Social Science Learning in Schools

Perspective and Challenges

This book is a first of its kind that locates the teaching and learning of social science within the larger perspective of education and its aims. It presents major debates and critical perspectives on social science pedagogy, curriculum design, and textbook writing. It emphasizes the need to bring the teaching of social science into the realm of pedagogical theory – beyond the confines of ideological debate.

The social science curriculum of Eklavya - a non-profit, non-government organization that develops and field tests innovative educational programs and trains resource people to implement these programs through a network of education resource centers located in Madhya Pradesh, India – is reviewed by a team of professionals from various disciplines within the social sciences, education, and communication. This curriculum was initiated to enable teachers and students to interact on social issues and processes in an active and analytical way. Eklavya books are unique in making the social world of the learner both an object of study and a process by constantly encouraging learners to reflect upon their own social world. Without impinging upon the autonomous space of the teachers, the texts provide useful pedagogical spaces and ideas, attempting to resolve the dichotomy often posed between the child and the curriculum.

Issues posed in the introduction and analyzed within the context of the expert reviews and the contemporary context and concerns in education, include the child and the teacher as an agency, the role of textbooks, the strengths and limits of integration of subjects, the need to focus on methods of social science enquiry as integral to teaching-learning social science in schools, and approaches to writing textbooks.