Orsborn Masters Portfolio 1

Social studies are the discovery and understanding of people and societies around the

world, where they came from or how they got there, where they are going, and how they have

shaped the world we live in. White, Marsh and McCormac (2011) say “The journey between

social studies and social education leads travelers down a potentially transformative path with

"white spaces" on a map that continuously needs examination.” (p. 34). This is a unique subject

that can be integrated into other subjects and understood if presented in the right format. The

educator becomes the catalyst for teaching and the students ability to separate understanding

from learning is the key to assessment. Brooks (2004) believes the well-worn path for learning

is often unquestioned and even expected in the classroom (p. 11). Therefore, it is our

responsibility to provide a clear annual plan of learning which is needed to invite students into

the world of understanding.

My Unit on Tlingit life in Alaska provides students an opportunity to go back in time and

see the way people lived and survived in a society that has existed for thousands of years. This

unit has visual and hands on experiences for students to understand how the Tlingit lived prior to

the Russian invasion. The unit is designed for students to not only experience Tlingit life, but to

ask questions and make their own conclusions with the information they are given. Students

want to do history and geography, economics and popular culture. They do not want to sit and

have it "done to them" (White, Marsh, & McCormack 2011).

Social studies should be about the journey and not the destination. However, part of the

journey is assessing what the students have learned, or what they are getting form the material. I

designed this unit to allow the students to express their learning through words and art. Kathy

Checkley (2008) states “Meaningful learning activities emphasize authentic activities and

assessment tasks” (p. 30). She goes on to say, “Instead of writing down the definition of a
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principle being studied, students could use the principle to make predictions about a related

situation or to guide their strategies in a simulation game” (p. 30). With that in mind, this is how

I designed the unit. I wanted the kids to ask questions I couldn’t answer simply because of my

resources in Sitka. I wanted the students to use their knowledge, think about what they were

told, read, and seen, and make their own decisions on how the Tlingit society functioned. Kara

Naidoo and Susan Kirch (2016) explain transformative reflection as:

“In the process of developing and enacting solutions to address a problem, the critical

participant (a) recognizes his or her own assumptions, beliefs, and theories in the

company of others who assist in that recognition and (b) is willing to challenge and

change these assumptions, beliefs, theories, as needed during the process and in the

company of others such that, in the future, they perceive the problem and possible

solutions quite differently than they did prior to the reflective problem-solving actions.”

(Save, et al. 2017) states “Historical inquiry as it is most commonly practiced focuses on

interpreting source documents and constructing historical narratives.” (p. 95). My students were

able to work together to understand the material and to make their own decisions when it came to

assessing the material. This is how I want them to approach the social studies subject. Make

your own decisions, listen to other people’s decisions, and come to a conclusion. Challenge

what you hear, what you see, and what you read. This is how society was created and how it

runs. I want my students to think for themselves, make their own decisions, and learn from their

mistakes. This unit provided all of that for my students.

My students were able to discover where they came from, how the Tlingit lived, and how

they created a society. The students were able to work together, using previous knowledge,

making their own conclusions, and having fun learning about their culture.
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This is how learning should be, fun, interactive, and enjoyable.

References

Brooks, J. G. (2004). To see beyond the lesson. Educational Leadership, 62(l),8-9. Retrieved

from OmniFile

Checkley, K. (2008). Priorities In Practice: The Essentials of Social Studies, Grade K-8

Effective Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Alexandria, VA: Association for

Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost

Naidoo, K and Kirch, S.A. (2016). Candidates Use a New Teacher Development Process,

Transformative Reflection, to Identify and Address Teaching and Learning Problems in

Their Work With Children. Journal of Teacher Education 67(5) 375-391 Retrieved from

OmniFile

Save, J.W., Kohlmeier, J., Howell, J.B., McCormick, T.M., Jones, R.C., Brush, T.A. (2017).

Scaffolded Lesson Study: Promoting professional teaching knowledge for problem-based

historical inquiry. Social Studies Research and Practice, 12(1) 95-112 Retrieved from

ProQuest

White, C., Marsh, S., and McCormack, S. (2011). Our Journies: Social Studies to Social

Education. Social Studies Review, 50(1) 34-37 Retrieved from OmniFile