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social science are also changing. This has clearly led to a demand for the discipline from aspiring students. However, at this moment very few places in India offer social science References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Section A The ‘Defi cient’ Status of Social Science in India– Reasons and Corrective Measures in the way it is sought. But the hope is that even this will change soon. Caveat being we do not lose sight of the corrections required. Philosophy Perspectives in Teaching social studies. Dr. Marlow Ediger, Professor of Education, Truman State University Campus. Journal of Instructional Psychology Ediger, M. & Rao, D.B. (2000) Teaching social studies Successfully. New Delhi, India: Discovery Publishing House Teaching of social studies in India By P. K. Khasnavis Position paper, National Focus Group on Teaching of Social sciences, National Curriculum Framework 2005 Into the future with social sciences - Increasing violence, ageing, ethnic strife and global warming – these problems present the often misunderstood social sciences with a chance to prove their worth. But should they change fi rst? By Jean-Eric Aubert Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry OECD Papers from ‘The Future of the Social Sciences and Humanities’ a) A Future for the Humanities? By Allan Janik, The Brenner Archives b) The political role of the Humanities by Martin Peterson, University of Gothenburg Rishikesh is currently part of the Research and Documentation team at Azim Premji Foundation. His passionate interest in the discipline of social science led him to a Masters in history from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He conducted history workshops in schools prior to becoming an educational researcher and keeps his interest in the subject through various academics and pedagogy related activities of the Foundation. He may be contacted at rishikesh@azimpremjifoundation.org Pg No: 22
04 Section A Education for Democracy – The Relevance of Social Science Education in Schools Anjali Noronha We have a subject called social science taught in some form or the other in schools across the world. Sometimes it goes by the name of Environment Studies (like in the present primary schools in India), sometimes as separate subjects – history, geography, civics (or the more Contemporary Citizenship Education in many countries today or social and political Life as in India) until middle school and then as history, geography, economics, political science and sociology in high school. In some countries and at some times there has been a subject called social studies and some kinds of thinking excludes history and geography from the social sciences and treats them as separate subjects while including economics, political science and sociology in the social sciences. For the purpose of this article I will not enter into that discourse, however relevant. By social science I mean all subjects dealing with the analysis of some or all aspects of society and social life seen through some lens or the other. Thus history is part of social science as it analyses continuity and change in different aspects of society and their interrelationships over time, geography as it does the same across regions, economics as it develops and applies the concepts and method to analyze economic aspects, sociology as it does the same for the social aspects and political science for political aspects. Till the elementary level of schooling, the latter three are not taught as separate subjects but are in some way integrated through the subject of civics, citizenship education or social and political life as the case may be. It is only through conscious effort of a certain kind (education being one of them) that the attitudes, values and competence required for converting democracy from principle to practice can be developed and inculcated. Irrespective of how we understand the social sciences, there is often a question in the minds of parents and society in general as to whether the social sciences are relevant at all to the lives of people in today’s technocratic world. The fi rst question people ask is what will a child do if s/he takes up the study of any of the social sciences at the plus two or the college level? What kind of ‘job prospects’ does s/he have? Become a teacher in a school or college, a researcher or academic; join one of the services through the entrance exams? Take up a management fi eld particularly Human Resource Management. All these options are open to a graduate of engineering or a medical student as well so why take up social sciences if the option of the so called technical fi elds is open? This attitude percolates to the lower school level as well where students (and parents) have the attitude of children wanting to just pass in the social sciences. Seldom is it asked as to how the social sciences can contribute to make a student a better person or make them capable of contributing to the betterment of society or in fact, how can the teaching and learning of social sciences at school sustain and develop a democracy. Specializing in a social science at the college level needs to be looked at differently from the essential education in the social sciences at the school level. Having said this, I will focus in this paper on the relevance of the content and method of social science education in school in today’s life with particular reference to civics/citizenship education/ social and political life. My main focus will be on the relevance of social science education for building, sustaining and developing a democracy. In doing so, I will outline the challenges faced by social science education from the present power structure of society and its ethics of hierarchical, feudal and exclusive modes of behavior legitimized by the teachers and parents themselves. Social Science Education as Education for Democracy Democratic societies are fairly ‘evolved’ societies in the sense that they demand of the individual, in practice, a certain set of attitudes, morality, abilities and competence that require a high degree of sublimation of innate tendencies in human beings that are contradictory to the above; so that the principle of democracy actually becomes a practice of democracy. It is only through conscious effort of a certain Pg No: 23
Page 2 and 3: Editorial Team Aanchal Chomal, Gaut
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTS Issue XV : August 2010 Soc
Page 6 and 7: S E C T I O N A The Broad Picture
Page 8 and 9: snares and pitfalls of any examinat
Page 10 and 11: 02 Section A Contested Terrain of S
Page 12 and 13: The views stated in NCFSE, 2000 wer
Page 14 and 15: “given stock of knowledge availab
Page 16 and 17: that the framework used to create i
Page 18 and 19: 03 Section A The ‘Defi cient’ S
Page 20 and 21: into the mainstream in the context
Page 24 and 25: kind (education being one of them)
Page 26 and 27: political science and sociology tex
Page 28 and 29: 05 Section A Vexing Questions in So
Page 30 and 31: the common language used to referen
Page 32 and 33: scientifi c. Natural science has a
Page 34 and 35: evolve around what the child alread
Page 36 and 37: 06 Section A Social Sciences and th
Page 38 and 39: main focus should be on contemporar
Page 40 and 41: 07 Section B Learning Social Scienc
Page 42 and 43: During this period I had the privil
Page 44 and 45: hunter-gatherers did not know how t
Page 46 and 47: see everything as transitional, as
Page 48 and 49: 09 Section B Building Tomorrow’s
Page 50 and 51: understanding of rights that emphas
Page 52 and 53: 10 Section B Facing history and Our
Page 54 and 55: asserting, for example, that the Ho
Page 56 and 57: 11 Section B Maps and Politics M. H
Page 58 and 59: Maps as Creations of Politics Polit
Page 60 and 61: 12 Section B Geography in Daily Lif
Page 62 and 63: a times we discussed and debated on
Page 64 and 65: 13 Section B Oh! Panchayat: Loose L
Page 66 and 67: Lesson 3 Accidental Crossing of Bra
Page 68 and 69: 14 Section B Geography Education fo
Page 70 and 71: Re-imagining geography Education in
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15 Section B Issues in History Educ
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initially believe that history is j
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In tune with the overall emphasis o
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at this end. Linking Textbooks, Tea
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17 Section C Review of new NCERT So
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in places and the monotony broken b
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were an attentive lot, eager to sha
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19 Section C Vignettes - The Journe
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I followed more or less the same me
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20 Section C Does Neutral = Controv
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also argue against the teacher pres
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S E C T I O N D The Role of Assessm
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4. 5. 6. Understand the role indivi
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compare different periods and place
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Our experiences with open-book exam
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Answer 4 Answer 5 Section D Assessm
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Equally important is the need to ma
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22 Section D Beyond Retention: Mean
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What was the contemporary political
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• What crops do you predict might
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also. So what is the objective of a
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24 Section D Exams: The Need to Res
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in. However in the process cognitiv
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25 Section D Role of Projects, Fiel
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which may be worth raising: Questio
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26 Section E The Importance of Bein
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which produce professionals who cer
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sides to any story. For example, th
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28 Section E Why the Social Science
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Alas! These were unrealised dreams:
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seeing another part of the world an
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30 Section E How History has Shaped
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31 Section E The Social Sciences—
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32 Section F Beyond Dates and Fight
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is not boring and does not tire one
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D. Some Useful Books • Samajik Ad
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• • • • • • Section F T
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