Year: 2014

The Need for Social Studies

jasonlknoll Education, US Politics, WI Politics

On January 10, legislators in the Wisconsin Assembly introduced Assembly Bill 617, calling for “the Department of Instruction to establish model academic standards.”  The bill is timely as the debate over the Common Core State Standards has been heating up in Wisconsin and other states.  I have no problem with people debating whether or not standards should be created by the federal government or the state; in fact, I think it is a discussion worth having every now and then.  My issue with AB 617 lies with the trend of ignoring or overlooking social studies.

In the past few years, there has been an emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in education and the workforce.  The WI Department of Instruction has pages devoted to STEM, as do the US Department of Education and the White House.  The Department of Education rationalizes its focus on STEM by arguing that if we don’t push it, the US will not stay a “global leader.”  The White House wants to increase the amount of STEM teachers by 100,000 because they need quality teachers to help prepare students for the “high-paid, highly-rewarding fields of [STEM].”  I understand that as we rely more and more on computers and our technology rapidly improves, we need people to work in those fields.  I also know that American students lag behind their peers in the OECD PISA rankings in math and science. The White House also has a good point about how those jobs can be high-paying.  What I do not understand, however, is the lack of attention given to social studies (or at the university level the humanities and social sciences).

Social studies consists of the following fields: behavioral sciences, economics, geography, history, and political science.  These are the areas in which students learn about themselves and how to relate with others.  In these courses, students begin to understand topics like human rights, globalization, and the roles of international organizations and NGOs.  Teachers like me work to ensure students become globally aware and to appreciate and understand different cultures and belief systems in the world.  Social studies classes are where students learn about civic engagement and what it means to be involved in the public sphere.  Students also see how different types of political and economic systems work (or don’t work).  Understanding where we come from and what has happened before us, can help us avoid the mistakes of the past and make wise choices for the future.  (As a side note, I recommend checking out the American Historical Association’s page, “Why Study History“)  It is through these fields that we can work to eliminate stereotypes, combat prejudice, and fight against extremism.  As a result, teaching social studies and other types of jobs in these fields can also be highly rewarding (not just STEM jobs thank you very much).  Social studies is clearly important to creating a better global society.  So why, when it comes to creating standards or training teachers, is social studies overlooked?

This brings me back to the debate over the Common Core and AB 617.  Go to the Common Core website and read the standards (or at least skim over them).  Did you notice that they only have math and English standards?  History/Social Studies has been lumped into the literacy standards along with science and technical subjects under the English standards.  The only content standards we have for social studies in Wisconsin come from the WI Model Academic Standards, created in 1998.  According to Kristin McDaniel, the social studies consultant at DPI, “the State Superintendent has decided to indefinitely pause social studies standards revision in Wisconsin.”  In AB 617, however, the authors of the bill would like DPI to create new social standards in 2020.  Social studies is given priority over only the arts.  Even though WI has already adopted the Common Core standards for both English and Math, the authors of the bill want new standards for math in 2016 and English in 2017.  Think about how much the world has changed since 1998 (the War on Terror, globalization, BRICS, etc.), and yet, social studies teachers in WI will continue to use outdated standards.  Once again, we see that STEM wins out over social studies.

Here are a few questions I have for the authors of AB 617:

1. Since WI has new (as of 2010) standards for math and English, why not have DPI create new standards for science and social studies first, and then reexamine math and English?

2. What are you (and your Democratic colleagues) going to do to support and promote social studies education and programs in WI?

3. Why are all twenty-two authors/sponsors of the bill Republicans?  What about the bill was unappealing to your Democratic colleagues?

Thanks for reading.

Book 2- On the Muslim Question

jasonlknoll Books

Note: This is second book for the Politics and IR book club that I wrote about back in August.  My original schedule called for me completing this book by the middle of November.  I have this problem, however, where I have so many interests and a desire to understand new topics, that I can get bogged down in reading various articles and reports and get behind on my scheduled reading.  Best laid plans I guess.

I picked Anne Norton’s book, On the Muslim Question, because I felt it was a timely topic.  Since September 11, 2001, the relationship between the West and Islam has been strained, and I think it is always good practice to use education as a way to come to a greater understanding of “hot” topics.

One of Norton’s main arguments is that while the West (its institutions, values, etc.) may feel that it is under attack from Islam, in reality, the West launches its own assaults on Islam.  In other words, the West exhibits a great deal of hypocrisy when dealing with Islam and Muslims.  For example, the West points to the inequality of women in the Muslim world but still grapples with its own problems of the same nature.  Norton argues that by focusing on the oppression of Muslim women, the oppression of Western women is sometimes lost or forgotten.  A second example of attacks on Islam can be seen in the vitriol spewed forth by the shockjocks or far-right pundits and politicians who speak or act to outrage people by, say, insulting a religion.

A second main argument, and the one that I think we should all consider, is how to best recognize the presence of Muslims in the West and accept them into society.  Norton devotes two chapters that each make great food for thought when considering a solution to this problem- one chapter on equality, and the other on democracy.  In the chapter on equality, she builds more on the inequality faced by women in the West.  Additionally, her discussion about poverty and charity are relevant on numerous levels (think about the current debate about inequality).  Norton also puts forth two provocative assertions in the chapter on democracy- “democracy is rooted in courage,” (p. 131) and “democracy depends on fortitude, on steadfastness, on the ability to endure hardship.” (p. 132)  While those two gems may not necessarily answer the question of how to best accept Muslims, they do lead readers to consider their own role in civic life and the public sphere.  When it comes to accepting Muslims, Norton argues that there is no “clash of civilizations.”  Norton gives numerous examples of how Western Muslims have already integrated into society- popular literature and music, famous athletes, growing popularity of Middle Eastern food, and Muslims holding political office.

For what its worth, I would argue that the best way to end the “war on Islam and Muslims” is through education.  If we don’t want to perpetuate stereotypes and don’t want our children to fear “the other,” then we need to encourage people to learn about Islam.  In Europe, Germany seems to be proactive in this regard.  Just recently, for example, German schools began offering students classes on Islam.  Germany has also instituted a number of programs designed to bridge the gap between cultures (see my piece on Germany’s Opportuntiy from March 2012).  Here in the US, educating our students about various world religions and cultures should be an important part of all curriculum frameworks.  Ignorance is not bliss.

The next book up for discussion is Unequal Democracy by Larry M. Bartels.

Thanks for reading.