The National Council for the Social Studies defines
social studies as the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to
promote civic competence." In common practice in our public school systems
social studies encompass a wide range of classes from US and world history to
global studies.
These courses have long been
extremely important aspects of education as their mastery helps children to develop
critical thinking, understand their community, prepare for the civic
responsibilities of adulthood, and foster a global understanding necessary in
our ever-shrinking world.
Despite all of those needs and, no
pun intended, the history of their value, social studies are again on the
chopping block in New York State.
The Board of Regents is the ultimate
governing body of public education in New York State, supervising all
educational activities within the State while presiding over SUNY and the New
York State Education Department (you know them from the infamous Regents
Exams). Following their October meeting the Board released a
detailed educational plan that aims to, as they put it, “help provide
the skills necessary to succeed in postsecondary education and a variety of
demanding, high-skill career paths.”
In doing so, they’ve alluded to a perceived
unimportance of history or global studies. Under their plan, called “4 + 1”,
students would have the option of not taking one of the social studies exams (US
history or Global) currently required for a State Regents diploma. They could,
instead, replace it with another exam in career technical, STEM, humanities,
foreign language or art. Even then, the exam in global history/geography would
be watered-down, covering only what was learned in the second year of the
two-year course. You can download the proposal here: tinyurl.com/RegentsHistory
If one has ever looked at the course loads, or lack
thereof, put on modern American students -- a system in which many students
have one or more regularly-scheduled study halls (which, as I remember, were
nothing more than social hours) -- it begs the questions: Why can’t they have
it all? Why do they need to select one of the above at the expense of
understanding the dynamics of our world? If career-preparedness is the goal,
why skimp on social studies?
Some would say that history has no worth in the
workplace, as what kids learned in school was only rote material, memorized and
forgotten. That’s not the case. Proper understanding of history requires the
use of critical and abstract thinking (tools all workers need) to determine why
things happened as they did and how their outcomes and domino effects influence
the day-to-day of our lives. That skill set works equally well when applied to
any number of work tasks, whether it’s understanding financials or developing a
job task, work unit, or corporate strategy.
Likewise, global studies are absolutely critical
for today’s workforce. It’s a global economy, one in which America will soon no
longer hold the top spot. We’d better understand our place in the world and all
the myriad partners and nations we have to work with. It’s the only way our
businesses, economy, and nation can compete.
There’s no need to stop at the workplace, either.
We aren’t just preparing kids for their careers, we’re preparing them for life.
If we de-emphasize our history classes and in turn
our past, present and future, citizens won’t be engaged in their community and
nation. Not enough people volunteer or vote now – how will future generations
behave?
If we minimize teens’ analysis of
our world, how will they as adults understand that which needs fixing around
the globe – the threats of terror and where they come from and why, oppression
that still runs rampant in this world, our next war and so much more? Not
enough adults give a hoot now about anything beyond our borders – how will
future generations see the world?
The full Board of Regents will be meeting on
January 12th and 13th when it is anticipated that the
regulations will be presented for permanent adoption. It is expected that the
board will unanimously approve the measures as they did in October.
But, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to sway
them.
If you see value in social studies and would like
to see their importance preserved, submit your comments in support to the
address below:
Merryl Tisch, Chancellor, Board of Regents
New York State Education Department
89 Washington Avenue
Board of Regents, Room 110 EB
Albany, New York 12234
From the 22 December 2014 Greater Niagara Newspapers
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