What's New - April 2008

Global Connections: Social Studies Resources – Part I

Introduction

The theme for April is Global Perspectives and Connections: Resources for Social Studies – Part I. Alberta Education’s Online Guide to Implementation is profiled in this first of a two-part series on resources to support the teaching and learning of Alberta’s Kindergarten to grade 12 social studies programs of studies. Part II, available in early May 2008, will profile information about additional print and web-based resources, and professional development opportunities related to this important topic. Part I begins with an overview of the Program of Studies; highlighting its references to global connections, global citizenship, globalization and global relations, as well as the associated general and specific learning outcomes for Grades 3, and 10 through 12. A link to various social studies contacts in the Department is also provided.

Overview: Alberta Education Kindergarten to Grade 12 Programs of Studies: Social Studies
http://education.alberta.ca/teachers/core/socialstudies/programs.aspx

The page referenced above provides links to all of Alberta Education’s Kindergarten to Grade 12 Programs of Studies for social studies as well as links to associated consultation and needs assessment reports. The implementation schedule for social studies can be found at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/impshed.pdf.

These programs not only recognize the “interconnections and interactions among school, community, provincial, national and global institutions” but also promote, as part of their vision, the development of “a sense of belonging and acceptance … as [students] engage in active and responsible citizenship at the local, community, provincial, national and global level.” General learning outcomes are prescribed that relate directly to this aspect of the vision. Students are expected to:

• “demonstrate a global consciousness with respect to humanity and world issues”; and
• “understand the commitment required to ensure the vitality and sustainability of their changing communities at the local, provincial, national and global levels.”

In order to “make informed and reasoned decisions on local, provincial, national and global issues” teachers and students are encouraged to use an issues-based approach, investigating current affairs from multiple perspectives, and engaging in meaningful dialogue on relevant historical and contemporary issues.

One of the six inter-related strands of the program is the concept of global connections, described as follows:

“Critically examining multiple perspectives and connections among local, national and global issues develops students’ understanding of citizenship and identity and the interdependent or conflicting nature of individuals, communities, societies and nations. Exploring this interdependence broadens students’ global consciousness and empathy with world conditions. Students will also acquire a better comprehension of tensions pertaining to economic relationships, sustainability and universal human rights.”

The inter-relationships among the six strands and the skills and processes for social studies are reflected in the diagrams below. For a brief explanation of the diagram on the left, see http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssccso/index.html.

In Grade 3 students are introduced to the concept of global citizenship. More specifically, students are expected to:

• “demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of Canada’s roles and responsibilities in global citizenship in relationship to communities in India, Tunisia, Ukraine and Peru” ;
  
  
• “recognize how their actions might affect people elsewhere in the world and how the actions of others might affect them” ; and
  
  
• reflect and answer questions such as:
  • How are the rights, responsibilities and roles of citizens in communities around the world the same or different than those of Canadian citizens?
  • In what ways can individuals and groups contribute to positive change in the world?
  • How do international organizations support communities in need throughout the world (e.g., UNICEF, Red Cross, Development and Peace)?
  • What are examples of international organizations formed by individuals (e.g., Free the Children, Doctors Without Borders)?
  
  

See http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/social/sockto3.pdf for more information.

In Grade 10, students are introduced to the concept of globalization and are expected to explore, from multiple perspectives, its origins, implications, and impacts on lands, cultures, human rights and quality of life. More specifically, students are expected to:

• explore “historical aspects of globalization as well as the effects of globalization on lands, cultures, human rights and quality of life”;
  
  
• explore “the relationships among globalization, citizenship and identity”;
  
  
• examine, through the infusion of multiple perspectives, the effects of globalization on peoples in Canada and other locations, including the impact on Aboriginal and Francophone communities;
  
  
• develop skills to respond to issues emerging in an increasingly globalized world;
  
  
• understand, assess and respond to the complexities of globalization; and
  
  
• examine their roles and responsibilities in a globalizing world.
  
  

The key issue to be examined is “to what extent should we embrace globalization?”
See the social studies 10-2 and 10-2 programs of studies at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/social/soc10_1.pdf and http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/social/soc10_2.pdf for more information.

In Grade 11, students explore the growth of globalization; examining nationalism, industrialization, imperialism and international rivalries and their effect on the development and interaction of nations. They also “examine, on a global scale, diversity, development, quality of life and alternative futures”; thereby developing their “understanding of different perspectives on global issues.”

Currently with the implementation of the 20-1 and 20-2 programs of studies in 2007-08, students will have the opportunity to further explore “the complexities of nationalism in Canadian and international contexts” including the “study of the origins of nationalism and the influence of nationalism on regional, international and global relations.” The key issue to be examined is “to what extent should we embrace nationalism?”

See the social studies 20 program of studies at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/social/soc10_00.pdf and the future 20-1/20-2 programs of studies at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/social/soc20.pdf for more information.

In Grade 12, students “investigate, analyze and evaluate government policies and actions and develop individual and collective responses to contemporary local, national and global issues.” Their focus is “on the motives, consequences and alternative choices in twentieth century global interactions since World War I.”

In the future with the implementation of the 30-1 and 30-2 programs of studies in 2008-09, students will have the opportunity to further explore “the origins and complexities of ideologies and examine multiple perspectives regarding the principles of classical and modern liberalism. An analysis of various political and economic systems will allow students to assess the viability of the principles of liberalism. Developing understandings of the roles and responsibilities associated with citizenship will encourage students to respond to emergent global issues.”

See the social studies 30 program of studies at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/social/soc10_00.pdf and the future 30-1/30-2 programs of studies at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/social/soc30.pdf for more information.

Note: The following senior high school social studies course organizer illustrates how an issues-based, multiple perspective approach is used to address the programs’ strands.

Note: Key contacts for social studies are identified on http://education.alberta.ca/media/586539/keycontact.pdf. Additional teaching and learning resources are listed on http://education.alberta.ca/teachers/core/socialstudies/
resources.aspx and will be profile in Part II of this series, to be posted in early May 2008.

Alberta Education: Social Studies Online Guide to Implementation
http://onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/default.aspx

The Online Guide to Implementation for Social Studies K-12 offers hundreds of resources designed to help educators implement the programs of studies. Visitors to the site can either select from implementation supports or browse and search for resources. A sampling of the available resources is provided below to whet the appetite.

• Implementation supports related to the rationale and philosophy, program foundations, and learning outcomes by grade can be found at http://onlineguide.
  learnalberta.ca/default.aspx?lang=en-US&formID=0&navID=3&
  guideID=RDCEO.AB.EN.SS. Some examples are provided below.
  • Selecting Dimensions of Thinking from the list of implementation supports yielded over 70 resources designed to assist educators as they help students develop critical, creative, historical, and geographic thinking as well as meta-cognition, decision making and problem solving skills, not the least of which is the response by Dr. Roland Case to the question, “how would you respond to the Program Rationale and Philosophy from the new Social Studies Program of Studies?” (see his video response at http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssogrc/html/roland_case_question_7.html). Included among the resources to support the development of critical thinking was a three-part video series where Garfield Gini-Newman provides an overview how critical thinking can be embedded into teaching and learning. Part I (http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/sssi05/html/gini_newman1.html) begins with a discussion of three types of questions (e.g., factual, opinion or emotional and critical inquiry) and the importance of asking critical inquiry questions, which require judgments and can provide the basis for thesis statements.
  • Selecting Strands and then Global Connections from the implementation supports revealed two video resources, a response by Roméo Dallaire to the questions “From a global perspective, what is unique about the Canadian identity that has allowed us to be effective peacekeepers? Does our Canadian identity need to change for us to become effective peacemakers?” (see http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssogrd/html/romeo_dallaire_interview_english_2.html) and a response by Stephen Lewis to the question “What challenges and opportunities does globalization offer Africa?” (see http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/sssl/html/stephen_lewis_question5.html).
  
  
• One can browse for learning resources by grade, subject, audience, resource type, or media format. For example:
  • Browsing for grade 3, social studies, teacher, and “all” resource and media types yielded over fifty resources including: collections of images from the Ukraine and Peru (see http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssuic/html/ukraineimagescollection.html and http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssperuic/html/peruimagescollection.html respectively); as well as a teacher resource that offers suggestions and activities to help students’ critical thinking skills by learning how to extract information from pictures (see Modeling the Tools: Investigating Pictures at http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssmt/html/investigatingpictures_mt.html);
    
    
  • Browsing for grade 10, social studies, learner, “all” resource and media types, yielded almost 70 resources one of which provides resources to support the overarching critical inquiry related to global prosperity and sustainability (see http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssoc10/html/globalprosperityandsustainability_oci.html). This page links the user to:
    • charts of annotated web links;
      
      
    • summaries of critical challenges;
      
      
    • summaries of instructional and assessment support materials; as well as
      
      
    • a list of links to critical challenges that students can engage in to explore the overarching theme (e.g., see “negotiating global solutions”)
    
    
  • Browsing for grade 10, social studies, teacher, lesson plan as the resource type and “all media types” yielded over 30 lesson plans with associated program information, outcomes and resources including a critical challenge related to “negotiating global solutions" where students are asked to propose a land use plan that is fair to all parties involved and offers the best win-win solution. Supporting resources include adaptable graphic organizers, background information, instructional materials (handouts) and assessment rubrics.
  
  
• One can also search for learning resources by keyword, in addition to other search criteria including grade, subject, audience, and resource and media types. For example,
  • Searching the Online Guide to Implementation for social studies using the key words “global citizenship” resulted in a list of links to video interviews with Stephen Lewis (http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/sssl/html/stephen_lewis_question7.html), Roméo Dallaire (http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssogrd/html/romeo_dallaire_interview_english_3.html), Charlene Crow (http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssogsip/html/summerinstitute_poundmaker_sessions_3.html), and Jackie Hobal (http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssogll/html/learners_and_learning_session1.html) where each of these individuals discusses their perspective on what it means to be a global citizen.
  • Searching the Guide using the key words “global relations” yielded a link to a presentation by Dr. Douglas Roche, who presents some statistics and global trends that reveal the inequalities that exist among the peoples of the world. He urges teachers to encourage students to be conscious of social inequality and to embrace a culture of peace. See http://www.onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/content-og/ssogdr/html/summerinstitute_doug_roche_1.html.

  Note: Search tips can be found at http://onlineguide.learnalberta.ca/default.aspx?lang=en-US&formID=4&navID=12&usingID=Using2.

Note: The Online Guide to Implementation can certainly support an experienced teacher but it can also help the novice teacher learn more about the programs of studies in an environment that is easier to explore than the traditional hard copy and results in access to a wealth of curriculum-aligned teacher and learner resources in multiple media formats.