For those of you who were interested in the website mentioned today in class I have provided a link.
It's interesting how the exercise we did today on creating an 'ideal social studies learner/citizen' relates so closely to the reading I have chosen for my critical analysis. But I guess an exercise like today's really should be applying to most assignments I do this year. As I design unit plans and other projects for my future students to complete, it is crucial to always be asking the question - how is this benefiting the student as a learner? When a student asks me the question: why are we learning this? I want to have a thoughtful and well supported answer. If I keep this question in mind, the chances of creating a worthwhile unit are infinitely higher.
The website given as a link (www.canadianmysteries.ca) is a perfect example of worthwhile course work. It presents historical events as mysteries - unsolved and open to interpretation. The website is essentially just hundreds of primary sources: photos, newspaper articles, government documents etc. From this information the student is asked to do various assignments from assessing the reliability of a source, to constructing an entire narrative of a historical event. Remembering myself as a student, this would have generated huge appeal in my mind - feeling like I had some say in history, rather than just digesting facts.
So I really do encourage people to look at this site, it even has a teacher's section where you can find tons of activity ideas for students of all levels. And as a final footnote, I would just like to mention that Rob Kinnear is an unprofessional, unquotable individual.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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2 comments:
I agree with Peter, this really is a great website and resource for us! The cases are a great way to engage our students in critical thinking, however what I love the most about this site is that it provides teachers with resources to scaffold, sheets to use, and preparation lessons for doing these cases.
Anyways if anyone is interested, during my search for an article for our first assignment I came across one that is written specifically about the creation of the Canadian Mysteries website, why and what inspired the creators, and why it is a good resource for Social Studies. Here is the link, enjoy!
http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/css/Css_39_2/ARSandwell_unsolved_mysteries.htm
And, if anyone is interested in reading a 200 word summary of the article - here's mine.
"The Great Unsolved Mysteries of Canadian History:
Using a web-based archives to teach history."
by Ruth Sandwell
The main concept of this article is that Social Studies and History are not exact sciences - they are open to interpretation, and when taught with this understanding, the result is a more fulfilling and enjoyable student experience. Using a focus on a web-based unit composed of primary sources as support, Ruth Sandwell challenges the tradition of teaching history as an unarguable list of facts. Sandwell comments that "historians generally understand history instead as a series of interpretations built up, evaluated and argued for" so why should students simply absorb and regurgitate 'the facts' back onto a test paper? (Sandwell, 2005) It is proposed that in the Social Studies classroom students should be taught to research and evaluate evidence, then construct a well-supported narrative of events. In doing this, students will develop a deeper understanding of the material as they analyze and think critically, and they will also enjoy the process much more as they are actively engaged with the material (leading to an even greater understanding).
On the whole this article offers a quality teaching method (and incredible on-line resource) however there are a few concerns and considerations. This teaching method should not become the sole form of instruction as it can be time consuming, and too advanced at times. Teachers must be very aware (like with any form of instruction) that exercises are at an appropriate level for students. Also, assessment strategies need to adapt in order to facilitate this learning environment. Rather than check for a correct regurgitation of facts, teachers must observe how well a student can gather and evaluate evidence, and construct/communicate a narrative.
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