The social sciences encompass a range of disciplines with complex ideas, each interconnecting with one another in some form. The woven information and concepts affirms not only the importance of the information but the applicability as well. The lack of simplicity and the critical, in-depth thought needed for social science disciplines also cultivates vital civic competence in students (NCSS, 2016).
The complexity of social sciences creates a challenge for educators, while also giving them an opportunity to approach their teaching through more than one method. I like to think of this intricacy of the disciplines as an opportunity, much due to other educational subjects of study present only one or two avenues of interpretation.
The effective development of social science education within students is not instilled just through structured forms of educational transmission. Instead, an educator needs to provide a learning environment where students should be given the opportunity to question, research, reflect, and critically think about concepts (Wolpert-Gawron, 2016). Along with skills obtained through the interactive learning methods of social sciences, information obtained through the disciplines sets basis for future civic success.
With reflection on the readings, to be able to effectively teach disciplines, such as the social sciences, it is important to strive to have students be intrinsically motivated. While this is a difficult thing to achieve as an outsider, it is the job of the teacher to make the information applicable and attempt to trigger curiosity in their students. One interactive method of teaching could be inquiry-based learning, this allows the students to formulate their own questions and ideas. I believe implementing this in teaching the social sciences allows students to take more control of their learning, apply critical thinking, and hopefully sparking some curiosity or personal interest (Wolpert-Gawron, 2016).
As a teacher of the social science disciplines, I enjoy the possibilities of more than one avenue of thought or interpretation. Not only must educators challenge their students but also create value in the what they are conveying in the classroom. I also like the idea of taking different roles in the classroom, instead of tradition teacher-student classroom lecture where many times students are taking mindless notes. Students taught social sciences can encourage more than learning information but also ability to solve complex problems or a sense of open mindedness (Scheurman, 1998).
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