Page 114 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

86 Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students
The NCSS standards consist of 10 themes incorporating fields of study that roughly correspond to the major social studies disciplines and process skills. The 10 themes are provided in Figure 4.1. See also www.socialstudies.org.
State Social Studies Standards
Most states have developed their own social studies standards or content expectations. If you teach in one of these states, you will be expected to incorporate its standards or content expectations into your planning. Typically the state standards or strands are a more specific version of the national guidelines and usually are tied to the state’s test- ing program. For example, Standard III (People, Places, and Environments) is the most obvious geographic standard in the NCSS document. Other standards, including I, VII, and IX, incorporate geographic components. Geography education incorporates the five
FIGURE 4.1 Ten Thematic Themes for Social Studies Curriculum
Ten themes serve as organizing strands for the social studies curriculum at every school level (early grades, middle grades, and high school); they are interrelated and draw from all of the social science disciplines and other related disciplines and fields of scholarly study to build a framework for social studies curriculum.
I. Culture
Human beings create, learn, and adapt culture. Human cultures are dynamic systems of beliefs, values, and traditions that exhibit both commonalities and differences. Understanding culture helps us understand ourselves and others.
II. Time, Continuity, and Change
Human beings seek to understand their historic roots and to locate themselves in time. Such understanding involves knowing what things were like in the past and how things change and develop—allowing us to develop historic perspective and answer important questions about our current condition.
III. People, Places, and Environment
Technical advancements have ensured that students are aware of the world beyond their personal locations. As students study con- tent related to this theme, they create their spatial views and geo- graphical perspectives of the world; social, cultural, economic, and civic demands mean that students will need such knowledge, skills, and understandings to make informed and critical decisions about the relationship between human beings and their environment.
IV. Individual Development and Identity
Personal identity is shaped by one’s culture, by groups, and by institutional influences. Examination of various forms of human behavior enhances understandings of the relationship between social norms and emerging personal identities, the social pro- cesses that influence identity formation, and the ethical princi- ples underlying individual action.
V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
Institutions exert enormous influence over us. Institutions are organizational embodiments to further the core social values of
those who comprise them. It is important for students to know how institutions are formed, what controls and influences them, how they control and influence individuals and culture, and how institutions can be maintained or changed.
VI. Power, Authority, and Governance
Understanding of the historic development of structures of power, authority, and governance and their evolving functions in contemporary society is essential for emergence of civic competence.
VII. Production, Distribution, and Consumption
Decisions about exchange, trade, and economic policy and well-being are global in scope, and the role of government in policymaking varies over time and from place to place. The systematic study of an interdependent world economy and the role of technology in economic decision making is essential.
VIII. Science, Technology, and Society
Technology is as old as the first crude tool invented by prehistoric humans, and modern life as we know it would be impossible without technology and the science that supports it. Today’s technology forms the basis for some of our most difficult social choices.
IX. Global Connections
The realities of global interdependence require understanding of the increasingly important and diverse global connections among world societies before there can be analysis leading to the development of possible solutions to persisting and emerging global issues.
X. Civic Ideals and Practices
All people have a stake in examining civic ideals and practices across time, in diverse societies, as well as in determining how to close the gap between present practices and the ideals upon which our democracy is based. An understanding of civic ideals and practices of citizenship is critical to full participation in society.
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). (2010). National curriculum standards for social studies teachers: A framework for teaching, learning, and assessment. Silver Springs, MD: National Council for the Social Studies.
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