Social Science in KCF 2007
The study of Social sciences needs to help the learner
understand social reality and equip him/her to react to social situations. The
learner of social science can not go forward ignoring the growing influence of
caste, race, superstitions and Kerala Curriculum Framework - 2007 57
unscientific practices in society. The learner needs to understand social
realities like unemployment, alcoholism, drugs and increasing rate of suicide
in our society and analyse the cause and effect of such issues for finding solutions
to them. The employment opportunities in the fields related to science attract
most of the learners towards science.
The concept of activity-based, processoriented learning could
not be actualised in the learning of the social sciences. The curriculum
revision of 1997 made efforts to make the study of social sciences
activity-based and process-oriented. At this stage the values and attitudes
that have to be inculcated by learning social sciences were stressed upon. The
possibility of integrating science and social sciences was discussed.
Utilization of local resources in order to facilitate the learning of social
sciences was also put forward. Social sciences was integrated with language and
mathematics in I and II standards. In the III and IV standards, science and
Social Sciences were presented as Environmental Studies. From the V to X
standards, Physical Sciences were separated from Social Sciences.
In the higher secondary classes a completely subject oriented
approach was put forward. Social Science curriculum that stresses on social
justice faced a lot of limitations. Lack of proper infrastructure and inability
to utilize local resources caused problems in learning Social Science as in the
case of other subjects. The above observations are based on the suggestions
made by the National Curriculum Framework 2005. But yet, the Kerala experience
has helped us in analysing things beyond the ideas put forward by NCF 2005.
Issues and Limitations
•
teachers are not equipped to approach the curriculum in a comprehensive manner
and to transact it in true spirit
• most of them have a wrong notion that
textbook and handbook are the only materials for curriculum transaction
•
lack of competent resource persons in teacher training programmes
• lack of awareness about textbooks
suitable to activity-based classroom
•
classrooms that depend only on the traditional learning materials
• inefficiency of teachers in overcoming
the academic issues by proper planning
• lack of continuity of cluster meeting of
teachers, complacency in utilising innovative strategies in teachinglearning
process and lack of effective monitoring system
•
lack of books and other materials that are required for gathering information
• difficulties faced in continuous
evaluation
• lack of means to ensure whether learners
make use of the values and attitudes they have acquired in their daily lives
• lack of parental awareness on latest
learning principles
•
lack of proper interventions from the part of local self government bodies
• the different subject combinations in
Kerala Curriculum Framework - 2007 58 social sciences/commerce at the higher
secondary level
• over loaded content, and arrangement of
it not suitable for spiralling of facts and figures
• lack of possibility for critical
assessment of information given
• dearth of scope for converting pieces of
information gathered to knowledge
• over looking the fact that different
subjects that come under Social Science have there on method of study and
approaching all subjects in the same fashion
• lack of proper accessibility to
resources such as reference book, internet and other media
• the existing period structure
• the inability of the curriculum to
accommodate the different cultural sects within our society such as adivasis
and dalits and their resultant alienation. It also results in ignoring dignity
of labour and the knowledge of the marginalised
• lack of integrated approach at higher
levels
5.3.2
Aims
•
creating opportunities for developing awareness on the complementary nature of
the individual and the society and his/ her physical surroundings
• developing opportunities to understand
the present status of the society and compare it with earlier times for
developing perspective about the future and intervening for materialising it
• creating awareness on production and
distribution of wealth and economic relations in society and to equip the
learner to intervene in economic matters in favour of the larger interest of
the society
• formulating ideas regarding social
structures , its development and its relationship with social contexts and the
role of economic relations in social development process
• forming conclusions about power
structures evolved in different stages of human development, systems of
administration and the state
• developing awareness on democracy,
social justice, equality and secularism and forming stance against the forces
that are opposed to them
•
understanding problems faced by the marginalized and taking stand points for
helping them to get equal justice
•
familiarizing with the methodology of learning social sciences and developing
skills related to it
The
learners should be able to link the experiences gathered by them with the
learning materials. There should be provisions for the learner to from ideas
based on concrete facts. Learners must not be forced to attain a level which is
beyond his/her reach. There should be scope for the learner to apply what
he/she has gathered. At the upper primary level a continuation of what is
suggested for lower primary can be made. The possibility of integrating
different subjects under social Kerala Curriculum Framework - 2007 59 sciences
may be explored. At this stage, the range of experience of the learner is
expanding and when the learner passes through learning experiences related to
his/her own locality he/she must be able to extrapolate it to the state and national
levels and analyze it as well. The learner should view history by fixing
himself/ herself in his/her immediate social surroundings and evaluate these
surroundings against the backdrop of the history of the nation. The learner
needs to be familiarized himself/herself with the administrative setup and
public institutions in his/her vicinity. At this stage the learner should get
an opportunity to involve himself/herself in group activities that help him/her
to acquire values such as democracy, equality, and social justice and to
collect data by interacting with the society to construct new forms of
knowledge. 5.3.4 Secondary Level The learners at this level belong to an age
group that enables them to take up responsibilities and to interfere
creatively. The learning activities should be designed in such a way as to
create an integrated experience of all the subjects that come under Social
Sciences. Here integration of ideas and varied learning methods should go hand
in hand. The learner is capable of internalizing abstract ideas at this stage.
Therefore in learning Political Science there should be provision for him/her
to learn ideas such as equality, justice, brotherhood and self esteem. He/she
should be able to liberate himself/herself from all forms of exploitation. The
child should gather knowledge about historical events as well. The learners at
the secondary level have a high sense of self-esteem and self realization. The
education on contemporary subjects should focus on assimilating the experiences
of the marginalized and must use the vast quantity of knowledge that they
possess. The same perspective has to be maintained in the learning of History
as well. In learning the history of the freedom movement of India learners must
be aware of the involvement of the different regions and social classes in it.
The learning of Geography should provide the learner boarder environmental
perspective that upholds the idea that the earth is an invaluable asset handed
over to us by our predecessors and that it should be properly conserved for the
generations to come. The study of Economics should help him/her go beyond
statistical data collection. Instead it should equip him/ her to formulate
ideas in economics which are socially relevant. When we say that the learner
must familiarize himself/herself with the learning methodology of different
subjects we do not mean to say that it should be a process that aims at
collecting information from different subjects. The plethora of information
should not hinder the construction of knowledge. At this stage, the students
are capable of social interaction. Therefore the curriculum should provide more
opportunity to the learner for communication with the outside world and the
realization of information that he/ Kerala Curriculum Framework - 2007 60 she
has internalized. The formation of school parliament and club activities would
serve to familiarize the students with administrative set ups and their
functioning. 5.3.5 Higher Secondary Level This stage can be looked at in two dimensions.
In the case of a few learner, this stage is the final phase of formal
education. It helps them enter the job market. It also develops in them the
ability to interact with the society. For some others, the higher secondary is
the spring board for higher studies. These learners should acquire the basic
skills to pursue the study of a subject of their own interest. Along with that,
the learner should get an opportunity to acquire social skills. Both these
groups of learners should get a chance to select subjects according to their
interests and develop the ability to handle abstract ideas. They should go
through different learning methodologies. Learning experiences have to be
arranged in such a way as to facilitate learners from all regions and social classes.
The self esteem of all the learners should be elevated.
