Social Studies Settings in Grade 1 to 6

SOCIAL STUDIES FIELDWORK ASSIGNMENT

Teaching and Learning Social Studies in Childhood Settings: Grade 1 to 6

The best research method for learning teaching methodologies in a classroom setting is systematic classroom observation. For a certain number of days, the observer is required to note down all the behaviors taking place in the selected class and should be recorded for future use (Zaare, 2013). There are various advantages for the researcher in such observational study, such as allowing the observer to take notes in a natural setting where students and teachers communicate regularly; therefore, more thorough and accurate data is collected as compared to other data sources. There is an additional benefit that change can be stimulated within the classroom environment, and its effects could be studied for deeper understanding. The results could be verified according to the change that occurred. The assessment of teaching is, therefore, well justified since the knowledge is based on effective instruction.

The purpose of this school study is to link the philosophical theories learned in the class with the observed classes of the selected schools. Moreover, the observation will be carried out in two different classrooms at different grade levels. The schools are located in different cities but the same state with the selection of public schools till 6th grades.

Part A: School Setting

Success Academy

Two school settings were visited for this assignment. The first one was the Success Academy, which was located in San Jose, California. The grade school was till 4th grade. It was a K5 primary or elementary school with the characteristics of a traditional public school, which has the responsibility of educating all children in a certain area without charging any fee, and the teachers are registered to provide teaching to those students. The school was required to stick to a specific curriculum issued by the state government and also the rules of policy and curriculum. The demographics of students included 64 percent Hispanic, 24 percent Asian, 8 percent Filipino, 2 percent two or more races, 1 percent Black, 1 percent White, and less than 1 percent Pacific Islander (Great Schools, n.d.). Fifty-one percent boys and 49 percent girls were studying in this school, and the language spoken was English. There were 77 percent of students from low-income families in this school. There were 24 students in the observed class, out of which 50 percent were English learners (ELL) and the rest having intermediate or higher language skills. Only 3 percent of the total student population were students with disabilities (SWD). The school staff demographics included 96 percent of teachers who had three or more years of teaching experience. All of them were full-time teachers. The school support staff did not include any security guard, social worker, nurse psychologists, etc.

Esperanza Elementary School

The second school that was observed was Esperanza Elementary School that was located in Oakland, California. The grade school was till 5th grade and also a primary or elementary school. It also fulfilled the responsibilities of giving education to all the children of that specific area. It adhered to a particular curriculum that was advised by the state government. The tuition fee was not charged for any student, and the license registered teachers. This was a school with very little diversity since there were 98 percent Hispanic and 2 percent Black and other races students (Public School Review, n.d.). Fifty-two percent of girls and 48 percent of boys were studying in the same school.

The languages spoken were English and Spanish since it has a dual immersion program that allows the Native English and Spanish students to learn together. In K2, Literacy and Math were taught in Spanish, while Science and Social Studies were taught in English. In grades 3 to 5, it is the opposite. The school is situated in a low-income area; hence 92 percent of the students belong to the same income group. There were 20-second grade students in the observed class, and all were considered English learners (4 early intermediate, 13 intermediate, and three early advanced). Thirteen percent of the students were those with disabilities. The school staff demographics included 86 percent of teachers with three or more years of teaching experience. Ninety percent were certified full-time teachers (16 in number) but having no social workers and law enforcement officers. However, there was other school support staff, such as a part-time nurse, a part-time psychologist, and a part-time security guard (Great Schools, n.d.). There were several school programs for students such as school-linked services initiatives, early childhood initiative, college and career pipeline initiative, juvenile justice initiative, fall arts and crafts events, food distributions before Thanksgiving, ending child hunger during crucial times like COVID 19 via programs like Alameda County community food bank, Lincoln child center, upward roots and safety patrol. There were after school programs that involved fun and academic activities for building relations of students with outside community and peers. The program was organized for 150 days, for three hours a day throughout the school year.

Part B: Classroom Setting

Success Academy

Success Academy offered both traditional and progressive programs since it contained the characteristic of teachers deciding what to teach to the students, along with letting the students acquire and process information from various sources such as their thinking, personal experiences, and play activities in the class. The teacher took authority while explaining the lesson of the day but gave a free hand to the students to ride on their imagination to answer questions related to the topic.

This school followed a submersion model of bilingual education programs since it believed that the nonnative speaker should also learn English, and the students' first language was not supported. As mentioned earlier, 50 percent of the 24 students of the observed class were English learners, while the others had limited English proficiency (LEP). This means that students who were native English speakers and those who were in the learning stage were put in the same class so that the same learning environment could be provided to both, which would double the learning speed of the nonnative ones. Only 3 percent of the students were those with disabilities, and maybe that was the reason that the classroom did not include any special training teacher, showing nil integrated co-teaching (ICT). Similarly, there was also no partnership of special needs teachers and the actual class teacher for District 75 programs (D 75), which comprises student support for challenges like autism, emotional disturbances, sensory impairments, and other multiple disabilities. The student-teacher ratio in this school was 21:1.

The number of adults in the classroom was one teacher, and the students were 24 in number. It was a first-grade social studies class studying a lesson on methods of transportation used 100 years ago and today. The demographics of class students included a large population of Hispanic, Asian, Filipino, Asian, and some black students. The teacher was American. The class entailed both boys and girls in the student population while the teacher was a female. The age group of children ranged from 6 to 7 years, while the teacher was in the early thirties.

The classroom environment showed pictures and chart papers all over the walls. There was a whiteboard for the teacher of writing on, and some chart papers were seen on the whiteboard as well. These chart papers had writings, and the other chart papers on the walls were informative such as names of vegetables and counting from 1 to 100. The teacher used pictures and books to make children understand the topic well. The teacher also prompted them to think about the discussion, and for that, they were seen sitting on the floor, on the carpet. Together, they were sitting close to the teacher to listen to her properly. The teacher was not moving around much since the students were sitting close to her, but she kept them attentive throughout the session.

The classroom was clean as the children were sitting on the floor, and no work was seen being done within the room, such as any activity in groups on the table where one could observe any chaos of clustered things. Sufficient light was seen inside the classroom without any presence of plants or animals. A small bookshelf is also seen on one side of the room.

The classroom set up was in clusters (chairs and tables grouped for students) but with horseshoe or U-shaped setting. The center of the classroom seemed to be sitting on the floor or the clear area of the carpet, otherwise where the teacher's chair was also positioned. No visible cultural artifacts, representing students' or teacher's culture, were seen within the classroom.

Esperanza Elementary School

The selected school made use of bilingual programs where two languages were used for instruction. As mentioned above, there were two languages spoken: English and Spanish. Native English and Spanish students learned together in the class. In K2, Literacy and Math were communicated in Spanish while Social Studies and Science were instructed in English. This means that the school follows a mixture of maintenance bilingual education and enrichment, two way or developmental bilingual education programs (Roberts, 1995). In bilingual maintenance education, the students are given support in their first language, which is Spanish in this case and are slowly transitioned into English content. When subjects are taught in English along with Spanish, this means that a transition is made for the learners to facilitate them in understanding their language along with Native English side by side. In two ways, enrichment or developmental education program, both nonnative and native English speakers are included. The selected school teaches some subjects in English while others in Spanish, and it's opposite for other courses as well. This means that the school wants to teach both languages for native and nonnative speakers.

Also, there was a two-way immersion observed in this classroom since the native English, and Spanish speakers served to be a learning source for each other. The academic instruction in both languages was started in the early elementary years of school. Esperanza's school had 13 percent of students with disabilities. Still, the classroom observation did not show any integrated co-teaching (ICT) since there were no signs of special education teachers who provided teaching along with the actual class teacher. There was also no collaboration of special needs teachers and the actual class teacher for District 75 programs (D 75), which includes support for students facing challenges like autism, emotional disturbances, sensory impairments, and other multiple disabilities. The student-teacher ratio was 17:1.

The total adults in the observed classroom of Esperanza school were one, the science class teacher, and the number of students was 20. It was a 2nd-grade science class studying a lesson on balance. The demographics of the class students included a large population of Hispanics and very few other mixed races. The teacher also was Hispanic since she belonged to the local area. The class also included both boys and girls in the student population while the teacher being female. The children's age-group ranged from 7 to 8 years, while the teacher was above 30 years.

The classroom environment showed pictures and chart papers all over the walls of the classroom. There was a whiteboard for the teacher of writing and explaining things to the class, while the same whiteboard was also used for sticking chart papers and drawing for further elaborations on the topic for the class. There is a washbasin for kids to wash hands before eating and desk organizers too. On the floor, there were colored foam mats for the students to sit and listen closely to the teacher. There were stationery boxes on all tables for the children for doing activities, as a group of four pupils sat together; for that, tables and chairs were set accordingly. The teacher constantly kept moving around the class to get the attention of all the students and to supervise each one of them when they needed help in group activities.

The classroom was clean, but during the class, there was a chaos of things since the children kept working on small activities that their teacher assigned to them related to the topic of the day. Colorful chart papers were displayed around the class walls that also included students' work. Sufficient light was seen inside the classroom without any presence of plants or animals.

The classroom set up was again in clusters (chairs and tables grouped for four students) but with horseshoe or U-shaped setting. The center of the classroom seemed to be the colored floor mats where the teacher was positioned mostly, and the class gathered for sitting and listening to the teacher. No visible cultural artifacts, representing students' or teacher's culture, were noticed within the classroom.

Part C: Lessons Observed

Success Academy

The lesson observed in Success Academy was about methods of transportation used 100 years ago and today, which was for the subject of Social Studies 1st grade. The lesson observed was a 42-minute class where the teacher showed children different pictures and illustrations for a better understanding of the topic. She started the lesson with a prompt question, "how did you get to school today?" The teacher was constantly engaging the students in different discussions about the topic, and the students were sitting on the floor, without any pens, pencils, or any other materials in their hands so that their entire focus should be on the teacher and the board. The activities in which students were engaged were simple questions answers session, a picture showing for which students had to answer what they were shown, teacher, asked the difference, spelling dictation while showing and asking names of the transport (for example, pronunciation of "van" with spellings), syllables and reading a giant book about past and present transportation with the help of oxen.

In my opinion, the lesson and the related activities were a comprehensive way to teach children about the transportation modes used in the past and present. Various other activities which not part of social studies subject, such as those of English (syllables and pronunciation of "van"), were a great way to incorporate what the students had learned in other subjects to make use of them now. Students not only listened to what their teacher was telling them but also the teacher encouraged them to take part in thinking and telling exercises as well.

Esperanza Elementary School

The lesson observed in Esperanza School was about balance, which was for Science subjects for 2nd grade. The lesson observed was a 48-minute class where the teacher showed children different pictures, chart papers, and some doing activities for a better grasp of the topic under discussion. She started with a focus question a d kept them involved throughout the lesson by asking them to answer questions and repeat what she was telling. A difference in this observed class as compared to the other school was that the teacher made the learners sit on the floor and had their full attention towards her, along with making them sit on their desks for a few activities about the balance. The students took some shaped pieces of paper in their hands to see if they can balance it from different angles in their hands or fingers. They also looked at chart papers and pictures that the teacher showed them and made them think if they are balanced or not. The types of activities used in the class were question answers, repeat after the teacher, pictures showing and telling what is balanced and not falling, activities done with own hands of children (such as holding a piece of crab-shaped paper) and checking its balance, and discussions on the group tables sitting in the classroom along with some writing exercises.

In my opinion, it was a great use of all the activities since it engaged the students and allowed them to use their thinking abilities to the fullest. There was not any involvement of any other subject, such as English, as was in the case of Success Academy, but the students were still able to understand the topic well. They were able to write and project their ideas and thoughts to the teacher.

Part D: Making Connections

The observed classrooms depicted three major philosophies of education: perennials, essentialism, and progressivism (Zirhlioglu & Yayla, 2016). The perennials ensure that students get the ideas of Western civilization, which was evident in both the schools. Both had diversities, but the students belonging to other races were sitting with native English speakers so that they are in constant touch with the English culture, what they eat in class, how they communicate, etc. Essentialism suggests that a common basis of knowledge should be transferred to all students equally and methodically. The same was marked in both schools, where the teacher was continually maintaining discipline in the class to transmit knowledge to all the class pupils. Progressivism believes that education should be focused on the child on the whole rather than the content or the teacher only. This was obvious in both schools since the students were playing the parts of a learner, thinker, and problem solver, whereas the teacher merely served as a facilitator.

The observed class in Esperanza school also made use of experiential learning, where the students experienced things for themselves and learning on their own. For example, the lesson they were studying was balanced, and the teacher gave them pieces of irregular shape like that of a crab so that they can hold in their own hands and see at what point it can balance and also find the center of balance. Moreover, cognitivism was evident in both the classrooms where the learners were repetitively involved in thinking processes and problem-solving. In addition to that, pedagogy and andragogy were the two main areas of attention in both classrooms. The teachers in both classes directed the main content of the topic upon the students and, after that, allowed them to think about it and answer questions or solve problems. For example, pedagogy was when the teacher told that how a thing is balanced and is not falling; on the contrary, in the same class, andragogy was when the teacher made the students sit in a group on their desks and asked them by going to them one by one about what they thought when they balanced the paper carb in their hands.