Planning Programmes for Social Studies

When planning programmes, teachers will combine the achievement objectives and indicators of the strands and the processes. It is intended that students will demonstrate their ability to carry out the processes in the context of the knowledge and understandings they are developing in the strands.

General Considerations for Programming Planning | Teaching and Learning Materials | Assessment in Social Studies

General Considerations for Programme Planning

Each school will plan school-wide programmes that integrate all the requirements in a balanced, relevant, and manageable way. Such school-wide programmes will also reflect the emphases of the school's charter.

Teachers may begin their programme planning by considering any of the following:

• the needs and experiences of students;
• the achievement objectives for the strands;
• the achievement objectives for the processes;
• the settings;
• the perspectives;
• focus themes or topics.

Programme planning may be organised in various ways. These include:

• integration across strands;
• studies based on a single strand;
• approaches based on issues, themes, or topics.

Important considerations for teachers planning social studies programmes include:

• using a variety of teaching approaches
• using a comparative approach;
• linking social studies with other curriculum areas;
• establishing clear assessment criteria;
• using a variety of resources;
• meeting the needs of all students and utilising their prior experiences;
• choosing a range of assessment methods.

Teaching and Learning materials

There should be a range of materials available so that all students have access to information and ideas that enable them to meet the achievement objectives. Some examples of teaching and learning materials include:

• the experiences of the students themselves and of their families, friends, and neighbours;
• community resources, such as historical sites, marae, museums, shops, farms, and factories;
• biographies, myths and legends, literature, diaries, newspaper articles, yearbooks, and letters;
• interpretations of the past, present, and possible future;
• photographs, charts, maps, radio interviews, posters, films, and television programmes;
• the Internet, the World Wide Web, and simulation software.

Teaching and learning materials should provide opportunities for teachers to reinforce, challenge, and expand the students' existing knowledge and skills. The materials should present a range of viewpoints and perspectives. Although materials are sometimes chosen to illustrate a particular point of view (for example, letters to the editor, submissions to a public inquiry, or historical documents), they should generally be selected to provide balance and, in particular, to avoid perpetuating stereotypes of people.

Assessment in Social Studies

Social studies teachers are required to monitor the progress of students in relation to the achievement objectives outlined in this curriculum statement. Teachers will use their professional judgment when deciding which achievement objectives will be used as the basis for assessing, recording, and reporting on students' work. They will do this by devising specific learning outcomes based on the achievement objectives and sets of indicators.

A specific learning outcome is the expected learning that occurs as a result of a particular learning activity. Such learning generally relates to one or more aspects of an achievement objective. In social studies, specific learning outcomes may be written to describe what students will do or produce to show that they have acquried certain knowledge or skills or can carry out a particular process.

Learning activities give students opportunities to meet the achievement objectives. Some of the learning activities will be assessment activities, which will provide opportunities for collecting evidence of progress or achievement for use in assessment.

Through a wide range of assessment activities, social studies teachers can ensure that, over time, sufficient information is gathered to enable them to identify the progress of individual students in relation to the achievement objectives.

Recording and Reporting

Schools need to plan in advance so that teachers know what assessment information they need to gather and how this will be aggregated for reporting purposes. Teachers will develop appropriate ways of recording students' knowledge and understandings and their progress in developing and using the essential skills through the social studies processes. Evidence of increasing competence can include work samples, comments on oral or visual presentations, self-assessments provided by students, and the results of written assessment activities. Teachers should discuss students' progress with the individual students as well as recording and reporting on what has been achieved.