• Semester 2 (Day)

Synopsis

This  unit will provide opportunities for students to draw upon  their
developing  understanding of the nature and possibilities of  teaching
in  exploring  the social studies curriculum area. They will  come  to
appreciate the importance of the social studies area within the  total
education  of  the  child in the primary school  and  beyond,  and  to
understand  its location within and relationship to the broader  areas
of social education and active citizenship.

The  unit will cover elements of the formal syllabus program, as  well
as examine specific content or topic areas that fall within the social
education  ambit.  The  overall  emphasis  in  this  unit  is  on  the
curriculum area of social studies as it contributes to the development
in  children  of  competencies and attitudes necessary for  critically
active and inquiring citizenship. The view of the citizen is one taken
from a postmodernist global perspective.

Students will also be expected to critically engage a number of writes
in  the  areas  of social education, critical pedagogy,  feminism  and
multiculturalism  with a view to developing their understanding  of  a
wide  range  of perspectives on the possibilities resident within  the
curriculum area of social education.