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Social Studies: It’s Time to ReInvest
Image Credit: Qvasimodo Art / Shutterstock
With digital citizenship on our minds and a presidential election on the horizon, we believe it’s time to take a closer look at social studies instruction. A fixture of our national curriculum for a century, its changing emphases reveal the evolving priorities of American society.
Increasingly, the dynamics of power and identity shape both our national conversations and our 21st-century perspective on the past. As students engage in these complex discussions, they must learn to analyze and understand current events as well as historical context. Teachers, district leaders and policymakers can help by making sure that students have access to trustworthy, age-appropriate resources that both reflect students’ own experiences and spark curiosity about other people and places.
With that in mind, and to further explore what it means to teach social studies today, we’ve put together this collection of articles and images—and asked a few crucial questions.
Inclusivity Mandates in the US: How Does Your State Compare?
Since California’s 2011 passage of the FAIR Education Act, four other states have joined in the decision to mandate teaching LGBT history. And support for minority representation has seen an uptick across the country. This heat map tracks state laws for teaching Indian American, African American, and LGBT history as well as mandates for teaching about the Holocaust. Click through the map to see how your state compares with the rest of the country.
4 Ways Your District Can Support Social Studies Teachers
Social studies educators have the unique challenge of teaching subject matter that is constantly shifting. Just as culture, society and history are dynamic, so too is the corresponding curriculum.
In order to keep up with changes and convey the shifting trends to students, teachers must have access to resources that are responsive, relevant and thoroughly researched.
We've compiled some helpful advice below:
Timeline
By its very nature, social studies instruction curriculum is often in flux. Its evolution is a window into American history.
In this Article
Inclusivity Mandates in the US: How Does Your State Compare?
4 Ways Your District Can Support Social Studies Teachers
Timeline