This year teachers of kindergarten through grade 12 will begin implementation of our newly revised WICSD K-12 Social Studies Outcomes. This body of work was produced through the collaboration of k-12 teachers, counselors and members of the leadership team. We worked together to create a curriculum document aligned with our guiding principles:

• The social studies classroom is a laboratory of democracy for all citizen learners.
• Critical thinking skills are fundamental to the development of student independence and the creation of empowered, responsible citizens.
• We are committed to the rigorous development of disciplined inquiry in the research process.
• Rich social studies instruction develops critical literacy through the practice of historiography.
• Social studies assessment is a process of ongoing formative evaluation designed to provide all students with feedback toward mastery of the social studies standards.

Ultimately, social studies instruction must help students assume their role as responsible citizens in America’s constitutional democracy and as active contributors to a society that is increasingly diverse and interdependent with other nations of the world. We believe that the process of historiography will support our students toward this end.

The practice of historiography begins with the belief that social studies classrooms are student centered laboratories where students think and work as historians work. Through the historiography framework, students learn the verifiable facts that make-up the content of social studies instruction. Students engage with these facts through the lens of intentionality which leads them to analyze multiple perspectives, draw conclusions and make interpretations. The final component of the lesson is to provide an opportunity for students to extend their understandings through writing and other multiple representations. For example:

Let’s examine the political, social, and economic impact of a current event, Hurricane Gustav.

There are verifiable facts associated with the event:

• Hurricane Gustav made landfall on September 1, 2008, in the Gulf, an area populated with oil refineries.
• September falls in the height of hurricane season
• Louisiana is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina

After accessing information, we would examine the event through the lens of intentionality which asks us to consider multiple perspectives, i.e., how different stakeholders view an historical event.

• If I am a politician my goal is to enhance my political standing.
• If I am a citizen I have expectations that my government will protect me.
• If I am an engineer, I am interested in analyzing and evaluating the impact of weather on the levees.

After engaging in discourse and inquiry through the intentionality lens, we might evaluate our understandings by comparing and contrasting the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina and Gustav or by evaluating America’s readiness to respond effectively in a natural disaster.

Because the historiography lens requires that an event is viewed differently, by different stakeholders, students learn that historical events are complex and have many dimensions. The historiography lens lifts the level of critical thinking and challenges students to “stand in another’s shoes and experience the world from another’s point of view.” In so doing, our students are learning the skills that will support their role as responsible, empathic, and contributing members of an increasingly complex global society.

Webpages created by Bob Schultz
updated 9/25/08  by K. Vogler