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Characteristics of a Social Science teacher. - Coggle Diagram
Characteristics of a Social Science teacher.
Having rich content knowledge of both Geography and History.
Cannot teach a subject if the teacher does not know the content or how it links to different sections.
Known as disciplinary knowledge or subject-matter knowledge.
CAPs document states that Geography and History need to be kept seperate, even though they do have information that link together.
To be able to create links between the two subjects, they need to develop their knowledge.
Need this to be able to facilitate the learning.
Work well and collaborate with other teachers.
Cannot teach the learners the information as they found it, they need to change the information into a way that they learners will be able to process.
Having strong conceptual understanding
Need to be able to develop the learners understanding.
Need to have an understanding of the link between thinking processes and content.
There is a first and second-order concepts.
First-order is organising content topics. Second-order is making meaning of th processes that are connected to the content.
Teacher needs to link the subject-specific concepts to the disciplinary practices of the Social Sciences subject.
Teacher can clarify concepts by referring to prior knowledge and past experiences.
Having a wide general knowledge
Teachers need to be able to make the the content relevant and easy to take in by the learners.
Even though knowledge of the subject is important, having general knowledge is even more important and beneficial.
Teachers need to know about what is happening in the world currently.
When a teacher has a broader or general knowledge, they have the ability to link the content with the community and society that the learners are from and where the school is located.
Can provide local inforamtion that is not present in the prescribed materials.
The teachers can help the learners apply the knowledge they learnt in class to external situations.
The teachers can engage in conversations based on the learners interests.
Understanding human interaction
Teachers need to have an in-depth understanding of the nature of humans and the interactions with other humans, or the with the environment.
Link the learners interaction with the other learners, teacher and environment with the content that is being taught.
When a healthy relationship is developed, it will be beneficial for the learners. It will help with their knowledge development and help with their social identity development.
They need to motivate, encourage the learners and they need to know the learners individually.
Being open to multiple perspectives
Learners will be exposed to different views and opinions on the content that they are being told.
These perspectives come from different views of the content or the learners perspectives. Helps develop the learners confidence when answering in class.
Teacher must nurture the multicultural understandings and encourage the value of diversity.
Learners will not be nervous to express their opinions with the class because their diversity is valued.
Relying on evidence
Teacher must always be able to prove whatever they bring to the class.
Need to explain to the learners that need to have evidence for any perspective or issue they may have.
Learners should not make statements without providing proof.
Evidence in SS classes is dependent on the resources that is made present in the class.
Produce evidence out of the resources that are available.
It will cause failure if the resources are not relatable to the learners.
The resources should still be challenging for the learners.
Dynamically employing a range of teaching strategies.
The debate on nature versus nurture.
Exposure to the a range of strategies can empower the teacher to be able to choose what can work in the classroom.
Elements that constitute Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)
Knowledge of subject matter.
Knowledge of learners and possible misconceptions
Knowledge of cirricula.
Knowledge of general pedagogy or andragogy.
Different strategies are linked together and the teacher needs to know how to use the correct ones for the relevant lessons.
Drake, M., Dreyer, J., Maposa, M., Iyer, L., Mays, T., Segoe, B and Wasserman, J. 2017. Teaching Social Sciences: Intermediate and Senior Phases. Oxford. ISBN 9780190421458