College of Education and Human Development

In Defense of Strong Social Studies Education

When 17 scholars come together to collaborate on one opinion piece, you know they are talking about an important issue!

Assistant Professor Anthony Pellegrino joined forces with teacher educators and researchers from across Virginia to encourage elementary and middle schools not to abandon the teaching of history and social science in school years when there is no Standards of Learning exam on the subject. Their opinion piece appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The professors are bringing attention to the fact that a law passed by the General Assembly in 2014, HB930, has eliminated four history and social science SOL tests in the elementary and middle school years.

In classrooms across the Commonwealth, this may mean that social studies are not given the appropriate amount of attention during those years:

"If divisions choose to diminish the amount of time dedicated to teaching history and social science, the mission of public schools to educate young people for the responsibilities of citizenship will be jeopardized.

"Without these, the intellectual skills of citizenship, how will young people be prepared to address the challenges their generation will face? How will they learn the values of freedom, tolerance and equality if they have not, from an early age, investigated their history and the history of others? How will they learn to deliberate about current issues if they have never learned how to do so in school?"

Pellegrino and his co-authors offer suggestions for how to keep a strong focus on social studies, "to help develop young, informed citizens worthy of Mr. [Thomas] Jefferson's trust."

Read the full article here.

 

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About CEHD

George Mason University's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) includes two schools: the Graduate School of Education, one of the most comprehensive education schools in Virginia, and the School of Recreation, Health, and Tourism. CEHD offers a full range of courses, certificates, and degree programs on campus, online, and on site to more than 4,000 students each year. CEHD is fully accredited by NCATE and all licensure programs are approved by the Virginia Department of Education. George Mason University, located just outside of Washington, DC, is Virginia's largest public research university.

For additional information:

• CEHD Communications: cehdnews@gmu.edu
• Graduate School of Education: gse.gmu.edu
• Secondary Education program, History and Social Science: gse.gmu.edu/secondary-education-6-12

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