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Social Studies 11 in 2018/19

In 2016, the Ministry of Education postponed implementation of revised Grade 10-12 curriculum by one year.  In 2017, there was a further postponement of the Grade 11-12 portion for an additional year. This means that many schools will be running some version of Social Studies 11 for one last time in 2017/18, and perhaps some into 2018/19. On the books, there is a new course "Social Studies 11 Explorations, : an elective that will fill the gap for school that want something for Grade 11 students that is not simply a Grade 12 elective taken a year earlier. This site provides some discussion and suggestions for what that might look like. Teachers might not all agree with how this has rolled out, and how new course designations and requirements will impact Social Studies education, but we must also do what we can with what we have. Let's look at the problems and possible solutions.

Problems

Important parts of the old SS11 curriculum have been missed by a cohort of students.
Most teachers have piloted versions of a revised SS10 with their SS10 classes. Many of these chose a hybrid approach -- some of the old SS10 and some of the old SS11. Reports from these teachers conclude that many did not bring the “history” focus of their courses much beyond WWII, and also hit-and-miss for including Human Geography and Environment units. History from Confederation to WWII got better traction and most included a unit on Politics and Government.

The future of a Social Studies 11 course is uncertain.
A new Social Studies 11 course - an open-ended general studies approach, has been proposed by the Ministry of Education but not fleshed out or officially on the books as of October 2017.  It was certainly too late for inclusion in 2017-18 calendars, yet some schools have scheduled their last go at the old SS11 as a chance to pilot this new “shell” course. 

Loss of teaching blocks
Some schools have made SS11 mandatory in 2017-18 but have already “done the curriculum” with SS10 so they need something new to teach. Some teachers see any new SS11 as a competition for their Grade 12 electives. Whatever happens in SS11 in 2017-18 needs to lead to something (so that teachers aren’t inventing a one-off course that ends after one year) and ideally something that spurs students to take another elective in Grade 12 rather than sign off on their grad credits with the SS11 course.

Solutions

Encourage wide-spread use of a hybrid SS11 in 2018-19
For sake of argument, this would be half old SS11 (the parts that were missed by many of the current SS10 students) and half new stuff. The new stuff could draw from any “Study of Society” -- history, geography, political science, anthropology, sociology, etc. The focus could be local/regional, national, global. It could centre around current events, issues, concepts or competencies, projects, place, etc.​

Pull in units from courses your school does not normally offer
This could include courses or new Grade 12 electives that don’t have the numbers in your school to make a go of it -- Economics, Social Justice, First Nations Studies, Human Geography, etc. It could also include material from locally developed (BAA) courses -- Cultures in Conflict, Middle Earth, etc.

Encourage sharing of sample units and lessons
So many wheels to be reinvented -- let’s share the burden. Whether through TeachBC or other vessels, please consider sharing your lesson and unit ideas. Let us know if you'd like to share them here.

Suggested Units

  1. Global Population & Development
    The old SS11 provided space for exploring population development, standards of living, and problems in global development. This unit revives these themes from the perspective of global literacy - a survey of political, climate, and population related issues. A "state of the world" study with a chance to practice skills with real-world and real-time data.
  2. Sense of Place
    How are we connected to the human and physical spaces around us? How does our identity and culture relate to the land? How do experience place and how do we represent these relationships?
  3. Local History & Geography
    Find out more about the history in your area: First Nations past & present, exploration and settlement/development to the present, commerce and trade, environmental adaptations, geologic and landform history
  4. Environment and Economy
    An introduction to both economics and environmental dynamics & systems. The goal is to apply principles of sustainable development to modern relevant case studies.
  5. Introduction to Philosophy
    Who are we? Is there a soul? What is beauty? What is art? What is truth? What knowledge is worth knowing? How should reason be applied to everyday problems? How should we live?
  6. Contemporary Indigenous Issues
    Case studies in the issues that face First Nations in Canada and about the directions that "truth and reconciliation" might take in the next 25 years.
  7. Case Studies in Genocide
    Teacher-Led case study (e.g. Holodomor, Rwanda) followed by student-led was studies (e.g. Japanese occupation of China, Khmer Rouge, Armenian Genocide)
  8. The Canoe in Canada
    A look at Canadian history and geography through the lens of the canoe. Stories and studies from the First Nations, the fur trade, gold rushes, literary escapades, and other adventures. Tie-ins with woodworking and survival skills.
Picture
Bill Mason's Canoe. http://canoemuseum.ca/collection/
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