivation as a strategy to stimulate learners’ interest in learning Social Studies.

WHAT IS SOCIAL STUDIES?

According to the US Bureau of Education, “the Social Studies are understood to be those whose subject matter relates directly to the organization and development of human society, and to man as a member of social groups” (US Bureau of Education, 2006, as cited in M. Nelson, 1988, p. 20).

Also, according James High “Social Sciences as those bodies of learning and study which recognizes the simultaneous and mutual action of physical and no-physical stimuli which produce social relation”.

The National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) on studies, …the integrated study of the Social Sciences and humanities to promote civic competence.

Within the school programme, Social Studies provide coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences.

The primary purpose of Social Studies is to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world.

THE SCOPE OF SOCIAL STUDIES

The term “scope” had become popular in educational circles after 1945.Developments between the two world wars led to the emergence of new patterns of selecting the content for Social Studies programme. Until quite recently the term“scope of Social Studies” had been shifting sand (Tamakloe, 2004).

Curriculum experts are yet to agree on what the term, scope of Social Studies, is, as it varies from writer to writer.

According to Banks (1990), at the lower grade in school, the scope of the subject is based on institutions and communities such as the home, family, the school, the neighbourhood and the community. He goes on further, to say, that at the higher level a variety of elective courses such as sociology, psychology and problems of democracy is offered.

In another development, Martorella (1994) writes that most educators would concede that Social Studies gain some of its identity from the social sciences, such as history, political science, geography, economics, sociology, anthropology and psychology.

In explaining the scope of Social Studies, GES (2001) emphasizes that Social Studies takes its source from geography, history, economics and civic education and integrate it in a fashion that creates a subject of its own. Ravitch (2003) sums it up by saying, “Social Studies is seen as a broad umbrella that covers a range of subjects, disciplines, and skills”.

It is significant to note that when subject areas are used to define the scope of Social Studies, perhaps the objective is to promote understanding and values associated with the subject areas. For Aggarwal (2002) the scope of Social Studies should include a study of relationships, functional study of natural sciences and arts and a study of current affairs.

In keeping with this thematic nature, Tamakloe (2001) writes that “the structure of the content selected for the teaching and learning process in Social Studies must be such that it cuts across disciplines”. To him this can be possible if the content is thematic in nature.

He adds; “themes such as the school community, our local community, the national community our continent and others like citizenship, cooperation, interdependence and nationalism easily lend themselves to organization which relies heavily on the use of concepts, facts, skills and values from various disciplines”. It must be emphasized, however, that Social Studies and Social Sciences are distinct programmes.

To achieve its overall goals Social Studies promotes learning experiences that have both a distinct content focus and process focus. The latter for instance provides opportunities for learners to become actively involved with interpreting and judging knowledge.

It could be inferred from the discussion that the scope of Social Studies is unlimited. It is in this light that Leming & Ellington (2003) describe the scope of Social Studies as “boundless, eschewing substantive content and lacking focus for effective practice.”

They add, “students rank Social Studies courses as one of their least liked subjects and Social Studies textbooks are largely superficial and vapid” Zevin (2000) in his “personal prologue” writes that, “part of the reason Social Studies is disliked by so many students are the arguments, knowledge of facts, names, places and all the facts they had to know”.

Perhaps the debate about the scope of Social Studies may be partly due to the nature of the subject. According to Tamakloe (2004) the boundless nature exhibited by the scope of Social Studies is the apparent result of the multiplicity of concepts, skills, knowledge, and values that can be utilized to explain issues, phenomena and solve any problem which faces society. Commenting on the nature of Social Studies Ross and Marker (2005) remarked that:

Social Studies is the most inclusive of all subjects and determining the boundaries of what is taught in Social Studies requires decision about what social knowledge is most important, which skills and behaviours are most valuable, and what values are most significant.
As a result, the field curriculum terrain is, has been, and will continue to be subject of debate.

It appears the problem of selection of scope is due partly to subject matter proliferation in Social Studies and also curriculum innovations. In the words of Preston (2005) “these innovations, influence not only method of study but seek to shape the Social Studies scope and sequence”.

The broad scope of subject matter and the amount of material that could be included in Social Studies is a serious concern for Social Studies education. All agree that selection of what to study is a major issue in planning Social Studies instruction due to its “competing vision and contradictions” (Evans, 2004).

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM

Having understood what Social Studies is all about, the researcher went on to research about the importance of Social Studies to the pupil.

The primary purpose of Social Studies is to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world (National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) in 2002).

The purpose of Social Studies is described as providing “opportunities for students to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge that will enable them to become engaged, active, informed and responsible citizens” who are “aware of their capacity to effect change in their communities, society and world” (Alberta Education, 2005, p. 1).

The general objective of Social Studies is to assist young people to craft informed and well-thought decisions for the public welfare as citizens of a multicultural, democratic community in a codependent society (NCSS, 2004). The subject has a broader scope in different sub-disciplines.

In addition, Dynneson and Gross (2009) posit that the overall instructional goals of Social Studies are often related to the following concerns: the first of which is to prepare students for a changing world.

Due to the fast-growing population of the world with its emerging issues, it is very imperative to prepare citizens to adapt to such changes with relative ease. The second concern is to broaden students’ perspectives and understanding of the community, state, nation, and the world.

The researcher believes that Social Studies as a problem-solving subject can partly achieve that when students are equipped with the relevant information about the society in which they live and what happens in the world around them.

In addition, the subject is to provide students with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need in both their personal and public lives. These are very germane in solving personal and societal issues which is one of the cardinal aims of the subject.

Dynneson and Gross (2009) add that the subject is to help students relate to and understand the subject matter content of history and the Social Sciences, including knowledge, skills and values that are characteristics of Social Studies subject matter.

With regards to this concern, the researcher does not agree with Dynneson and Gross since Social Studies is not concerned with helping students relate to and understand the subject matter content of history and the Social Sciences. This aspect is not a priority of Social Studies but the latter however holds.

It must however be emphasized that relevant knowledge from history and the Social Sciences as well as any other discipline that is germane to solving contemporary persistent issues of human survival in society is paramount to the subject.

THE MAJOR CAUSES OF PUPILS’ POOR ATTITUDE TOWARDS SOCIAL STUDIES

The study by Mensah (2019) in Ghana revealed that pupils” performance in Social Studies was average.

This poor performance was attributed to teachers” not showing interest in teaching controversial issues, teachers” inability to give needed assistance to students, teachers” inability to use different teaching methods during Social Studies lessons and inadequate teaching and learning materials (Mensah, 2020; Mensah, 2019).

It was further noted that most of the students perceived Social Studies as a less difficult subject as compared to other subjects.

This perception affected the academic performance of learners (Mensah, 2020; Mensah, 2019). Schug, Todd and Beery (1982 in Mensah 2019) supported these findings and noted that negative attitude towards Social Studies did affect the learners’ performance in the subject.

Researchers outline a number of reasons for students’ predominantly negative attitudes toward Social Studies. Although all the reasons are interconnected, they can be roughly split into two categories: motivational and curricular.

Many scholars and practitioners point to the lack of interest or motivation among learners as the major reason for their negative attitudes toward Social Studies. On one hand, motivational deficiency is explained by the perception that Social Studies is boring and won’t provide life skills (Chiodo & Byford, 2004; Schug et al., 2002).

On the other hand, Social Studies was “uninteresting” because the students were not active in Social Studies classes and they considered the classes boring and difficult (Russell & Waters, 2010, Schug, et al., 1982; Stodolsky et al., 1991).

Marlow and Inman (2007) asserted that, regardless of subject, “teaching in the elementary school often suffers from two conditions: (1) a lack of time spent on the subject and (2) passive teaching strategies which rely on textbooks use. Clearly, Social Studies is affected by both conditions, which might have an impact on students’ attitudes as well.

Abundant research (Bailey et al., 2006; Burroughs, Groce & Webeck, 2005; Burstein, Hutton, & Curtis, 2006; Finkelstein, Nielsen, & Switzer, 1993; Goodlad, 1984; Houser, 1994; McEachorn, 2010; VanFossen, 2005; VanFossen & McGrew, 2008; Wood et al., 2009) demonstrates that insufficient time is allocated for Social Studies instruction, particularly in elementary schools.

Other research (Bolinger & Warren, 2007; Burstein et al., 2006; Lintner, 2006; Wood et al, 2009) reveals that teacher-centered techniques are still dominant instructional strategies and that textbooks remain the dominant materials in Social Studies classrooms.

Governale (2007) asserted that teacher-centered and textbook based Social Studies instruction negatively affect students’ attitudes toward the subject.

According to Haladyna and Shaughnessy (2001), Social Studies is viewed as one of the least liked and unimportant subjects by learners because of teacher-centered activities such as lecture and recitation.

Burstein et al. (2006) pointed out that because teachers allocated less time for Social Studies, they had to adhere to less time-consuming teacher-centered strategies to cover the material, as opposed to learner-centered strategies, which required more time.

Motivation as a strategy to stimulate learners’ interest in learning Social Studies

Motivation refers to “the reasons underlying behaviour” (Guay et al., 2010, p. 712). Paraphrasing Gredler, Broussard and Garrison (2004) broadly define motivation as “the attribute that moves us to do or not to do something” (p. 106).

Motivational strategies are defined as “instructional interventions applied by the teacher to elicit and stimulate students’ motivation” (Guilloteaux & Dörnyei, 2008, 57).The realization of behavioural potentiality seems to be related to the learner’s level of motivation.

For example, a learner who has learned the names of all the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations would be expected to recite them with particular energy under some sort of incentive. The incentive is said to raise the learner’s level of motivation.

According to the literature, motivation can either be intrinsic or extrinsic. Deci (2009) defines intrinsic motivation as the motivation that emanate from personal enjoyment, interest, or pleasure while extrinsic motivation as the force from outside.

While intrinsic motivation is based on taking pleasure in an activity, extinct motivation occurs with an expectation of external rewards and common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money, grades and threats of punishment.

Its manifest in behaviours such as play, exploration, and challenge seeking that people often do for external rewards. Researchers often contrast intrinsic motivation with extrinsic motivation, which is motivation governed by reinforcement contingencies.

Traditionally, educators consider intrinsic motivation to be more desirable and to result in better learning outcomes than extrinsic motivation (Deci et al., 2009). Motivation involves a constellation of beliefs, perceptions, values, interests, and actions that are all closely related.

As a result, various approaches to motivation can focus on cognitive behaviors (such as monitoring and strategy use), non-cognitive aspects (such as perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes), or both.

For example, Gottfried (2000) defines academic motivation as “enjoyment of school learning characterized by a mastery orientation; curiosity; persistence; task-endogeny; and the learning of challenging, difficult, and novel tasks.

On the other hand, Turner (2005) considers motivation to be synonymous with cognitive engagement, which he defines as “voluntary uses of high-level self-regulated learning strategies, such as paying attention, connection, planning, and monitoring.

As Stipek (2006) notes, however, tasks that are achievable for most students in a classroom will be too challenging for a small proportion of the lowest ability students.

Thus, instructional approaches concerned with observing learners’ motivation suggest using tasks that can be differentiated according to learners ability and learners interest.

Differentiation means that the difficulty level of the task can be manipulated, either by tailoring student goals to ability level or by changing the nature of the task (Turner, 2005).

Rewards used to control people’s behaviour tend to reduce their sense of self-determination (Deci et al., 2009). On the other hand, rewards used to convey information about competence can serve a valuable function.

Deci et al. (2009) maintain that rewards should minimize authoritarian and controlling tones, acknowledge good performance, provide choice about how to complete the task, and emphasize the interesting or challenging aspects of the task.

Stipek (2006) notes that task-contingent rewards, which include rewards for task participation or completion, are almost always experienced as controlling.

On the other hand, performance-contingent rewards, which are based on the quality of performance, vary in their effects depending on whether the student performed well, students’ personal histories with rewards, and whether the reward is experienced as controlling or informational with respect to competence (Deci & Ryan, 2005, as cited in Stipek, 2006).

Deci et al. (2009) argue that teachers can use unexpected rewards on occasion with little harm, although they should not be given so frequently that students come to expect them.

Some examples of Classroom Motivational Strategies

Keeping learners Active and Engaged:An important way to involve learners actively in what they are supposed to learn is through discussion.

This teaching strategy is characterized by the teacher raising a number of pertinent questions on a theme or topic and inviting learners to share ideas, express their views or opinions on the topic or theme under discussion.

Brookfield (2001) describes discussion “as both inclusionary and participatory because it implies that everyone has some useful contribution to make to the educational effort and because it claims to be successful with actively involving
learners”. Arends (2008) sees the discussion as “an approach with three ingredients.

First, both learner and teacher talks are required; learners are expected to enter into dialogue and conversation with academic materials; and learners are expected to practice and publicly display their thinking”.

To Brookfield (2001), the purpose of discussion “is to engender change in learners what teachers define as desirable attitudes”. This is true and most suitable for Social Studies teaching which is full of controversial issues.

Social Studies, apparently based on the fact that discussion ensures democracy in the classroom and also leads towards achieving affective ends especially in Social Studies teaching. When learners are interacting and engaged, they won’t have time to get bored.

Choosing learners at random to answer questions, and make it understood that you value their input and ideas. Learners’ interaction and sharing enhances instructional time and prepares students to function more effectively as a body of learners. We must recognize the importance of these dynamics and find ways to celebrate learners’ intelligence.

Allowing learners’ Choice, Creativity, and Variety: Assigning a piece of writing, allow learners to pick their own genre such as reports, plays, or songs when assigning a topic. When learners can pick their favorite form of writing or task, they’ll stay intrinsically engaged and motivated.

Grow a community of learners in a classroom: Learners needs a classroom that is safe, where they are willing to take risk and struggle. To achieve this goal teachers and learners must work together towards common collective goal. In a Social Studies classroom for that matter is so appropriate as the contents demand more collaborative learning.

Get Out of the Classroom: Fieldwork may be explained as the teaching and learning which takes place outside the classroom or laboratories, usually planned and organized to take place within the school, the environs of the school, the local community or outside the local community.

According to Hayford (1992) field trips are planned excursions to sites beyond the classroom for the purpose of obtaining information and providing an opportunity for first hand observation of phenomena.

It is for this reason that Tamakloe (1991) recognizes that the nature of the learning experience should therefore, enable the learner to collect information in his immediate and wider environment. Both Hayford and Tamakloe see fieldwork as an important tool for arousing the interest of learners in the study of Social Studies.

Their remarks remind teachers to move away from situations where learners and teachers are completely fixed in the four walls of the classroom.

Varying terms have been used to describe fieldwork. The purpose of fieldwork is educational knowledge to be gained by learners. Phenomenon studies can be of economic, historical, geographical or cultural importance.

Fieldwork is advantageous because it provides the learner the technique of problem solving and critical thinking, group work procedure, locating and interpretation of information from books and other sources.

As Anderson & Piscitella (2002) observed field trip activities have long lasting consequences for students, typically involving memories of specific social context as well as specific content.

For subject like Social Studies, holding class in a new environment, whether a park, museum, or the school library, is a great way to stoke learner interest. When you return to your classroom, they may see a new approach to a problem or assignment.

Create a Friendly Competition: Participate in a competition. As long as there is appreciation for everyone’s best effort and not all attention is placed solely on the winner, a competition can be a great way to create excitement.

Offering Incentives to learners: Many learners require external rewards for motivation. Although intrinsic motivation is preferred (Ryan & Deci, 2020), incentives should also be used when appropriate.

Token systems, where learners can exchange points for items, are an effective method for improving learning and positively affecting student behaviour (Homer et al., 2018). Tangible and intangible incentives may be used to motivate learners if they have not developed intrinsic motivation.

Intangible items may include lunch with the teacher, a coupon to only complete half of an assignment, or a show-and-tell session. Of course, a good old-fashioned treasure box may help as well.

If learners are unwilling to ask questions in front of the class, try implementing a large poster paper where learners are encouraged to use sticky notes to write down their questions. Teachers may refer to the questions and answer them at a separate time.

This practice is called a “parking lot.” Also, consider allowing learners to share questions in small groups or with partners. Also, rewards give learners something tangible to remind them of an accomplishment.

Use all types of technology available to you: We are living in the age of technology and learners are learning to use it at very early ages. Lessons presented to learners via computers, smart boards, Ipads, etc help even the most distractible learner attend class because they view these devices as something fun and “cool” as opposed to learning from books alone.

Provide specific praise to learners for little things and big things: Display their work around the classroom and mention it to classroom visitors. Tell the learners how proud you are of them when they learn a new concept that you know they had difficulty understanding.

Recognize when one learner does something kind for another learner. Recognize the class when they have followed the classroom rules for a day or week. Send positive notes home to the parents and make sure that the learner knows that you are doing so.

In conclusion, to increase learners motivation in the classroom is to give learners more autonomy (Guthrie, 2000; Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000; Pintrich, 2003; Stipek et al., 1995; Stipek, 1996; Turner, 1995).

Hidi and Harackiewicz (2000) argue that providing students with more control over their own learning can be a way of enhancing situational interest that may develop into more long-term and stable interest. Similarly, Turner (1995) notes that when teachers allow students to make decisions about their own work, students are more likely to be interested in the work.

SUMMARY OF REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This comprises the concept of Social Studies, the scope of Social Studies, Goals and Objectives of the Social Studies curriculum, the major causes of pupil’s poor attitude towards Social Studies, motivation as a strategy to stimulate learners interest in learning Social Studies and examples of classroom motivational strategies.

Back to Chapter One

Forward to Chapter Three

 

SOURCE: bbcpulse.com

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