Importance Of Social Studies

Surprisingly, being a few years into my college career, I have not had the need to understand what I want to teach and why. The question of “What is Social Studies and why do we teach it” is something I should have asked myself earlier as it has me to develop my own opinions on the importance of Social Studies and why anyone should care whether or not it's teached. Thankfully unlike having to argue for the flat earth theory, the definition and importance of Social Studies is not a loaded topic. Thousands of teachers and organizations dedicate countless hours towards the progression of the subject and have provided great resources to use to explore the what and the why of Social Studies. Social Studies is the collection of the knowledge of what it takes to be an exceptional citizen, or what the NCSS (1994) would call “civic competence”(p. 1). History is likely what first comes to mind when a student is asked what is Social Studies, but so much more is required to be proficient in the subject. History, Government, and Economics all spring to

Starting my higher education career in 2010 I was an awful student who did not know what to do. I had always had a passion for history and a cynical interest towards politics. It wasn’t until I discovered a series of historical and political series of podcasts by a former reporter Dan Carlin that I discovered what I wanted to do with my life. I listened to hours of passionate oratory over topics he enjoyed and how was able to make even the mundane interesting. It wasn't a question of passion, but it was not until returning to college that I began to learn the method of the work. A first-class Social Studies teacher, however cannot just have the content knowledge necessary to teach a particular subject, but also the pedagogical methods to impart that knowledge to their