Cumulative Reflection – My Social Studies Philosophy

Kyle Masson

EDUC 3700
 Introduction

The purpose and basis of this cumulative reflection will offer my personal insights as it
pertains effective teaching and learning in the subject of social studies. Throughout this
reflection, I will highlight my vision and my recommendations about how the teaching of social
studies should be approached from an educator’s perspective. Within this reflection, I will
include the following aspects: my Social Studies philosophy, Social Studies concepts, and any
applications needed for powerful teaching and learning. In my personal philosophy, I will
explain how my personal goals, purposes, and methods help mold my Social Studies philosophy.
In regard to the social studies concepts, I will explain the importance of both citizenship and
identity, since this is what Social Studies is based around. Furthermore, I will also entail
concepts such as the implementing multiple perspectives into teaching. Lastly, I will derive my
understanding of any applications that prove to be powerful to both teaching and learning. This
section will contain my full argument about how to teach the discipline that is not only effective
for the students, but for the teacher as well. In sum, all of these components of this paper will
answer the central question: “What are the most significant understandings and strategies in
a social studies pedagogy that should be adopted to enable students to be active and
responsible citizens?”

Social Studies Philosophy

My beliefs on Social Studies education can be summed up beautifully in a quote by Nelson

Mandela:

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”

This quote by Mandela is quite a powerful piece of literature to me because it speaks

miles on why Social Studies education is so vital to have implemented in school. There are
several believers who claim that Social Studies should be taught less because it is one of least
important core subjects. Others have argued to me that instructional time for Social Studies
should be cut out in order to create more room for subjects such as Language Arts. However,
Social Studies has the ability to influence us as individuals, much more than any other subject
area. Social Studies has the power to change who we are, to change how we act, and ultimately
to change the world as we know it.
I have three main goals that I strive for to be an effective Social Studies teacher. My first
and most important goal as a Social Studies instructor is to provide my students with the
knowledge and understanding needed in order to become active, responsible, engaged, and
informed citizens. It is my hope that I can develop key values and attitudes that prove to be
necessary not only for students to become active and responsible citizens but also become
engaged in the democratic process in our country. Ultimately, my purpose as a Social Studies
educator is to create an awareness for my students so they are able to realize their capacity to
affect change in their communities, society, and the world.
As an effective Social Studies educator, the second goal that I set for myself is to help
students build a solid foundation of values and attitudes so they are able to value, appreciate, and
respect the dignity and the quality of all human beings. Furthermore, I want my students to
appreciate how the importance of multiple perspectives helps shape our collective identity as a
society. In order to accomplish this, my methods of teaching will have centered around having an
open classroom where anyone is invited. Regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender, I want all of
my students voices to be heard in an equal manner. In my future teaching career, I foresee myself
having open discussions in my classroom, where I can allow my students voices to be heard if
they desire too.
The final goal I strive to accomplish through Social Studies is to provide my students
with the skills and processes needed to become effective creative critical, historical, and
geographical thinkers. In addition, I want my students to also develop into strong decision-
makers and problem solvers as well. I will attempt to accomplish this by implementing many
group-related activities. A lot of teaching methods involve various forms of communication,
where students must complete oral or written reports, speeches, debates, even constructing
visuals such as posters, mind-maps, and PowerPoint Presentations.
Answering the central question, I believe that the most significant knowledge and
understandings Social Studies teachers must integrate is understanding our own rights and
responsibilities so we can make informed decisions and participate fully in society. In regard to
the most significant values and attitudes, I believe that we must all respect the equality of human
rights in Canada. Furthermore, I also believe we must demonstrate a global consciousness with
respect to humanity and world issues in order to become active and responsible citizens. Finally,
I believe that the most significant skills and processes revolve around those of the various
dimensions of thinking. Without learning the importance of each skill set, we will be un-
equipped to go out and make a difference in this world. Overall, these are the reasons why I
teach Social Studies and is a big reason why I am very excited to have the opportunity to
eventually teach it one day.

Social Studies Concepts

In order to effectively discuss the significance of social studies, one must first unpack and
examine any key concepts necessary to create a clear understanding, not only of what social
studies is, but rather how to apply these concepts into your personal philosophy so you are better
equipped to teach the course effectively. Throughout the entire course this semester, we have
learned that Social Studies is centered around the concept of citizenship and identity. Therefore,
this section will investigate conceptual understandings related to these two fundamental
concepts. However, the concept of identity will be explained through the significance of
incorporating multiple perspectives.

Citizenship

Beginning with citizenship, this concept has been recognized as the rationale or defining
aim of the entire social studies curriculum since it’s initiation as a school subject (Clark & Case,
2013). Citizenship provides a direction for teachers about what to teach. Essentially, Social
Studies acts as a ‘vehicle’ in the developing citizens of a democratic society and educators who
teach this subject have a pivotal role to play in this matter (Clark & Case, 2013). Therefore,
that’s why it’s important for teachers to understand the concept of citizenship, so they are better
able to explain the purpose of their teaching. I believe in order to effectively shape your teaching
around the concept of citizenship, one must first ask themselves: “What should our model citizen
look like?” Personally, I believe our ideal citizen is someone who is committed and devoted to
acting on behalf of his or her own beliefs (Clark & case, 2013). By unpacking this question, we
must first understand the four interrelated rationales underlying citizenship education which are
social initiation, social reform, personal development, and intellectual development (Clark &
Case, 2013).
The first rationale: social initiation, emphasizes that the main purpose of social studies is
to inaugurate students into society by conveying the knowledge, abilities, and values that
students will need in order to, not only be able to fit into but rather, become productive members
of society (Clark & Case, 2013). The second rationale: social reform, reiterates that the main
purpose of social studies is to encourage students and provide them with the understandings,
abilities, and values necessary to improve or even transform society (Clark & case, 2013). The
third rationale: social reform, believes that the primary purpose of social studies resides around
helping students develop fully as individuals and as social beings. More specifically, this
rationale’s specific purpose isn’t to re-shape society nor to maintain the status quo, but rather to
attend to and develop each student’s individual talent and character (Clark & Case, 2013).
Finally, the last rationale: intellectual development, suggests that the main focus of social studies
is to develop a student’s quantity in terms of understanding the complex world we live.
Furthermore, teachers implementing this vision will introduce their students to the bodies of
knowledge and forms of inquiry through a representation of history along with other social
sciences (Clark & Case, 2013).
Pertaining to the central question of this paper, I personally believe that educators
shouldn’t use one specific rationale when directing their teaching. Instead, I believe that teachers
should attempt to integrate aspects of all four rationales into their teaching. This is because I
believe that it is entirely dependent on the students (i.e., grade level, age) what you want them to
take away. Considering Clark & Case’s (2013), citizenship education matrix figure (p. 22), a
typical primary classroom may want to initiate the core concept of values in younger students
that focus on fostering a sense of responsibility for others so they can grow up to become
productive members of society. Furthermore, we also may want to develop each student
individually, in terms of their traits and overall character. Therefore, I believe it is best to take on
a social initiation as well as a personal development approach since our focus is child-centered
and may reside around shaping these students to become socially acceptable as citizens. When
considering a typical secondary classroom, we may also use the social initiation approach to
further initiate a set of core concepts of knowledge that relate to the ‘ideal’ citizen. However, we
may want not want to focus so much on the personal development of these students but rather,
the intellectual development by approaching it more through a subject-centered approach. When
attempting to inhibit social change amongst students, we may focus on aspects related to social
reformation, since it focuses on promoting the transformation of the social fabric as a whole
(Clark & Case, 2013).

Identity

The concept of identity is a difficult one to dissect, particularly because it is so broad in

terms of unpacking its content. In order to truly understand what identity represents, we must
first see what’s in the suitcase. As we ventured through this concept throughout the semester, we
learned that identity can embody two forms: individual and collective identity. When discussing
individual identity, it is particularly easier to unpack since it is unique to your own beliefs and
values. Individual identity distinguishes you from everyone else, thus allowing you to become
the person you are today. In terms of it’s counterpart, collective identity, it can be much more
difficult to break down. When I try to think about collective identity, I like to think that it is our
shared sense of belonging to a group or even society as whole. It is how we identify ourselves
with the collective rights of every citizen. However, when attempting to un-wrap collective
identity, we must explore the role of the significance of multiple perspective, since our nation
embodies and values diversity. We must value the perspectives of multiple identities in order to
truly understand the meaning of collective identity.

Incorporating Global & Multi-Cultural Perspectives

When discussing the importance of helping students understand the multi-cultural world
we live in today, many teachers may focus on teaching facts about the various beliefs of different
cultures and countries (Case, Sensoy, & Ling, 2013). However, according to Case, Sensoy, &
Ling (2013), “the goal is better served by helping students view the world – and the events and
people within it – in new ways” (p. 249). Relating this back to the concept of collective identity,
students must develop both multi-cultural and global perspectives, as this should be the
educational goal for social studies teachers (Case et al., 2013). Ultimately, we must help our
students view the world through a set of lenses where they not only encompass, but appreciate
the significance of viewing the world through multiple perspectives. When viewing the world
through a global and multi-cultural perspective, it refers our students to establish a point of view
where they can view people, places, and things around the world through their own eyes (Case et
al., 2013). Global and multi-cultural perspectives consist of two-dimensions: substantive
dimension and the perceptual dimension (Case et al., 2013).
The substantive dimension contains the world events, state of affairs, places, and things
that global and multi-cultural educators want students to comprehend (Case et al., 2013). More
specifically, this dimension is focused on developing the knowledge about the people, beliefs,
and customs beyond a student’s own cultural entity (Case et al., 2013). The perceptual dimension
fosters the mind-set, values, or attitudes that we want students to have so they are able to see the
world and the multiplicity of cultures that inhabit it (Case et al., 2013). If we take a closer look at
these two dimensions, there are actually many complications in terms of teaching through the
substantive dimension. One of these complications is the stereotypical notion of culture as a
unified, fixed entity (Case et al., 2013). More specifically, culture results from a group of people
who constantly adapt to their environmental and social circumstances. Therefore, when these
circumstances go under change, the culture also changes with it. (Case et al., 2013). Considering
this, when we teach students knowledge about the events, affairs, and places about different
cultures, we are limiting them to a single strand of knowledge. If students learn about how a
culture operated at the given time and not how they adapted to the changes in their physical
environment, then we are limiting their point of view when attempting to depict how that
particular group of people view themselves in terms of collective identity. Therefore, this is I
believe that Social Studies teacher need to focus more on the perceptual dimension.
The perceptual dimension takes on the challenge and helps students develop a broad-
minded perspective, where they can make sense of the world from varied and enlightened points
of view (Case et al., 2013). In order to help students effectively appreciate what a broad-
perspective entails, we must teach through the perceptual dimension which in turn, helps
students develop three habits of mind: open-mindedness, full-mindedness, and fair mindedness
(Case et al., 2013). Open mindedness helps students develop a willingness to consider new ideas
and alternative ways of looking at multiple perspectives (Case et al., 2013). Throughout the
development of open-mindedness, students will be able to recognize differences in point of view.
In turn, this helps students realize that individuals or groups do not always see the world in the
same light (Case et al., 2013). Furthermore, the concept of open-mindedness also helps students
entertain various points of view. Here, students will accept the rights of other groups (which may
differ from their own), and be willing to consider the significance of multiple perspectives (Case
et al., 2013). Full mindedness is especially important because it helps students to view multiple
perspectives without settling for simplistic or incomplete explanations (Case et al., 2013).
Furthermore, fostering full mindedness in students will help them develop the following traits:
anticipating complexity, recognizing stereotyping, and suspending judgement when warranted
(Case et al., 2013). Anticipating complexity forces students to look beyond the simplistic nature
of complex issues where they can examine the phenomena as a part of interrelated factors (Case
et al., 2013). More specifically, students will be able to hand-pick the possible chain of effects
whenever an issue arrives for a certain cultural group. Recognizing stereotyping will not only
help student identify, but rather dismiss portrayals of cultures that are often superficial (Case et
al., 2013). Basically, students will be able to look past all the generalization of what the culture
simply embodies and instead, recognize the “why” as to various cultural groups are perceived
this way. Lastly, suspending judgement when warranted allows students to look past the bigger
picture. More specifically, students will be able to withhold their conclusions that deal with
complex matters until all varying viewpoints and evidence has been taken into account (Case et
al., 2013). The final habit of mind: fair mindedness, teaches students to not to judge matters on
the basis of their own merits and not base them on their own interests and preferences (Case et
al., 2013). By encouraging fair mindedness in students, this will help them empathize with others
as well as overcome bias (Case et al., 2013). By empathizing with other perspectives, students
will be placed in the ‘driver’ seat and imagine issues from other perspectives (Case et al., 2013).
When students overcome bias, students will resist placing their own perspectives above other
perspectives (Case et al., 2013). In order to encourage fair mindedness in students, Social Studies
teachers must regularly expect students to not only explore but, defend positions from different
points of view, especially perspectives that are opposite from their own (Case et al., 2013).
However, the question remains: why do we need to adopt a global and multi-cultural
perspective in our social studies teaching? According to Case, Sensoy, & Ling (2013), “the aim
of promoting global/multi-cultural perspectives is to expand and enrich students view of the
world, so they are not limited by the ethnocentric, stereotypical, or otherwise narrow or distorted
points of view” (p. 250). If students are simply bound to viewing the world through a narrow
cultural lens, then they will never be able to fully understand the collective identity of different
cultures in various parts of the world. In the end, is viewing the world through a global and
multi-cultural lens enough to truly understand the concept of collective identity? What about
Aboriginal perspectives? I believe we as Social Studies teachers must also infuse the
perspectives of these people as well.

Aboriginal Perspectives

If we want our students to grasp the concept of collective identity, especially here in
Canada, I believe it is crucial for Social Studies teachers to infuse the perspectives of Aboriginal
content into their classroom culture. Putting ourselves in the shoes of Aboriginal peoples in
Canada, we may feel the ramifications of racism, bias, and stereotyping. However, we can teach
our students to combat these neglections by building awareness in order to understand and tackle
these problems head on (Newbery, Morgan, & Eadie, 2013). A powerful way to implement this
mode of thinking into students is to provide powerful, Aboriginal role models to students so they
can get a first-hand look how these people have overcome the barriers they have endured
throughout their lifetime. A Social Studies teacher may want to arrange for older students to
watch movies that offer powerful portrayals of Aboriginal perspectives or even introduce
students to Aboriginal role models such as doctors, lawyers, prominent educators, and politicians
who have all achieved national eminence (Newbery et al., 2013). Exploring local sites, teaching
local Aboriginal history and stories are other excellent ways teachers can implement Aboriginal
perspectives into their classrooms. When we examine local sites for example, students are able to
discuss the ethics of the government turning these sites into parking lots or garbage dumps
(Newbery et al., 2013). In turn, this allows students to gain an understanding in regard to how
collective identity for Aboriginal peoples has been hindered, particularly by the Canadian
government. Arguably, the fusion of incorporating Aboriginal content shouldn’t be limited to
just Social Studies, but also implementing these perspectives into other subject areas such as
physical education, science, mathematics, and health (Newbery et al., 2013). Therefore, if
students are constantly surrounded by the viewpoints of Aboriginal perspectives, then they may
become more attuned in terms of distinguishing what this means for their collective identity.
When addressing the central question, I believe that Social Studies teachers must attempt
to constantly provide students through the perceptual dimension approach in order to enable
them to think more outside the box. In turn, this will help students develop an open, full, and fair
mind-set, where they can more effectively approach issues from multiple perspectives and
eventually transform themselves into more active and responsible citizens. In terms of
Aboriginal perspectives, I believe by infusing this content into classrooms, students will learn to
value the hardships this group of people went through which will hopefully cause them to strike
change in their lives. When we incorporate global, multi-cultural and aboriginal perspectives into
our teaching, students will learn to appreciate how our own individual identity translates into the
collective identity of all these different perspectives. Students will learn to put aside their
individual identity and appreciate the importance of including the collective identity of these
cultural groups into society. We need to appreciate the multiple identities we have in our world
today in order to fully understand what our collective identity as a society represents today.
Overall, exploring multiple perspectives will help students develop their individual sense but
more so, will help them discover the sense of their community.

Application to Powerful Teaching and Learning

As I venture into my future social studies classroom, I often ask myself: what
applications am I going to bring to the table in terms of offering my students the most in-depth
experience possible? When I think about all the different modalities we learned in this course, a
particular few stick out in my mind. First and foremost, I will make sure to address the multiple
dimensions of thinking, particularly critical, historical, and geographical thinking. I believe that
these dimensions will stay with students much longer than any knowledge they learn in the
curriculum. These dimensions of thought offer students an arsenal of abilities, that they can
essentially use anywhere at any given time, not just in the classroom. Furthermore, I also believe
the use of current events is very rewarding as students can apply all these dimensions of thought
to issues happening in the world today.

Critical Thinking

Incorporating critical thinking into the Social Studies classroom has proven to be
beneficiary to powerful teaching and learning. Many positive attributes are associated with the
concept of critical thinking as it helps both teachers and students to form attitudes that serve us to
reach fair solutions to issues. Considering Case & Daniels (2013), table 6.1, good critical
thinkers are “open to new ideas, persist when thinking through a problem, appreciate other points
of view, courageous in their convictions, question ideas, do not jump to conclusions, are flexible,
don’t take themselves too seriously, can live with ambiguity, and welcome challenges” (p. 54).
However, the question remains: how do we incorporate critical thinking into our social studies
classrooms? I believe a lot of it comes to down building background knowledge into your
students. According to Case & Daniels (2013), “students cannot think critically about a topic
they know little about” (p. 55). Therefore, we must first teach the students background
knowledge and then challenge them to “analyze” any given object or event (Case & Daniels,
2013). For example, students won’t be able to analyze a historical document for authenticity if
they know little of the events that are describe in the document (Case & Daniels, 2013).
Furthermore, I believe us as educators should teach our students a variety of thinking strategies,
so they are better able to work their way through challenges (Case & Daniels, 2013). By teaching
these thinking strategies, our students may ask more questions to probe for more information,
examine issues from different perspectives, look for connections between what is already known
and what is new, consider assumptions behind an opinion, and look for any possible counter-
arguments or negative consequences (Case & Daniels, 2013). In the end, if we can help create
students who embody the aspects of critical thinking, then I believe they’re probability at
becoming an active and responsible citizen drastically increases.

Historical Thinking

Historical thinking has been known to contribute to powerful teaching and learning as
well. In order to deepen the effectiveness of critical thinking, Heyking (2013), identifies six
concepts that historical thinkers must practice: “historical significance, evidence and
interpretation, continuity and change, cause and consequences, historical perspective taking, and
the ethical dimension” (p. 36). I believe in order to be an effective social studies teacher, one
must encompass all six of these concepts into their teaching. In terms of historical significance,
research suggests that children as young as seven can distinguish between “history and “the past”
(Heyking, 2013). If students can examine the most significant points in their history, then this
may embody and change their viewpoints of the present (Heyking, 2013). As children enter
elementary school, they are able to explore the range of evidence historians use such as such as
letters, interviews, or even physical remains such as artifacts (Heyking, 2013). When attempting
to teach this dimension of thinking (particularly for elementary students), it’s important to note
that teachers must exercise caution when using fictional narratives (Heyking, 2013). This is
because students may spend too much time analyzing the information and instead students at this
age would rather create their own stories (Heyking, 2013). Since students are most familiar with
narrative as a fictional form, students need explicit instruction in order to examine on which such
narratives are constructed (Heyking, 2013). Therefore, I believe that not only will students need
to need to compare and contrast historical fiction with non-fiction but rather, they will also need
to engage in historical inquiries that offer immediate relevance to them which in turn, requires
them to use evidence when creating original narratives (Heyking, 2013). According to Heyking
(2013), “understanding change over time is central to historical thinking” (p. 39). Personally, I
believe this is the most important concept of historical thinking, as it offers an opportunity for
students to truly discover how much our world has changed over the course of time. In my
teaching, the way I will address this concept of historical thinking is by providing my students
opportunities to observe and record changes in themselves, their school, and their community
(Heyking, 2013). For example, I may have my students observe the seasonal changes and the
effects it has on a tree in order to properly distinguish the change over time. Another example I
may use is having my students keep track of their height (especially if they are younger), and
track the changes over time, as they grow taller. I believe if you make these concepts more
applicable and more interesting for students, then they will eventually learn to actually appreciate
the changes from a historical event to a modern-day one. Examining cause and consequences can
be difficult to teach in an elementary setting. According to Heyking (2013), “elementary children
have difficulty appreciating the social, economic, and political factors that lead to change” (p.
40). Being an aspiring elementary teacher, this concept of historical thinking can sometime be
difficult. However, I find it really interesting that Heyking’s (2013), figure 4.1 (p. 41), is used as
an example. This is because I recently used this worksheet for one of my learning activities in
my unit plan and I thought this was a great way for students to examine the cause and
consequence of a particular event. Finally, the last concept of historical thinking involves
students combining both the historical perspective and the ethical dimension. Personally, I firmly
believe that this concept is incredibly difficult to inherit, especially for elementary school kids.
This concept involves students taking an imaginative step back in time in hopes of experience
these “worlds” with a first-hand experience. However, isn’t this difficult for elementary students
to appreciate the value of fur trader sin the nineteenth century or settlers struggling to establish
homesteads in the early twentieth century, since they have no idea as to why these events even
occurred? (Heyking, 2013). Therefore, even though I believe in the power of empathy and
imagination, I believe that teachers should transform these historical aspects into modern day
ones. For example, when asking students to write a letter to their family in England from the
perspective of a fur trader, invite students to by asking them if the settlers would feel the same
way you do about their household work (Heyking, 2013). I believe if we can make the ‘historic’
material more appealing and more engaging in ways where students can incorporate their own
perspectives in it as well, then I think this concept of historical thinking will be met in the
classroom.

Geographical Thinking

Geographical thinking can be difficult to implement at times; however, I believe that this
dimension of thinking is arguably the most engaging, if done properly. According to Bahbahni &
Tu Huynh (2008), “geography becomes more interesting and meaningful for students when they
are regularly invited to think for themselves and not simply to find answers that others have
produced” (p. 2). Furthermore, I believe where a lot of teachers can go wrong when teaching
geographical thinking is that they simply teach the concept of geography, instead of teaching
geographical thinking. Therefore, it’s important to include these six key factors when
successfully implementing geographical thinking: making geography problematic, assembling of
multiple resources, using geography to inform everyday issues and actions, offering multiple
geographic perspectives, shifting the focus in assessment, and teaching the tools (Bahbahni & Tu
Huynh, 2008). When making geographic problematic, it’s important to try and teach geography
within a context of exploring genuine inquiries, where the conclusions are opened up for debate
(Bahbahni & Tu Huynh, 2008). When assembling multiple resources, it’s vital for students to
have access to a variety of sources that reflect upon multiple perspectives (Bahbahni & Tu
Huynh, 2008). Geography can also be used to inform everyday issues and actions. In turn, this is
a great way to combine both geographical thinking and cross it over with current events. By
acknowledging multiple points of view, students will be able to see the complexity of issues
(Bahbahni & Tu Huynh, 2008). The shift in assessment should center around evaluating students
based on their ability to provide evidence-based responses to open-inquiries (Bahbahni & Tu
Huynh, 2008). Finally, in order for students to effectively inherit the advantages of geographical
thinking, students need a constant refresher of the concepts that guide critical thinking (Bahbahni
& Tu Huynh, 2008).

Current Events
Current events have the ability to truly transform a Social Studies lesson into something
profound. Often times, these events must be chosen with caution as some students may feed off
of the controversial nature of the event chosen. Personally, I know I will use current events in my
future teaching career, as I already have implemented current events in my PSII practicum last
spring. However, I most definitely approached it wrong last time. A lot of my current event days
involved students watching a ten-minute news clip and then doing a case study worksheet after.
This is partly because I didn’t know how to effectively teach the discipline at the time and was
nervous as well. However, I now know that this was the wrong way to approach current events.
In the future, I will make sure that my current event lessons involve more opportunities for active
and participative learning. More specially, this will involve my students participating in lots of
hands-on, multi-sensory activities compared to activities in which the student or teacher lectures
while the students pretend to listen (Turner, 1995). In order to further improve the effectiveness
of teaching current events, here a few more strategies I would include in my teaching. The first
one is having student students select current events as homework and then report on these events
as a class (Turner, 1995). The second strategy is to offer the entire class one news source and
maybe even design a unit around it. The third strategy is to use different modalities when
presenting our current event. Don’t be subjected only to a video. Invites students to use
newspapers, other forms of media while working in groups to complete in-class activities
(Turner, 1995). The fourth and final strategy is to present the information to the class which
allows students to either read, look, or listen, which enforces active learning (Turner, 1995).
Current events have the ability to cross over with essentially, any outcome in the program of
studies. This is a great way to get students involved and engaged in the class, however; it must be
done appropriately.
 In relation to addressing the central question, embedding the dimensions of thinking into
my teaching will provide students the tools they need to become active and responsible citizens.
Without critical thinking, students won’t be able to properly analyze problems, questions,
concepts, or issues they may come across in life. Without historical thinking, students will be un-
equipped to notice how are society is evolving which in turn, may cause them not to contribute to
society simple because they cannot see the cause and effect of historical change. Without
geographical thinking, students will have a tough time distinguishing any geography related
issues they may confront at school, at home, or in their community in general. Therefore, without
these three dimensions of thinking, students will not have the tool set to venture out in the world
and contribute to being an active and responsible citizen. In regard to the application of current
events, I believe this is so essential because us as Canadian citizens all need to be aware of
what’s happening in our community. If we want any hope of possibly contributing to the issue at
hand (especially in our community), then how can we be responsible and active citizens if we do
not possess the knowledge behind to what’s actually going on?

Conclusion

Overall, I believe that the most significant understandings and strategies that should be
adopted to enable students to be active and responsible citizens is understanding our own rights
and responsibilities, so we can make informed decisions. I believe that we must all respect the
equality of human rights in Canada and we must demonstrate a global consciousness with respect
of humanity and world issues. We must also value the global, multi-cultural and aboriginal
perspectives of our world in order to effectively become engaging citizens. Lastly, we must
integrate each dimension of thinking as well as incorporate current events into our teaching, so
students are able to get the tools, the first-hand experience, and more importantly, get an
opportunity to go change the world for the better.
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