Curriculum: Social Studies

Social Studies in the Upper School

The social studies curriculum in the Upper School continues to provide students with the skills, procedures, and knowledge needed to fulfill the goals of the school's mission: finding answers to questions; understanding and appreciating the multicultural nature of their world; functioning effectively as citizens of a democratic society; understanding themselves and others; and acquiring strategies to improve the quality of their lives and the lives of others.

As the interests and socio-emotional and cognitive abilities and needs of older children develop, so does their ability to reason abstractly. Their social studies include concepts from the arts and sciences, history, geography, political science, economics, technology, sociology, and anthropology. Upper School children gather information and express ideas, work with simultaneous variables, reason with cause and effect relationships, and sequence events in ways that make more complex studies possible. As they become less self-involved, children grow in their appreciation of other perspectives, and are able to respect and consider lifestyles, values, and ideals different from theirs. For these reasons, Upper School students engage in cultural and historical studies that are geographically and/or temporally distant and compare and contrast these studies with their own experiences. Teachers also try to match topics to the particular social and emotional life tasks of the students. When the curriculum mirrors the children's developmental abilities and interests, the studies become relevant and engaging.

Upper School students learn about cultures "long ago" and "far away" through artifacts, original documents, primary and secondary sources, myths, news articles, and scholarly essays. As they discover and learn about relationships from these sources, children review and expand skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking; using maps, charts and graphs; conducting research; participating in groups; and working individually. Through hands-on experiences as well as direct teaching, students acquire the skills necessary for note-taking and research; they also learn to analyze and interpret historical information; read and understand non-fiction texts; make maps; take tests; and write essays. Information and knowledge is shared and further reinforced through class meetings, discussions, debates, extended role plays, simulation games, art and craft projects, fieldtrips, and related publishing work.

10/11s

The 10/11s study the African Diaspora and the African Experience in the Americas. In order to set in place a lens through which to examine the cultures and communities of West Africa and the Diaspora, the year begins with an exploration of family, community, and culture in their own school and classroom. Throughout the curriculum, children reflect on how geography affects culture and ways in which groups of people solve problems and meet their needs. As they explore the interdependence of humans and the environment, children think about dependence in their own relationships with others. This study parallels 10/11s need for greater autonomy while they are simultaneously becoming more aware of their need for others and the security of their roles in the group. Through the use and creation of models and maps, children identify land and water forms and contemplate the different places in the world where people of African descent lived and now live. A study of West African cultures follows, in which students examine the past and present achievements of the people of the Kingdom of Benin, the Asante (Ashanti), and the Yoruba. By analyzing objects, students review some of the methods used by archaeologists and anthropologists to gain information about people and their daily lives. The historical features of the forced migration of Africans to the Americas are examined, with an emphasis on the cultural traditions brought by Africans to all of the Americas. Children learn about the effects of contact and colonization on the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the experience of enslaved peoples in North America and the lives of Africans now residing in the different regions of the Americas. They research cultural traditions in North and South America and the Caribbean and analyze how African artistic, cultural and religious beliefs and customs have survived and changed as a result of contact with Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Americas. A study of the Harlem Renaissance follows, drawing on the history, economy, and cultural movement of this particular era to further delve into the African American experience. This investigation provides the basis for independent research projects that focus on people of African descent throughout the Americas.

11/12s

Over the course of the year, the 11/12s study the Origins of Belief Systems. This study focuses on the development of belief systems, their evolution into organized religions, and their relationship to society and culture. As the year begins, the focus is on the students themselves as they begin to identify and define their own ideas and beliefs in this context. Questions such as "Who are you?" and "What do you believe?" act as precursors to an exploration of faith and its relationship to the self, family, society, and culture. This study encourages young adolescents to think about their own identities by recognizing that everyone's life is a journey involving change and growth. The study moves on to a brief examination of the roots of religion, building upon pre-existing knowledge and studies of African and indigenous American cultures and beliefs. Through extensive research and class discussion, children are given the opportunity to compare and contrast the beliefs, customs, and rituals of a variety of religions in the world. They consider how religion may influence a persons or cultures definition or identity. A more in-depth study of some of the world¡Ás major religions in an historical context follows. Through individual study, hands-on experiences, class discussions, and research, students investigate the close connections between religion, culture, geography, and society. Subsequent studies focus on the rise of Islam as a culture and a religion, and the Middle Ages in Europe, both are prime examples of the powerful role of faith in history and society. As the year comes to a close, students' work turns to modern applications of religious thought. They explore how ideas about religions, faith, and belief in general are infused into current political and cultural issues.

12/13s

The Expansion of Democracy in America is the focus of the social studies in the 12/13s. The span of this curriculum is from the period preceding the Revolutionary War to the beginning of the Twentieth century. Students explore why the War for Independence was fought, who benefited from it, and how the experience of being a colony shaped the Constitution. The American Revolution unit is in some ways an allegory for the authority issues 12/13s are experiencing. Conflict resolution and the freedoms and responsibilities of independence are themes with which these students readily identify. They learn from history that the independence from Britain did not bring the "blessings of liberty" to all Americans. The rest of the year is devoted to learning about how and why the circle of democracy gradually expanded to include more and more groups of Americans. Some of the groups considered in depth are African-Americans, women, and immigrant laborers. The study ends with a short unit on the state of democracy in America today. Children learn that the history of the United States is not one story told from one point-of-view, but a complex fabric of stories involving the forces that encompass individuals, cultural groups, politics, economics, geography, and technology. Another important strand of the year's social studies curriculum is current events. With guidance from the teacher, each student will have several opportunities to choose a newspaper or magazine article, create the framework for a discussion about it, and then lead the class discussion.

13/14s

American government as it pertains to the development of democracy and the place of the individual within society. This has implications for 13/14s, who are considering and reconsidering their places in peer groups, their families, and in society's other institutions. Since children at this stage are learning about authority and appropriate ways of challenging it, they examine the role of authority, its powers and limits within one ancient and one modern governing system. The study of Ancient Greece is both an archeological, historical, and artistic study, with a strong focus on the city-state of Athens as a center of culture and burgeoning direct democracy. Students culminate their semester-long study by using multiple reference resources to construct individual research papers on a specific topic related to Ancient Greece. In the spring, students learn about contemporary democracy in the United States through their studies of the three branches of government in the city, state and country. These three units of study culminate in a four-day trip to Washington, D.C.; students have appointments to interview members of congress, lobbyists, and reporters. They apply their understandings to relevant research projects and role-play a mock congressional hearing or a Supreme Court case.