AOE Transferable Skills and Social Studies
EDU
6011
October
27, 2015
Minda
Moskowitz
As mentioned on the Vermont AOE website,
“While it may be possible to demonstrate proficiency in the transferable skills
absent content, it is more effective and relevant to assess these skills in the
context standards from the content areas.” For example, social studies provides
the perfect backdrop for students to demonstrate all five graduation
proficiencies: clear and effective communication, self-direction, creative and
practical problem solving, responsible and involved citizenship, and informed
and integrative thinking.
To use social studies as a bridge to
teaching these skills, I imagine the following project. As responsible and
involved citizens, students would be required to find and read current events
articles to figure out how they can participate
in and contribute to the enhancement of community life (responsible and
involved citizenship). They would choose a problem that interests them and integrate knowledge from a variety of
sources to set goals and make informed decisions (self-direction). They
would do this by researching various on line and print sources and by speaking
to people who may have some input.
Then, they would analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information from multiple sources to
build on knowledge (informed and integrative thinking) and generate a variety of solutions , use
evidence to build a case for best responses, critically evaluate the
effectiveness of responses, and repeat the process to generate alternate
solutions (creative and practical problem solving). Finally, they would compile all of the
information that they have gathered and demonstrate
organized and purposeful communication, use evidence and logic appropriately in
communication and collaborate effectively and respectfully by writing a
letter to the editor of a newspaper or a government office, explaining what
they know about the issue and how they think it can be solved (clear and
effective communication).
The suggestions provided in the social
studies articles fit seamlessly with the application of the Vermont AOE
transferable skills. Making social
studies skills relevant, transferable and integrated throughout the day
encourages students to become knowledgeable and involved citizens. Tying these
objectives together with the Vermont AOE transferable skills provides a
framework for teaching and using the necessary skills to accomplish this.
I like the use of the word "seamlessly." The wonderful thing about these transferable skills is that most of them can seamlessly be integrated into any content area.
ReplyDeleteWell done coming up with a unit that integrates all five areas of transferable skills listed by the Vermont AOE. What is the unit that you are designing for this class? Is there a way that you can incorporate what you just wrote into a lesson for that unit?
ReplyDeleteHi, Galloway! My unit is about the ecosystem of the the school where I am completing my practicum. In order to incorporate all five areas of transferable skills as outlined, the unit would have to be based upon what is happening in current events at that time. However, as part of one of my lessons in which we were learning what happens when humans interact in the ecosystem, I asked the class if we should build a shopping mall on the premises. Using this as a theoretical community issue, students could easily complete the rest of the activities. My preference, however, would be to start with the relevant community issues and build the lesson from there.
ReplyDelete