2.1.16

"Need for better ways to teach social studies"

This is the title of an article from a Singapore newspaper.  Singapore...the nation leading the world in global education rankings.  If the number one nation thinks we need to change the way we teach social studies, shouldn't we take note?  Don't worry!  I've got us covered.

The article that I found states that the Singaporean Education System is characterized by the pressure to produce good grades at all costs.  Because of this, teachers often teach solely for student achievement rather than understanding and critical thinking, meaning they teach memorization of the content used for tests.  This is not how education is supposed to be.  We have spent time discussing this in class.  That is the purpose of the concept-based unit, to move away from fact memorization and move towards connecting topics and facts together in order to create a deeper understanding of the material and how it affects the world around us.  (Maybe we should teach this to the Singaporean teachers)  Teachers in Singapore say that their students are not given the time to formulate their own ideas, let alone, discuss these ideas with their classmates.  Instead, students refer to study guides and teacher notes to master the right answer for the right test to get the right grade.

This is not what education is about.  We have moved into an age where teachers must move away from simply telling students.  We are facilitators of learning.  We must foster and guide students to think critically and deeper than just a factual level.  We must create and find problems or issues for students to work through on their own.  We have to scaffold their learning to provide the support students need without being the megaphone blaring the answers and facts on repeat.

I know that global education ranking is important to some people, but I would rather be ranked 28th (like we actually are) and be teaching students how to think at a deeper level.  In my future classroom, I want to model how to teach powerful and purposeful social studies that moves away from memorization and teaching to the test.  I also think that it is interesting that often times we strive to be more like others, in this case Singapore, when we don't even know what they are doing.  American's constantly compare our education ranking to those of the eastern world without reading articles like this and saying, "Hmmm, What are we doing that they aren't?" and "Is what they are doing preparing students for the real world?"  We've got to know what's going on in the world (current events!!!), how it affects us, and what we will do with what we find out.  I'm going to remember this article and move forward by making sure that I do not follow Singapore's example when it pertains to social studies education.

http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/need-for-better-ways-to-teach-social-studies

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32608772