I teach ninth-grade social studies at Britton Middle School. I
have done so for many years. Every year, my very first homework
assignment has been to send my students home to interview an adult
about why the study of geography is required of all students.
I teach ninth-grade social studies at Britton Middle School. I have done so for many years. Every year, my very first homework assignment has been to send my students home to interview an adult about why the study of geography is required of all students.
When they come back to class the next day, we talk about the value of understanding other cultures in order to get along in our diverse society, and to do business graciously with foreign clients and to travel confidently and comfortably. Some of them simply feel that it is important to know something about the world in which they live, and that “certain things all educated people should know.”
I like to point out that public schools serve a dual purpose (at least). They certainly are intended to help prepare individual students for successful careers, in or out of the academic world. But they are also intended to benefit society. Everyone pays so that society’s children can receive an education, because it is in society’s interest to have a populace which is literate, educated, employable and at least tolerant of differences.
I suggest to my students that they are among the most powerful people on the planet. They live in the wealthiest and most powerful nation, and our government is elected by the people. I maintain that the power we enjoy comes with great responsibility. In a very few years, my students will be eligible to vote. If they are to understand the issues of that day, we must lay the foundations now. The decisions they make will affect the quality of life in our own society, and in countless countries around the world where the people do not have the power we do.
Ironically, this year I did not give this assignment. And now I open my newspaper to find that I, my students, and their parents have been giving the wrong answer to the question. Apparently, the right answer is that geography shouldn’t be required. Apparently, it is superfluous.
People are taking issue with the Morgan Hill School Board’s decision to require 40 units (four years) of social studies for high school graduation. It was not a unanimous decision (the vote was 4-3), but the suggestion that the school board was “deeply divided” is not accurate. Only one board member was adamantly opposed to the decision. A couple were strongly in favor of it. Others expressed mixed feelings. What has been lost in all of the controversy is that every board member showed deep concern for the best interests of students. In the end, they just did not agree on where those interests lie.
Nowhere in this process was there a hint of political maneuvering, as was suggested in this paper’s editorial. It had nothing to do with clustering, or small learning communities, or block scheduling. In fact, there were three conflicting recommendations that went to the board regarding social studies. The Social Studies Task Force recommended 40 units; the Secondary Steering Committee recommended 30 units; and the Secondary Task Force (the group whose recommendation the board is accused of disregarding) could not reach consensus.
Until now, the district requirement for social studies has been 35 units (three and a half years), with the half year being a semester course in world geography at the ninth grade. Ninth-graders have had the option of enrolling in a year-long college preparatory course to fulfill this requirement.
About four years ago, the district administration approached the Social Studies Task Force, and expressed the concern that we were creating a system of academic haves and have-nots. We were told that we must make a recommendation for a uniform social studies program for all ninth graders. We could not continue to “advantage” some students over others. We recommended that all ninth graders take a full year of social studies.
The opposition to this recommendation centered on concerns that an increase in the social studies requirement would place an undue burden on students, and that it would unreasonably reduce their elective opportunities. While both of these objections reveal a genuine interest in the welfare of students, I believe they are fundamentally flawed.
First of all, we do not determine what all students should know by whether or not it is too much trouble to learn. Yes, academics require effort. We still should require all of our students to learn to read and write, to be mathematically competent, and to gain a basic understanding of their world through both the natural and social sciences.
It is unconscionable to suggest, as some have done, that a student who is not planning on going to college does not need to know where Iraq is, or what human rights are, or what it means to live in a Third World country, or that North Korea is developing nuclear weapons. By all means, tell teachers that we must find ways to make this learning accessible to all students; but don’t tell the students that they do not need to learn it.
It is certainly true that our UC-bound students are heavily burdened with academics. But increasing the graduation requirement to include a year of social studies in the ninth grade will not impact them in the least. Those are the very students who have been choosing this course for decades because of the advantageous preparation it provides.
It is also true that the increase in the social studies graduation requirement further limits students’ elective opportunities. But let’s review the numbers.
Unfortunately, there is a widely held misconception that the new requirements leave students with only 50 units of elective opportunities. This is not the case, but it has been repeated so often that everyone believes it. One need only glance at the total units required for graduation (220), and compare that to the total opportunities for units over a four-year high school career (240) to see that there are 20 units unaccounted for. This is because the district allows student to fail up to 20 units and still graduate. That does not mean that those 20 units are unavailable to students who wish to take more electives.
Furthermore, already included in the graduation requirements are 20 units of foreign language and/or arts. Under the new requirements, then, students actually have the opportunity to take 90 units of classes in the electives program
Call me biased, but I don’t think we should eliminate world geography so that students can take 100 units of electives instead of 90. A significant number of seniors are opting to leave campus early as it is, through the allowance for senior exemption, rather than take advantage of the elective opportunities they have.
Some have made the suggestion that our graduation requirements should simply match the UC entrance requirements, which include only two years of social studies. We are a public school district. We must provide an education to all types of students. The UC’s list is narrow in purpose; it is designed to guarantee a specific academic background. Our purpose is far broader, and more important, than simply manufacturing UC-eligible students. I am actually less concerned about our UC-bound students than I am about those who will not go on to any college, and whose only formal exposure to world geography, current events and government comes from their high school social studies program.
Of course, most people who argue that our graduation requirements should match the UC admission requirements would no doubt back away from that position once they realized that none of our students’ diplomas would then be recognized by the State of California (which requires three years of social studies).
The ninth grade is where the state allows us the flexibility to provide the social studies background that we feel our students are lacking. The social studies teachers of this district have determined that the greatest need is in world geography. I cannot explain why the state board does not recognize this specific need and mandate it for all districts; but I also cannot explain why a bunch of people who are wont to criticize the state on most other occasions are so quick to adopt the state’s minimum requirements as ideal on this occasion.
The preparation of citizens for competent participation in a democratic society was one of the main justifications for the establishment of free universal (public) education in the first place. I believe it is our most important duty. The school board made the right decision.
Jeanie Wallace is a social studies teacher at Britton Middle School. Readers nterested in writing a guest column should contact editor Walt Glines at ed******@*************es.com or 779-4106.
