Learning Social Science at Upper Primary Level

Course-509
Solved Assignment-1

1. Describe the relationship between the concept of Social Studies and Social
Sciences. Discuss the Indian perspective of Social Science in the context of
changing social scenario.

Answer. Conceptually, social sciences and social studies are related with each
other as well as different from each other in many aspects.
Social sciences are the body of knowledge which is concerned with human affairs
in the spectrum of broad socio-cultural system. Social sciences constitute an
important component of high school/higher education curriculum. The different
social science subjects like history, political science, anthropology, philosophy,
economics etc. have independent status in high school/university education.
The concept of ‘social studies’ is of recent origin. Social studies originated and
developed in order to be considered as the part of school curriculum. The wide
spread use of social studies started in America since 1916. Its use in India can be
traced back to the formulation of Gandhiji’s Basic Education in 1937. Social
studies is a single and composite instructional area which draws its contents from
many social sciences like history, geography, political science, economics, etc.
Social studies doesn’t combine social science subjects in unrelated way rather it
meaningfully integrates them for the purpose of helping the learners understand
woman’s/man’s relationship with the society/ environment in which she/he lives.
Developing the competencies relating to healthy social living is the main aim of
social studies learning. Social studies is concerned with the practical aspects of the
society.
Indian perspective of Social science constantly change with changing social
scenario, with respect to the social needs of the society the priorities and the
curriculum was always modified that suits best for the ongoing scenario. During
1952-1953 the secondary education commission included Social studies as a term,
was comparatively new in Indian education. It is meant to cover the ground
traditionally associated with history, geography, economics, civics etc. Few years

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later The Education Commission (1964-66) included students acquire knowledge
of their environment, an understanding of human relationship, and attitude and
values which are vital for intelligent participation in the affairs of the community,
the state, the nation and the world. In later years more focused was on
environmental studies so environmental studies was included in NCERT (1975)
which include both natural and social environment in class I and II. It was more
appropriate to use the term social studies rather than social sciences at primary
stage, since it represents a broad and composite instructional area. In 1988
National Curriculum for Elementary and Secondary Education (1988) Observes
Social Sciences is perhaps the singular curricular area which can prove to be the
most effective tool for providing education in the context of all the core
components.
The core-components were i. History of India’s freedom movement ii.
Constitutional obligations iii. Values such as India’s common cultural heritage iv.
Egalitarianism, democracy, secularism v. Equality of sexes vi. Protection of
environment vii. Small family norms etc.
In modern time nation curriculum framework proposed The social sciences
encompass diverse concerns of society, and include a wide range of content drawn
from the disciplines of history, geography, political science, economics, sociology
and anthropology. Social science perspectives and knowledge are indispensable to
building the knowledge base for a just and peaceful society. The content should
aim at raising students’ awareness through critically exploring and questioning of
familiar social reality. The possibilities of including new dimensions and concerns,
especially in view of students’ own life experiences, are considerable. Selecting
and organizing material into a meaningful curriculum, one that will enable students
to develop a critical understanding of society, is therefore a challenging task.

2. Describe the position of Social Sciences curriculum in upper primary school

curriculum. List the subjects considered under Social Science.

Answer. In India, at the lower primary school level (i.e., class I-V), social sciences
are taught to the learners as the part of environmental studies or environmental
sciences curriculum. At the upper primary school level (i.e. class VI-VIII) and
secondary school level (i.e. Class IX and X), social sciences are taught to the
learners as a core composite instructional area of curriculum, and this area of
curriculum is called as ‘social studies’ or ‘social sciences’. At the upper primary
and the secondary school levels mainly three to four instructional
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subjects/components (for example, history, geography etc.) comprise the social
sciences/ social studies curriculum. The details regarding the instructional
subjects/components of school level social sciences you will find in later part of
this unit (i.e. section 1.5.2). At the higher secondary school level (i.e. class XI and
XII), different social science subjects like political science, anthropology,
economics, psychology, etc. are taught to the learners as the optional / specialized
courses.

At the upper primary and/or the secondary levels, the term ‘social sciences’ and
‘social studies’, to a great extent are interchangeably used. For example, NCF
(2005, p-53) used the term ‘social studies’ in the context of curriculum of the upper
primary stage, whereas, the Position Paper – Nation Focus Group on ence’ is used.
Whatever the terms (i.e. ‘social studies’ or ‘social sciences’) used, the focus of
teaching learning of ‘social sciences’ (or ‘social studies’) changes according to the
levels of education that is already discussed earlier. At school level, learning of
social studies/ social sciences focuses on the issues which are functionally different
from the issues of learning of social sciences at higher education level.

The general aims of learning social sciences at upper primary/ elementary school
level are as follows:
1) To acquaint students with their geographical, social and cultural environments.
2) To develop in students the sense of social competence and social commitment.
3) To develop the democratic citizenship qualities among students.
4) To develop the spirit of patriotism, national feeling and international
understanding among students.
5) To help students to participate in socio - economic institutions.
6) To train students to solve the present and forthcoming social issues and
challenges.
7) To develop moral values, emotional qualities and sense of belongingness among
students.
A large number of subjects are included in social sciences family. Some of the
social science subjects like political science, economics, philosophy etc. are very
old, whereas some other social science subjects like human rights, public
administration, social works, etc. are in developing/young stage.

The social science subjects may be categorized under the following three branches/
headings.

Pure Social Sciences: Political science, economics, history, jurisprudence, law,

sociology, public administration, social work, human rights, anthropology, etc.

Semi Social Sciences: Ethics, education, philosophy, psychology, art etc.

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Sciences with Social Implication: Geography, biology, medicine, linguistics,
library science, etc.

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 Solved Assignment-2

1. What are the content areas of „Social Science‟ and „Political Life‟ in Social
Sciences curriculum at upper primary level? Discuss the pedagogical
principles of learning.
Answer.‘Social and political life’ of social science curriculum at upper primary
stage was previously taught as ‘civics’. At the upper primary stage social science
curriculum includes three main learning areas i.e. ‘history’, ‘geography’, and
‘social and political life’.
At the elementary (especially upper primary) stage ‘social science’ is taught as a
formal school subject like language, mathematics, etc. In the upper primary stage
the social science curriculum includes three main learning areas i.e. ‘history’,
‘geography’, and ‘social and political life’. As upper primary stage generally
covers from class VI to VIII, all these learning areas i.e. history, geography and
social and political life of social science curriculum spread across class VI to VIII.
At the upper primary level, social science curriculum has been prepared in an
integrated fashion emphasizing on relationship across the component subjects and
different grades. In other words, it means, social science curriculum at the upper
primary stage has been integrated across the subject areas (i.e. history, geography,
and social and political life) and across the grades (from class VI to VIII).
Learning history at upper primary stage: Learning history acquaints learners with
the developments in different parts of India and in different parts of the world in
relation to the time.
Learning of geography at upper primary stage: Learning of geography acquaints
learners with the issues of nature, environment, resources, materials etc. in relation
to space (starting from local to global level).
Learning of social and political life at upper primary stage: At upper primary stage
social and political life acts as an integrated subject of political science/
economics/ sociology. How social and political life acts as an integrated subject of
political/science/ economics/ sociology is given below.
National Focus Group on Teaching of Social Sciences (2006) suggested the
following model course content for the area ‘Social and Political Life’ of
Social Science curriculum at upper primary level (i.e. class-VI, VII and VIII).
Class -VI (Diversity and Interdependence)

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Unit -1 Diversity
Unit -2 Government
Unit -3 Local Government
Unit -4 Making a Living
Class - VII (Democracy and Equality)
Unit -1 Democracy
Unit -2 State Government
Unit -3 Understanding media
Unit -4 Unpacking Gender
Unit -5 Market around Us
Class -VIII (Rule of Law and Social Justice)
Unit -1 The constitution
Unit-2 Parliamentary Government
Unit-3 The judiciary
Unit-4 Social justice and marginalized
Unit-5 Economic presence of the Government
Pedagogical principles of learning-
Basically the learning of social and political life requires an interactive and
experimental pedagogic situation. The learning must be related with the real life
situations of the learners. The cultural and social contexts of the learner must be
given high priority in whole teaching learning process of social and political life.
The pedagogy used for learning of this area must facilitate the creativity, critical
understanding, and problem solving ability of the learners. The pedagogy of this
area must follow the learning by playing, learning by enjoying and learning by
doing. The pedagogy must be learner oriented by keeping the learner at the central
place of teaching learning.

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2. Prepare some activities (at least 5) to teach Social Science to make your
class learner centered.
Answer.
Activity 1: Create Good Citizen Posters
After reading chapter, I’ll start a discussion with my class by asking questions like
these:
How can you help people at home?
What can you do to take turns in school?
How can you show respect for people in the community?
Then have your students make posters that show ways to be a good citizen at
home, in school, or in the community. Have them share their creations with the
class.
Activity 2: Write a Class Book about their Community
Have students make a class book on how geography and climate affects the way
we live. Students will find the information to create the pages by reading this
magazine about where we live. I’ll ask students to compare their community to
another by asking questions (e.g., Is it near water or mountains? Is it on flat land?
What is the weather like? How do these things shape the way people in the
community live?). Have students draw pictures of people in each place, showing
the clothing they wear, food they eat, homes they live in, how they get from one
place to another, and the things they do to have fun. Write a sentence under each
picture explaining how location and weather shape the way people in the
community live. Put all the students’ pictures together to make a book.

Activity 3: Create a Museum Exhibit about Landforms

Students work in pairs to create museum exhibits and pamphlets after
reading geography book. Have kids imagine they work for a museum that
specializes in exhibits about your area and let them create a two-part exhibit. One
part is a model of the landforms and bodies of water in your area. The other part is
a written report about these features, as well as the climate, plants, and wildlife. I’ll
also ask them to compare your area with other areas. Students can review the
information in the magazine, and do additional research as needed.

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Activity 4: Interview a Historical Figure
After reading about Indian history, students get to pretend they’re reporters living
at the time of Indian National Movement. Their first assignment is to interview
Mahatma Gandhi, who played a major role in Indian Independence. One question
could be about his vision of free India and how they can achieve it. Others might
be about specific parts that time.
Activity 5: Publish an Ancient Newspaper
First, have students read Indian history in history book. Then have them put
together an ancient newspaper thatreports on Indian nationalism. Kids can decide
on a clever name for the paper, and choose people, places, and events to include in
various sections (e.g., weather report, obituary, biography, articles, etc.). They can
illustrate the newspaper with drawings and advertisements that relate to that time.

Solved Assignment -3

1. Explain the concept of Continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE).

How will you use CCE for your learner in social science? Explain through
examples based on your experiences.
Ans. Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation refers to a process of evaluation
which is school based and aims at all round development of the student. The term
consists of three key words. The word “Continuous” refers to watching children’s
learning and progress regularly at short intervals as frequently as possible,
throughout the academic session to identify their current standing, strengths and
requirement of additional inputs and /or interventions to further expand their
boundaries of learning, development and progress. The word “Comprehensive”
means evaluation has to cover curricular subjects, curricular activities, socio-
personal qualities, and work and art education etc. It involves both quantitative and
qualitative information gathered from various sources such as school records,
peers, parents, teachers and self through then use of varieties of tools and
techniques, e.g. observation, interviews, documentary analysis. The word
“Evaluation” is the process that deals with the collection of information regarding
the changes that occur in the child’s behavior; interpretation of these information;
judgment regarding the progress of the child; and decision with regard to his
promotion to the next class.
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As a teacher of social science I try to use CCE in my class in form of practical
work mostly Like instead of just teaching them about ancient monuments I try to
take them on a visit to that old monument and give them tasks related to that visit
and then assess the tasks done by the students. Based on my experience I would to
explain it with an activity we had done recently in which we visited a historical
site.
Preparatory to the site visit
In this activity through questioning I assessed children's general enquiry and
research skills and prepare them for the visit. Suppose you have decided to take the
children for a visit to QutubMinar.
Placed pictures of QutubMinar and its adjoining monuments (Quwwat-ul-Islam
Masjid, Tomb of Imam, Zamin, Iron pillar, Alai Darwaza, Alai Minar etc.), its
architectural features (ex. arches, pillars) and sculptures on different tables. The
class has not worked with these pictures before. Divided the class into groups and
provide the children the pictures along with the following set of written
instructions.
Task 1 Write at least 10 questions about the picture. These can be anything you
want to know about, but the more unusual ones are often better. Draft these and
when ready, write them out in best.
What to assess?
Task 1 requires the children simply to examine the picture and to pose questions. I
assessed the child’s ability to observe and frame questions.
Sample questions:
What is shown in the picture?
Who constructed it?
When was it made?
What kind of material has been used in the construction and why?
What was it for?
Who was it made for?
How old is it?
Why is it this shape?
What sort of activities went in this monument?
What kind of designs are on the monument?
Is monument representative of one style or many?
Task 2Finally label the picture. It must be no more than four words.
What to assess?

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Task 2 Requires the children to select the most important features of their
monument to label them. At the end of activity, I gathered the whole class together
and ask each group verbally to justify the inclusion of their chosen information on
their label. Selection of important features and their justification help in assessing
children's comprehension, reasoning, expression and writing skills.

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