Addison Trail Social Studies Department
Social Studies Department Mission Statement
The foundational levels of becoming an actively engaged citizen, capable of meeting the challenges of a global community, are formulated at the high school level. The core mission of the Social Studies Department at Addison Trail is to help students develop the skills and values that will help them to become knowledgeable and productive citizens. In the pursuit of these goals, the Social Studies Department also will seek to provide a proficient level of educational skills that will allow for all of our students to be college and career ready upon their graduation from Addison Trail High School.
The broadly defined term "social studies" encompasses an array of more narrowly focused academic disciplines. These disciplines include history, government, geography, sociology, economics and psychology. The common element in each of these disciplines is an effort to understand some aspect of social relationships and the functioning of a society as a whole. We live in a democratic society and, thus by definition, an ever-changing society. Students in our courses will study historical and contemporary geographic, social, political and economic issues that have helped to shape the world we live in today.
It is our belief that as educators, we are not the sole vehicle and/or source of their social studies knowledge. The world around us helps to shape our beliefs on a daily basis. Social Studies courses allow for students to delve into the realms of the subjective and objective, as well as the concrete and abstract. This allows for a countless number of opportunities to critically think, discuss, research, hypothesize, debate and challenge many social and historical norms. It is not our purpose to advocate one ideology, style or approach to formulate a conclusion about social events. Our goal is to provide students with the skills necessary to make informed decisions based on available evidence.
As a department, we strive to achieve our goals through:
- The personalization of the classroom environment and the implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
- The use of differentiated instruction and C.R.I.S.S. strategies that will help to ensure all students can learn
- The alignment of our curriculum with the Common Core Standards for College Readiness
- The offering of Advanced Placement (AP) courses
We hope to instill in our students:
- A level of intellectual curiosity that will promote lifelong learning
- Knowledge of the people, history and traditions that have shaped our local communities, our nation and the world
- The objective analysis and evaluation of various sources of information
- The use of comprehensive research to seek a solution to question and/or provide support for a claim
- The capacity to ascertain connections between the social sciences and other intellectual fields of study
A responsible social studies student:
- Is an active learner and participates actively
- Is a cooperative learner
- Is dependable
- Is a good listener
- Is conscientious about his or her work
- Displays respect for teachers and classmates
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