Moving to South Korea at the age of twenty-one to become a teacher was an enlightening personal and professional experience. While living abroad, I utilized the knowledge and skills that I teach in my Social Studies classes. I analyzed maps, exposed to new cultures, experienced different government and political styles, and so much more. My experience solidified my philosophy of the importance of teachers providing real-life applications of knowledge and skills from Social Studies classes to create effective and engaged citizens.
In order to create successful citizens, teachers must ensure that their students are skilled at obtaining relevant information and applying it to real-world situations. A teacher must push students past simply memorizing content and encourage students to analyze the information to apply it to their life and community. As a teacher, I have heard people doubt the importance or relevance of various Social Studies topics to their daily lives. I inquired of my students whether they considered Social Studies to be important outside of the classroom and the responses consisted of “not really” and “the two most important classes outside the classroom are English and Math.” The students viewed Social Studies to be a class where the sole goal was to memorize and regurgitate information, instead of realizing the information they learned was important for their lives. Social Studies teachers must ensure that students understand the real life application to stimulate participation within the community. For example, in an U.S. History class, the Townshend Acts are an excellent opportunity to present the continual debate on local taxes. Students can examine the source of taxes and how they are appropriated within their community. In an American Civics class, teachers may encourage the students to debate their rights within and outside of the school. As an example, the teacher may present a local community issue, such as when a Groton student brought an action against Fitch Senior High School concerning his First Amendment rights. Students would then have the opportunity to research, synthesize, evaluate, and support their position regarding a community issue. Jointly, the knowledge and skills acquired in the classes are essential to become effective citizens.
Students transferring skills that they develop in the Social Studies classroom is also vital for authentic learning and creating effective citizens. For example, an important skill that students must utilize in life outside of the classroom is how to analyze sources of information. In recent times, the concept of "Fake News" has become a prevalent topic, plaguing news articles, social media, and more. A Social Studies class would be an excellent opportunity to show the students how to use the skills learned to determine the validity and credibility of such sources. In an U.S. History class, an example of employing these skills would be to utilize primary and secondary source documents. One activity may consist of supplying newspaper articles that demonstrate the different perspectives prevalent during the American Revolution. Students would have the opportunity to read and analyze the varying sources from Loyalists and Revolutionaries to better understand their perspectives and motivations. The students will practice identifying information, verifying the credibility of the source, and determining the validity of the information. This skill is necessary for any citizen who wants to be realistically informed of current events in society. Furthermore, Inquiry and Project-based learning are excellent opportunities in the Social Studies classroom, where students learn to research, synthesize the information, and make an informed decisions. By learning these skills and how to effectively implement them in their daily lives, the students will have the tools to be effective and engaged citizens.
As a Social Studies teacher, I hope to continue inspiring students to connect with their community and the world, and I would be honored to be a part of the myriad of successful schools that offer thorough and quality Social Studies curriculums. I know that in my classroom, students will have the opportunity to challenge utilize the content and skills that they gain in my classroom and apply it to succeed in their college, career, and civic lives.