Teachers Willingness to Teach Current Events Essay -- Social Studies,

Over the last century, there has been a debate over what the culture of societal studies as a core subject should be. Scholars and academics have struggled to define the elusive term kindly studies the debate has ranged from whether the accessible studies should include the disciplines of history, geography, or other social sciences, what the curriculum of the social studies should be, and what pedagogical practices should be implemented in the subject (Evans 2004, Ross 2006). Another hotly debated topic is what the goal of social studies should be in relation to society. Is the goal of social studies to create civic-minded citizens or citizens who can think historically? Should social studies strive to create a shargond culture of values and traditions, or accentuate the differences between people living in our society, and highlight how that diversity creates the possibility of change in it? Should the goal of social studies be to create a more efficacious society or a consci ous society that critically examines the flaws within our nation while striving for social equality? While it seems as if there is no limit to this debate, my focus builds on the idea that social studies strives to do all of the above. However, in order to critically examine the society in which star lives, students will need to be exposed to more than historically rich content and the makeup and functions of government (Journell 2010, Middaugh 2006).I intend to explore whether connections are being made between a particular schools curriculum and current events, and whether opportunities within the curriculum to make connections between the past and the present are being taken advantage of. I will do this by focusing my attention on teachers goals, and whether teach... ...rch (Yilmaz 2009). Over the coming weeks, I hope to receive new insight into research methods that will best suit my inquiry. As I have outlined the consequences of not engaging students to grapple with contem porary issues, it is my goal to understand more closely whether there is a disconnect between intent and action, and why that disconnect exists. Students who are not encouraged to think about contemporary and controversial issues are less likely to say they will vote when they turn eighteen, and less likely to sign petitions or get civically baffling in some other aspect within their community (Hess 2002). This research paper does not set out to provide remedies for implementing more current events into the social studies curriculum, it is simply a guide to understanding the pedagogical goals of teachers and whether current events issues are one of those goals.