Chapter One- Introduction
Statement of Problem
When thinking of the course of an average school day for elementary students one envisions a day spent working through the four major academic cores, in order to achieve a balanced education. Thus has been the experience of generations of school age children since the dawn of public education in America. A new era has arisen that has challenged, if not overthrown, traditional education dogma; a sole focus on English and Mathematics in the Elementary School setting. Science and Social Studies have been cast to the perphicials of the school day curriculum with little reflection on what these trends might mean to the value of education the student receives. If this was an isolated event on a local level it would be of little concern; instead it has become a national trend.
The question must be posed, why? This problem stems from two issues. First, elementary education programs focus on the modern two cores, English and Mathematics, paying only lip service to Science and Social Studies. This leads to teachers becoming …show more content…
It status as one of the primary four core subject status has been revoked and it has become little more than an exploratory subject throughout many classrooms across the country. Heafner and Fitchett (2012) note that:
While social studies has traditionally been classified as one of the four core content areas, earlier researchers argued that social studies has never achieved academic status equal to ELA and mathematics and, thus, has perennially held a minimal role within elementary curriculum and consistently receives proportionately less instructional time. Neil O. Houser (1995) supported this notion, observing that social studies has time and again been stigmatized as an “enrichment” discipline or a topic for math and ELA
Statement of Problem
When thinking of the course of an average school day for elementary students one envisions a day spent working through the four major academic cores, in order to achieve a balanced education. Thus has been the experience of generations of school age children since the dawn of public education in America. A new era has arisen that has challenged, if not overthrown, traditional education dogma; a sole focus on English and Mathematics in the Elementary School setting. Science and Social Studies have been cast to the perphicials of the school day curriculum with little reflection on what these trends might mean to the value of education the student receives. If this was an isolated event on a local level it would be of little concern; instead it has become a national trend.
The question must be posed, why? This problem stems from two issues. First, elementary education programs focus on the modern two cores, English and Mathematics, paying only lip service to Science and Social Studies. This leads to teachers becoming …show more content…
It status as one of the primary four core subject status has been revoked and it has become little more than an exploratory subject throughout many classrooms across the country. Heafner and Fitchett (2012) note that:
While social studies has traditionally been classified as one of the four core content areas, earlier researchers argued that social studies has never achieved academic status equal to ELA and mathematics and, thus, has perennially held a minimal role within elementary curriculum and consistently receives proportionately less instructional time. Neil O. Houser (1995) supported this notion, observing that social studies has time and again been stigmatized as an “enrichment” discipline or a topic for math and ELA