Page 181 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

CHAPTER 7 How Can I Teach the Other Social Sciences Powerfully? 153
also begin to incorporate sociological factors such as political power, prejudice, and exploitation, or limited opportunity structures and life chances. Even as they develop awareness of constraints on occupational choice, they remain optimistic about their own occupational chances.
Children’s ideas about social inequalities are influenced by their social backgrounds. Compared to working-class children, middle-class children are more aware that the income differences between people from different socioeconomic classes are sizeable rather than minor, offer more complete explanations for these differences, and are likely to view them as fair or deserved (Emler & Dickinson, 2005).
Young children also begin school well aware of racial and ethnic differences in skin color and other physical characteristics, but this does not seem to affect their social behavior (e.g., playmate preferences, patterns of interaction with children of different races). As they continue to develop, the degree to which they attach importance to racial and ethnic differences and associate them with beliefs that lead to prejudice and discrim- ination varies with the socialization influences to which they are exposed (Hirschfeld, 2005; Lo Coco, Inguglia, & Pace, 2005). Sometimes, what children learn from their families or peers competes with teachers’ efforts to value diversity.
NCSS Standards Relating to Sociology
Sociological topics are emphasized in the theme, Individuals, Groups, and Institutions in the NCSS (2010) Curriculum Standards. In the early grades, it calls for experiences that allow students to identify roles as learned behavior patterns in group situations such as student, family member, peer play group member, or club member; give examples of and explain group and institutional influences such as religious beliefs, laws, and peer pres- sure, on people, events, and elements of culture; identify examples of institutions and describe the interactions of people with institutions; identify and describe examples of tensions between and among individuals, groups or institutions, and how belonging to more than one group can cause internal conflicts; identify and describe examples of ten- sion between an individual’s beliefs and government policies and laws; give examples of the role of institutions in furthering both continuity and change; and show how groups and institutions work to meet individual needs and promote the common good, and identify examples of where they fail to do so. Activities related to this theme in the middle grades will allow students to demonstrate an understanding of concepts such as role, status, and social class in describing the interactions of individuals and social groups; analyze group and institutional influences on people, events, and elements of culture; describe the various forms institutions take and the interactions of people with institutions; identify and analyze examples of tensions between expressions of individuality and group or institutional efforts to promote social conformity; identify and describe examples of tensions between belief systems and government policies and laws; describe the role of institutions in furthering both continuity and change; and apply knowledge of how groups and institutions work to meet individual needs and promote the common good.
Teaching Sociological Content
The NCSS learning expectations relating to sociology strike us as overly ambitious, especially those dealing with institutions and other macro-level aspects of society. However, even young children have experience with some social organizations and structures (e.g., family, school, community, church, organizations dealing with youth sports, and recreation activities). For a unit on Family Living, see Alleman and Brophy
Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.