Please note: This is NOT the most current catalog.

Social Studies Education

Director, 2008-09: Maria Kelly (Education), diversity education, methods, schools and communities

Faculty, 2008-09: Robert McClure (Education), K-12 foundations and methods, human geography; John Welckle (Education), educational psychology, social studies education

Special Note: All prospective students should read the material in the Education Department section of this catalog and must meet with an Education Department faculty adviser.

Social studies education is an interdisciplinary major involving seven disciplines: economics, education, history, geography, political science, psychology, and sociology/anthropology. It is a necessary component for a license to teach social studies in middle school and high school.

The purpose of teaching social studies in middle and high school (grades 5-12) is three-fold: 1) to provide middle and high school students a broad foundation in what is known about human social experience, interaction, and behavior; 2) to provide students with perspectives which will assist them in understanding self and others; and 3) to provide students a foundation for appreciating and critically evaluating claims of knowledge about human social experience, interaction, and behavior.

OVERVIEW OF THE MAJOR

Social studies education is an interdisciplinary major involving seven disciplines: economics, education, history, geography, political science, psychology, and sociology/anthropology. It is a necessary component for a license to teach social studies in middle school and high school.

The purpose of teaching social studies in middle and high school (grades 5-12) is threefold: (1) to provide middle and high school students a broad foundation in what is know about human social experience, interaction, and behavior; (2) to provide students with perspectives which will assist them in understanding self and others; and (3) to provide students a foundation for appreciating and critically evaluating claims of knowledge about human social experiences, interaction, and behavior.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR THE MAJOR

https://www.stolaf.edu/committees/curriculum/ge/learning-outcomes.html

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE Social studies education MAJOR

Social studies education is a 12-course major consisting of 10 prescribed courses and two electives. Students may graduate with a social studies education major without completing requirements leading to a license to teach (see additional requirements below).

Courses include History 191 or 195, 199, and a Level II History Area Course on Africa, Asia, or Latin America (not from electives lists); Economics 121; Geography 232; Political Science 111; Psychology 125; Sociology/Anthropology 128, 242, or 264; and Education 290 and 334. The remaining required courses are electives selected from two areas--(a) global environmental and (b) multicultural--see department for course choices.

Requirements for the Social Studies major with 5-12 Teaching Licensure

Students must take all twelve courses required for the major described above plus History 198 and a prescribed set of education courses and experiences required for licensure. Students must meet with Maria Kelly or Robert McClure, education faculty, to plan their program. Students are encouraged to double major and/or take additional coursework in economics, history, political science, psychology, and sociology.

The licensure program extends student development in disciplinary content and in pedagogy, which meets or exceeds Minnesota Board of Teaching Rules 8710.4800: Standards for Teachers of Social Studies. In addition to courses and student teaching, requirements include passing Praxis I and Praxis II standardized tests and observations and teaching in classroom settings, including one in a setting of diversity. For complete information about the teaching license, see EDUCATION, page 125.

COURSES

334 Social Studies Perspectives

This course examines basic assumptions about social science, primal thought, feminism, humanities, history, post-modernism, and thematic social studies. Students pursue methodologies of structuring knowledge and means of advancing knowledge in each discipline. Students learn how to relate their social studies subject matter to the total social studies curriculum.