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                                    Current Events, the Student, and Social Studies

                                                            by Dr. Marlow Ediger

            Current events should be an inherent part of the social studies. Learners need to stay abreast of what is transpiring in the world.  Citizens in a democracy need to be well informed of happenings locally, state wide, nationally, and internationally.  Objectives in the current events must be meaningful and on the developmental level of students. They need to consist of knowledge, skills, and attitudinal goals. Balance among the three kinds of objectives need to be stressed in teaching and relevant objectives for student attainment must be chosen. They should emphasize those events which are enduring, rather than transitory and teachers must use quality pedagogy and possess much knowledge of current events in order to do well in assisting learner progress (Ediger and Rao, 2001).

                                                Teaching Current Events

            Current events may be brought in as they relate to an ongoing unit of study. Thus, if a unit is taught on India, then current events on that nation should be brought into teaching/learning situations. But, not all salient events are related to the social studies being taught. These may be stressed separately such as happenings in Brazil or Argentina. Or an entire unit may be taught on a current events situation, if it possesses high importance, such as "The Middle East Dilemmas."

            Relevancy and importance are salient in selecting current events items to be taught. Then too, they need to be on the understanding level of students. Meaning is vital to students when learning about current events. What is not meaningful must be identified and re-taught. The current events items must be adjusted to where students understand the subject matter taught.

            Scaffolding must be used when assisting students to achieve from where they are presently to a possible ideal level. This represents a gap which needs to be filled. Carefully sequencing within the gap assists students to achieve as optimally as possible. Concrete, semi-concrete, and abstract materials in teaching students must be used (Smith, 2006).

            Learner engagement is salient in teaching current events. Passive students tend not to accomplish whereas active involvement is preferred. Each student must work diligently to attain vital objectives of instruction. Good work habits will assist students to achieve well presently as well as in the future as adults. Being prompt in completing assignments and doing the best work possible are two good habits to attain in current events instruction.

            Quality attitudes toward current events need to be developed because good attitudes assist in securing knowledge as well as skills. Attitudinal development is ongoing and is not developed in a short period of time. Feelings of adequacy, self fulfillment, and possessing a good self concept are necessary to achieve well. These objectives are being met when learning experiences are satisfying to the learner. To be satisfying means the experiences were interesting and new knowledge/skills were achieved.

            Attitudes, too, are developed when recognition needs are being met. Each person desires to be recognized for doing well in some facet of life, depending upon talents possessed. The late A. H. Maslow (1954) listed the following sequential steps in developing  desirable attitudes:

*  having physiological needs met such as possessing adequate food, clothing,   

    and shelter

            *  having safety needs met

            *  having love and belonging needs met

            *  having esteem needs met

            *  having knowledge needs met

            *  realizing self actualization.

            By viewing the above named needs of students, it is quite apparent that knowledge needs do not come first in importance, but are subject to prerequisites which need fulfilling. It might seem as if some of these are far removed from current events instruction, but it does indicate that hungry children will not achieve well in school. Physiological needs may be met, in part, with school breakfasts and lunches. However, there are too many days when a school is not in session to meet nutrition needs of students such as Saturdays and Sundays. In some areas, lunches are served free to children during selected summer months, but again there are loop holes here in students not being fed from among the needy, in particular, when these meals are not being served during intervals. Clothes closets and selected religious groups do provide clothing free of charge. Through contacts with these groups, schools are assisted in meeting clothing needs of students. Schools, in part, can meet love and belonging needs of children with teachers accepting and respecting each learner. A caring feeling by teachers and peers can go a long way in helping children do well in school.

            Going back to specifically teaching current events, students need to communicate items clearly and accurately, orally and in writing. They need to check news-reports against each other to notice discrepancies. It is salient to notice who wrote an item since the nationality of the writer might well be subject to bias. News items need discussing to look at diverse points of view held by students. Readiness factors need to be considered in any type of learning opportunity including discussions.

            Sources for current event items may come from the internet, newspapers and magazines, and radio news reports, among others. The student may learn much in current events from viewing illustrations in the news media, as in televised reports. The sense of hearing may be used solely (radio use) or collectively with the visual (pictorial)and print discourse. Whatever source is used, meaning needs to be inherent pertaining to that which is learned.

            News items cover a broad scope including

            *  changes in governmental officials within a nation and election disputes

            *  border disputes and boundary changes between/among nations

            *  wars, declared and undeclared

            *  natural disasters including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and tornados       (Ediger, 1995).

            A variety of learning opportunities should be used in current events including debates, in-depth analysis/synthesis of news items in a seminar procedure, committee deliberations, dramatization of selected news events, and reports by individuals or within small groups. Interest might well be developed through students making posters, charts, models, experience charts, giving oral reports on news happenings, keeping an ongoing log/portfolio on current events, and murals.

            Standards need to be developed and implemented pertaining to current events’ discussions. These include staying on the topic pursued, respecting the thinking of others, listening carefully to the ideas of peers and the teacher, each participating but no one dominating the discussion, presenting ideas clearly and accurately as well as evaluating them in an atmosphere of trust, drawing valid and accurate conclusions from discussions, and attaining feelings of motivation.

            At one school in which the author supervised university student teachers in the  public schools, a classroom of sixth graders wrote a newspaper of current event items discussed. They had an editor, an assistant editor for each category of news items, and proof readers, among other divisions of workers for the classroom newspaper. The small newspaper was received favorably among parents and served to communicate, in part, what the school was achieving (See Ediger, 2003).

            A bulletin board of news clippings should be used to have students display current events items. The student who brought a news item may then briefly report to the class on subject matter in the clipping. A world map may be located adjacent to the news clippings with yarn connecting the item to the place of happening. This is a good time to bring to bring into the unit on current events, important map and globe learnings such as meridians, parallels, latitude, longitude, hemispheres, the polar regions, and time zones, among others.

                                                Methods of Teaching Current Events

            A variety of methods needs to be used in teaching/learning situations. Students may develop generalizations inductively, following a discussion of an important happening. The conclusion may be checked by having other learners present their summary statements.

            In contrast, a deductive procedure may be used whereby the teacher provides the conclusion to a news item with students offering supporting statements.

            Problem solving may be emphasized pertaining to current events items. Here, learners identify, in a contextual situation, a relevant problem/question. Based on knowledge possessed, an hypothesis or tentative answer to the problem is suggested by learners. The hypothesis is evaluated through further study and research by learners. It is then revised and modified, if necessary.

            Learners should be encouraged to develop and maintain a notebook of ideas gleaned from current events discussions. The notebook may be bound for review as well as for other uses in future situations. An electronic notebook, alternatively produced when students are ready for these kinds of experiences, might also be developed (See Supon, 2006).   Self evaluation helps the teacher to think of additional learning activities which might assist learners to achieve objectives pertaining to current events in the social studies (See Hopkins and Stanley, 1991). The following are questions which the teacher may ask the self to improve instruction:

            *  do I have a learning environment which stimulates learner curiosity?                   

*  are learning opportunities varied so that students will not lack motivation for learning?

            *  have I emphasized intrinsic motivation of students rather than continually stressing assigned work? 

         *  what evidence is there that students are actively involved in ongoing learning activities?

         *  how often do students volunteer to do additional work?

         *  is the quality of work from each student the best that can be expected of him/her?

            *  do students have ample opportunities to do work on something which is relevant?

         *  do I praise students for doing better than formerly regardless of ability levels?

            *  do I provide a learning environment whereby each feels he/she can achieve optimally?

            *  do I help each student to respect the thinking and rights of others?

            *  does it appear that students have a positive attitude toward current events?

            *  what can be done to assist each student  in wanting to learn in current events ?

            When pondering each of the above named questions, the teacher meditates on improving instruction, including the current events. Dialog needs to begin among teachers in working toward the best objectives, learning opportunities, and evaluation procedures possible for teaching and learning situation.

                                                            References

            Ediger, Marlow (1995), "Geography in the Social Studies,"

Perspectives, 27 (1), 9-10.

            Ediger, Marlow (2003), "Mentor Teachers," Edutracks, 2 (9), 9- 15. Published in India.

            Ediger, Marlow, and D. Bhaskara Rao (2001)Teaching Social Studies Successfully. New Delhi, India: Discovery Publishing House.

            Hopkins, Kenneth D., and Julian C. Stanley (1991), Educational and Psychological Measurement and Evaluation, Sixth Edition. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.

            Maslow, A. H. (1954), Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row.

            Smith, Lynn Alleen (2006), "Think aloud Mysteries: Using Structured, Sentence by Sentence Text Passages to Teach Comprehension Strategies," The Reading Teacher, 59 (8),764- 773.

            Supon, Viola (2006), Using Digital Cameras for Multidimensional Learning in K-12 Classrooms," Journal of Instructional Psychology, 33 (2), 154- 156.