President’s Message:
Rachel Collishaw, president, SSENC
What is the purpose of social studies education? Every teacher needs to reflect upon this question in order to align our practices with our core philosophy and our curriculum demands. For me, the answer to this question was that we teach social studies to develop citizens who can have conversations about the things that matter to them. We develop in them the capacity to reflect upon their own actions, the actions of our leaders, and ask questions, learn more and ultimately take action in their own communities.
Once I had really reflected on my desired outcomes for my students, it was clear to me that my assessment practices needed to change. It started by replacing our traditional written exam with an oral assessment, or conversation, centered around a compelling inquiry question of our course. If the goal was to help students see themselves as citizens who can have conversations, then that should be one of the main assessments as well.
Once that was in place, of course we needed to have more conversations throughout the year, and value them as part of the assessment process too. Changing the end assessment was, for me, the trigger that transformed my classroom, and brought joy into our assessments. It also helped us to better connect with our students and help them to think about their own learning and deepen their thinking about the past, present and future.
In this issue, you’ll read more stories about how educators are shifting their assessment practices, and navigating the complexities of ungrading, colonial legacies, provincial reporting requirements, and culturally informed practices to make assessment a real part of the learning in the social studies classroom, ultimately giving students agency over their own learning.
Clearly, subject knowledge and assessment go hand in hand. Part of high-quality social studies education is understanding assessment practices that are aligned with the inquiry learning and disciplinary thinking that are the hallmarks of high-quality social studies pedagogy and instruction. Without subject specific support for teachers in social studies classrooms, we see teachers falling back on rote learning, memorization and testing as the only methods of assessment.
I am heartened to see these conversations about assessment and pedagogy among educators spreading across the country. I hope that these articles can spark discussions with your colleagues in your school, district or province/territory about your own practices.
A great way to take those conversations to the next level is to attend one of our member association conferences, like the AQEUS conference in Quebec, or the upcoming conferences in New Brunswick and Ontario. Talking with other teachers who are also passionate about high-quality social studies education can be transformative for your practice and give you the inspiration and practical tools you need to provide high quality social studies instruction for your students.
