Social Studies, History, and Geography (2023)

The Grade 1 to 8 social studies, history, and geography curriculum shares a common vision with the Grade 9 to 12 Canadian and world studies curriculum. That vision and the goals of the elementary and secondary program are as follows:

Vision

The social studies, history, geography, and Canadian and world studies programs will enable students to become responsible, active citizens within the diverse communities to which they belong. As well as becoming critically thoughtful and informed citizens who value an inclusive society, students will have the skills they need to solve problems and communicate ideas and decisions about significant developments, events, and issues.

Goals

In social studies, history, and geography, and all the subjects in Canadian and world studies, students realize the vision for the program as they:

• develop the ability to use the “concepts of disciplinary thinking” to investigate issues, events, and developments;
• develop the ability to determine and apply appropriate criteria to evaluate information and evidence and to make judgements;
• develop skills and personal attributes that are needed for discipline-specific inquiry and that can be transferred to other areas in life;
• build collaborative and cooperative working relationships;
• use appropriate technology as a tool to help them gather and analyse information, solve problems, and communicate.

The following chart outlines how students will achieve the goals in the individual subjects of this elementary curriculum – social studies, history, and geography – and how these subjects will prepare them to realize the vision of the program.

Tools and Strategies to Help Achieve the Vision of the Program

The following tools and strategies have been incorporated into the curriculum as a necessary part of the learning to help students achieve the vision for learning in social studies, history, and geography in the elementary curriculum.

• The citizenship education framework: This framework brings together the main elements of citizenship education. The grade and subject overviews in the social studies, history, and geography curriculum highlight connections to specific topics and terms in the framework to enhance opportunities for citizenship education.
• The concepts of disciplinary thinking: These concepts provide a way for students to develop the ability to think critically about significant events, developments, and issues, both within the curriculum and in their lives outside the classroom.
• The inquiry process: Students use the components of the inquiry process to investigate, and to communicate their findings about, significant events, developments, and issues. By applying the inquiry process, students develop skills that they need in order to think critically, solve problems, make informed judgements, and communicate ideas.
• Big ideas: The big ideas provide context for the overall expectations and the concepts of disciplinary thinking that are related to them. The big ideas reflect the enduring understandings that students retain from their learning, transfer to other subjects, and draw upon throughout their lives.
• Framing questions (see the overview charts for each grade/subject): The framing questions are overarching questions related to the overall expectations and big ideas. They are intended to stimulate students’ critical thinking and to encourage them to consider the broader relevance of what they are studying.
• Spatial skills: Students use spatial skills and tools to analyse and construct various types of maps and graphs. By developing these skills, students will be able to understand and analyse visual data and information, contributing to their ability to solve problems.

The figure below illustrates the interrelationship between these tools and strategies and the achievement of expectations in the social studies, history, and geography curriculum.