The Paideia Program-Part II-Ch.7 (History) & Ch. 8 (Social Studies)

The next two chapters in the books, chapters 7 and 8, are about History and Social Studies. I am going to group these two chapters together for this post. As was the case of the beginning of the Mathematics chapter, the History chapter has a very grasping statement. This statement is that history is, "... a story... as a school subject it is an account of human actions in the past" (Adler, 1984)(p.109). It is because of this "story" that it is recommended that it be taught to kindergartners as such. By doing so, the history will be more likely to "grab their curiosity."

The second, and very important point that Adler makes when addressing the responsibilities of history teachers, is that they need to, "Show that many curious events took place before the child was born and there are ways of learning about them"(Adler, 1984)(p.109). I agree one-hundred percent with this statement, because I know that I never had a teacher or professor who taught history with this approach! Any history teacher or professor that I had taught with the most dry, "put-you-to-sleep" method of teaching that exists.

In closing chapter seven Adler make a very good argument for the reason of why we should learn more than just American History, which is typically the highest level of history taught in most school systems. Adler's reasoning is, "To learn about the United States only, or even Western civilization, is not enough. We live in 'one world' and children today should be taught about Asiatic cultures and African... To neglect doing so is to show ourselves narrow and provincial, ignorant or the greater and more populous part of the world" (Adler, 1984)(p.115).

Chapter 8 - Social Studies

Social studies teachers are often asked to "overlap" their teaching into other courses framework. Adler states that they should not be asked, nor expect to do this. In his own words, he states, "Teachers of social studies... should not expect, however, nor should they be asked, to convey the substance of self-contained disciplines, such as anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology, which have their own conceptual framework" (Adler, 1984)(p.123).

Early in the years of schooling, recommendations are made to explore social, economic, and cultural life of students' own hometowns. The way that Adler suggests doing this is to, "... use the tools of the social scientists: photographs, slides, films, and tapes; maps, charts, graphs; objects and documents originating in the past" (Adler, 1984)(p.128). I believe that what Adler is wanting the students to discover here is the "basis" of where they came from, what their ancestors did, etc. By doing so, this gives the students a better way to "relate" to the material that they are going to learn about.

In the upper primary grades, Adler makes the suggestions for students to, "...examine more systematically how economic, social, and cultural activities are carried on in other cultures and at other times" (Adler, 1984)(p.129). He goes on to write, "The upper primary grades are also the time to explore our nation as a whole, and its place in the world" (Adler, 1984)(p.129).

References:

Adler, M. J. (1984). The Paideia Program. New York, NY: Collier Books - MacMillan Publishing Company.