Social Studies Orientations and what it means to be an active citizen

Questions 8 and 9 of the social studies questionnaire (see blog post Wednesday 20th October) forced you to think back to your primary years to consider the affects that social studies education had on you as an individual then and now.

Question 8 presents a broad range of possible feelings you could have had about learning in social studies. It implied that these feelings were closely related to the objectives of social studies and reflected the broad scope of concepts that can fit under the social studies learning area umbrella. Evidently, this large scope of social studies education is also the cause for uncertainty and disagreements over what should be most important in this learning area. Effectively, differing views of what it means to be a 'good' citizen, the goal of social studies, has been the causal of this large scope.

Question 9 presented the 'active citizen' and asked if you felt social studies education had given you efficacy in this area. However, even if the answer you gave was a 'strongly agree' this does not necessarily prove you are a 'good' citizen when considering the several social studies orientations presented in Gibson & McKay (2005) which all focus on different aspects for effective citizenship.

The aim of this post is to describe a number of these orientations and their correlating views of citizenship in a bid to unravel the goals of education, and how teachers must balance a number of factors that inform these goals in the classroom. When analysing the data from the questionnaire we will be able to discover whether your past teachers were considering this need for balancing a number of social studies orientations for effective citizenship rather than just one.

Blog Question #1

'To some extent, New Zealand is a relatively harmonious country. Unlike some, we are not racked by civil war over unresolved political, social or religious disagreement. We are, by and large, a reasonably tolerant nation. But, this said, there are nonetheless some bitter divides, some historical, others enduring. Rugby tours to South Africa and nuclear warships once divided us but no longer do so. On the other hand, Maori/non-Maori disputes over the resources of land, sea and air seem destined to remain long running...' (The Ethics of Teaching, Clark, J., 2005, p60)

Yes, debates between the indigenous Maori and New Zealand Pakeha, whether large or small, continue to appear in the 21st century. Of course students in New Zealand must be introduced to the declarations of the Treaty of Waitangi from an early age, but how are teachers best to deal with the undeniable differences, debates and stereotypes that still lurk in the shadows more than 160 years after the papers were signed...

Two weeks ago reports were made about the debate surrounding the latest Taonga Maori exhibition at Te Papa museum. This exhibition which includes taonga that 'have been used in battle and to kill people' excludes some members of society, which has upset a few people:
'a behind-the-scenes tour of some of Te Papa's collections included the condition that "wahine who are either hapu [pregnant] or mate wahine [menstruating]" were unable to attend.'

Contributing questionnaire and methodology – [Corbin, S. S., (1994)]

As was suggested in my previous post, Corbin’s (1994) survey was a major contributing factor in the makeup of most of the questions listed in my own questionnaire. Although, the focus group (and the geographic area of interest for his survey) differed from mine, the purposes and conclusions made are quite similar to my own. The difference between his study and my own of course, is the research into different ages/year levels, where Corbin (1994) is concerned with high school learning, I am more interested in attitudes gained at the primary level of schooling.
Corbin (1994) administered a questionnaire to high school graduates of two New York public schools in the spring of 1995. This questionnaire was to find the relationship between students’ attitudes towards social studies courses and their resulting achievements. The total numbers of recorded results from the sample group were 439 students – 280 of these students were from an urban school while 159 of these were from a suburban school, both within the New York region. Of these 53.3% of them were females and 46.7% of them were males.

Questionnaire from Survey Monkey

This is a survey on past attitudes towards primary Social Studies education - it will take approximately 4 minutes to complete.

The purpose of this survey is to find your past attitudes towards Social Studies education through primary and intermediate schooling. My belief is that gathering a large group's opinion on this issue (and not just my own) will give insight to the attitudes of diverse classes of students who are currently going through Social Studies education. My research in this area will help to create a relevant and valuable Social Studies programme for students in the next few years as a beginnning teacher.

I have also posted this questionnaire on to Facebook as an event. If you have completed this already, I thank you and appreciate your help. For those who are yet to complete it, I look forward to your response. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Lastly, I'd like to mention the help of Jo Malone who is also studying this paper. Her service to me as a final editor was of great help. Thank you :)

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M7BT6GV [This survey has been adapted from Corbin's (1994) questionnaire given to New York graduates.]

Purpose:

Given an open hand of exploration options related to Social Studies education I have chosen to study attitudes felt towards the Social Studies itself. My interest is not simply in raising achievement in this area according to school standards, but to find the overall benefits and the self-efficacy students gain from Social Studies education to then take a part in political, social and economic events in later life.

The method in which I plan to do this is to question young adults on what they remember about their primary (and intermediate) school social studies programmes:
Was it valuable?
was it memorable?
was it meaningful?

By understanding their point of view and memories of the Social Studies, I can use this to inform my own practices to develop an effective social studies programme as a beginning teacher.

My early belief is that an effective programme will be memorable, a positive experience, and bring students to maintain an active interest in social studies issues – global, national, and local.

This is my assigment 2 of Social Studies - Challenges and Changes (EDCURRIC_344). I require interaction and feedback along the way. By discussing prevalent topics with adults within the education arena and from outside I believe I will attain some valuable insight. So come on and Give me some attitude!! http://givmesumattitude.blogspot.com/