studies of society and environment

The material on these pages has been prepared to supplement lectures, workshops and text for students enrolled at James Cook University in ED3001 Early childhood curriculum and teaching studies 1 and ED3101 Primary curriculum and teaching studies 1

This strand of ED3101 or ED3001 focuses on the curriculum area of STUDIES OF SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT. This presents a challenge at the moment because we will be dealing with a subject area for which the syllabus is just being trialed and you may not be able to find a studies of society and environment syllabus in your school (you can find it on the web - see required readings in the subject prospectus). However, that doesn't mean we haven't been teaching some aspects of studies of society and environment. We have, under names like "Social Studies", "Social Education", and "Social and Cultural Studies".

However, school curriculum in Queensland is at a critical point of change and new syllabuses are being developed in a range of areas by the Queensland Schools Curriculum Council (QSCC). Currently, new syllabuses in Health and Physical Education and in Science and Preschool Curriculum Guidelines have been written and are being trialed and refined. Trials of the new Studies of Society and Environment curriculum began in 1998 and will continue in 1999. This new syllabus will replace the current Social Studies syllabus and the source books that accompany it.

The need for change has come from several developments, including:

• the publishing of the National Statements and Profiles based on key learning areas, including the key learning area of studies of society and environment (Australian Education Council, 1994);
• recommendations from Shaping the future (Wiltshire, 1994);
• understanding of learning as the active construction of meaning as expressed in the Queensland Department of Education (1994) effective learning and teaching policy;
• the need for more inclusive curriculum that includes perspectives from a wide range of social and cultural groups and that is based on values of social justice, democratic processes, ecological and economic sustainability and peace;
• changes in our society and environment and our understandings of what knowledge about our society and environment involves.

What is the new studies of society and environment syllabus like?

The new syllabus is based on three dimensions. These are:

values and perspectives		conceptual strands		processes
social justice democratic processes ecological and economic sustainability peace		time continuity and change culture and identity place and space systems resources and power		understand think investigate create communicate participate reflect

Values and perspectives

Values and perspectives give teachers a guide to selecting important issues and questions to be dealt with. SOSE introduces our students to society's core values, which express people's goals and aspirations. These values are also guides to action as our students learn to use them as they communicate and participate with each other, their communities and their environment. Our students also need to understand the various perspectives which influence their own experiences and the experiences of others. New SOSE syllabus want our students to develop a critical approach to society and environment.

So the new SOSE syllabus is organise these values and perspectives around key value concepts of

• democratic process,
• social justice,
• ecological and economic sustainability, and
• peace.

Conceptual strands

This part of SOSE is made up of key concepts and approaches to inquiry drawn from "old" subjects in social science (history, geography, sociology, economics) as well as newer fields of study (Indigenous studies, women's studies, cultural studies). These provide the knowledge base (or content) for SOSE. The four conceptual strands in the new Queensland SOSE syllabus are 

• Time, continuity and change;
• Place and space;
• Culture and identity; and
• Systems, resources and power.

Processes

In SOSE, students learn to investigate important questions about their world, by using the concepts, skills and processes of social and environmental inquiry. They investigate the society and environment in which they live and create their own knowledge about their society and environment. They also communicate this knowledge using a range of media, technologies, genres and styles. They participate with others to generate understandings, solve problems, take action and to improve their relations with each other and with their local, national and global communities and environments. They reflect on how and what they learn as a way of thinking about how to make things better.

Integrating values and perspectives, concept strands, and processes.

By integrating these three dimensions, the new SOSE syllabus aims to provide students with essential knowledge and understanding of Australia and the world, and the ability to apply their learnings to their everyday lives in ways that are democratic, just, sustainable and peaceful.

The exciting part of this new syllabus is that it recognises that much of the "old social studies" reflected the views of only a section of Australian society and was not the "objective fact" that it pretended to be. You will know this because "old social studies usually left out Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. This meant that kids did not get an accurate picture of Australian society and the world.

The new syllabus recognises that there are different perspectives. It aims to ensure that the perspectives of a wide range of previously excluded groups (like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) are seen as an essential part of the curriculum. These perspectives are also important when we consider the values of social justice, democratic processes, ecological and economical sustainability and peace.

(We will look more closely at each of these dimensions in this subject.)

When you graduate at the end of next year, the new SOSE syllabus will be out and there should also be a new set of source materials on CD rom and the internet to help teachers implement the new syllabus. Our work in this strand this year will be to develop your understanding of SOSE so that you will be ready to work from this new syllabus and make it exciting and relevant to the children you will be teaching.

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