Our Vision
Dedicated, anti-racist K-12 Social Science classrooms that leverage students’ lived experiences, promote agency, and engage students in culturally sustaining, inquiry-driven curriculum and instruction.
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Why Social Science?
Why Social Science?
Engaging students in powerful social science instruction is critical to our democracy and essential to the success of every child in whatever their chosen college and career pathways.
In social science classrooms, students not only build critical literacy and numeracy skills, they also develop the skills, habits and dispositions to critically interrogate the world around them, to evaluate and assess information from a variety of sources, to work collaboratively with others, and to make informed decisions about who they want to be and plan how they will take action in the world.
Our Framework
Our Framework
Our vision for powerful instruction is informed by the new Illinois state standards, current research in learning science, culturally sustaining pedagogy, ethnic studies pedagogy, and aligned to the Common Core and the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework.
The Disappearing Curriculum
The Disappearing Curriculum
The research shows that less time is spent on social science instruction in elementary schools compared to other core subjects.
44% of school districts reduced time for social students since No Child Left Behind was passed in 2001.
HOW TO FIX THIS:
Dedicate at least 45 minutes of daily instruction to social studies in grades K-5
Assess social studies skills and content
Support social studies professional learning
Use high-quality social studies curriculum and materials
Current State
Current State
Eurocentric, dominant narrative;
Fact-focused (people, places, events) with a fixed, chronological march through time;
Teacher-centered;
History is the main discipline of focus;
Skills are solvely aligned to Common Core.
Future State
Future State
Narratives are varied and inclusive of multiple perspectives and framed in asset-based characterizations;
Inquiry learning with a thematic approach to content: Students curate, investigate, analyze, and synthesize;
Centralize and sustain student and community identity, agency, and meaning-making;
Core disciplines integrated;
Skills rooted in inquiry: criticality, collaboration, communication, problem-solving, informed action for effective navigation in an increasingly digital and media-dominant world.
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