MATTHEW HAMMOND
Aspiring Social Studies Teacher,
former Antitrust Enforcer & Dad
The Northern Lights near Reykjavík, Iceland (Feb. 2023, MCHammond)
In this post, I expect to focus on the analytical and turn of the currere cycle even though as a preservice teacher, I lack a classroom that would provide me any real feedback to build on.
Misco (2014) says, "Social studies education is moribund. In U.S. schools it exists primarily in name only" (p. 241). This is a depressing statement for an aspiring social studies teacher. While I admit that in high school my social studies education was hit or miss, I always liked learning history and government. A key reason I transferred out of engineering in college was because I couldn't take the classes in the history and government departments that I wanted to and still graduate in 4 years as an engineer. (At the time, I probably couldn't admit it to myself, but I know that I would have been miserable as an engineer.) I have never regretted that decision.
Another in a series of posts in my currere exploration
of my notions of social studies curriculum
As I consider my future social studies classroom, one must keep in mind that I am doing so shortly after Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election which strongly colors my view that social studies teachers are even more important today. In addition to it being where I live, I want to teach in DC so I don't have to deal with the ridiculous mandates about using the state's preferred pronouns and no the student's or that I might have to suggest the slaves benefitted from their bondage because they learned a trade and their needs were cared for. (Anyone who believes, I assume is volunteering for a life of servitude. I am an unaware of any of the slaves volunteering.)
When I think about the future, I want to teach student to be skeptical and questions things, think for themselves and not just accept naked assertions, be able to dig into the evidence to determine fact from fiction, and be an active democratic citizen. This is the central theme to who I want to be as a social studies teacher that I come back to over and over again. I sometimes feel a bit repetitive about it.
I keep expecting this fervor to settle down a but, but every day some news item from the people who will take over the U.S. government next month only stokes the fire higher. I will have to learn to bite my tongue to some extent to avoid this becoming a hindrance in the classroom because I do not want to teach students what they should think, but to give them the tools that allow them to think.
In that vein, I will endeavor to teach students to think critically for themselves, to be able to evaluate the credibility of what they are being told, and then make an informed decision, while having a sense of the historic, political, social, and geographic context of the issue and decision. This will equip them to be informed, thinking, and democratic citizens who can impact their own future and the lives of those around them. So in my mind, I don't expect my classroom to be "moribund."
References
Misco, T. (2014). Powerful social studies unit design: A companion to powerful social studies teaching and learning. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 87(6), 241–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2014.938598
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The link takes us to a random page in . . . German? I think the link is misplaced or mistyped!
Its currently snowing here in Pittsburgh - drinking some coffee and looking a the flakes as they fall to the ground, giving us a nice half inch coating before it will eventually cease - giving. a nice blanket over the grey roads of Troy Hill, I am thinking about the importance of social studies as active learning. Meaningful learning - while also engaging the narrative in ways that challenge and open it up, instead of teaching the standbys as is. The snow is going to melt away, its going to damage the asphalt, its going to get into cracks, freeze, thaw - freeze again - thaw - the roads are going to break down and deteriorate, but they still perform a function, if the infrastructure is built on a solid foundation. So to stretch the thinking here - and its a walk, I know, Im just doing some warm up writing before i get into my manuscripts - you are the foundational structure, and you build that further in your classrooms - so no matter the weather that comes and goes - standards, presidents, policy - the established gatekeeper is you. Its a tremendous amount of responsibility-and here I ask, do all teachers see it like this? Or should they? Is it okay i some teachers see the position of teaching as a 9-5 - or is it important to see it as a career? Whats the difference there- of a JOB or a CAREER - and how does that shift our perspective as social studies educators. It's one reason I do push the label of Social Studies, and not History teacher. It's an important distinction to make- I think. The words we use really reveal our inner process of thought that becomes the actions.
How do you take your desire to speak - and instead. of biting the tongue, allowing it to work in ways that drives the conversation forward. Your teaching style is built upon your personality, and so while the tongue may not create the audible sound waves, what of the materials you use? The questions you pose? Is this insurgency? Your classroom will not be moribund - so how do you encourage that same fervor and passion in the classrooms of your peers? It seems less a depression statement as a challenge - a challenge you seem ready to take on.