Collectively refers to the many branches of study that deal with how people live and work together, including but not limited to history, economics, geography, psychology, and civics. In the elementary and middle grades in the United States, “social studies” is taught as one discipline; high schools often structure social studies courses as subjects by the individual branches (e.g., geography).
Published in Chapter:
Participatory Literacy and Taking Informed Action in the Social Studies
Casey Holmes (North Carolina State University, USA) and Meghan McGlinn Manfra (North Carolina State University, USA)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-0000-2.ch003
Abstract
The purpose of the social studies is to prepare students for life as citizens in a democratic society, and this requires attention to the variety of digital spaces inhabited by our K-12 students in today's increasingly digitized world. Incorporating participatory technologies into structured inquiries in the social studies may help develop students' skills and abilities in critically sourcing, evaluating, sharing, and creating media, and provides the opportunity for increasingly democratic participation and civic engagement both in and out of the school setting. In this chapter, the authors suggest the integration of participatory literacy with the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) framework as a means of supporting students in taking informed action.