Susan Adler (University of Missouri-Kansas City)
Kho Ee Moi (National Institute of Education, Singapore)

Keywords
Primary Social Studies
Primary Social Studies

Introduction
Ms. Lee began the school year by meeting with the other Primary 4 teachers to review the curriculum.  For each subject they discussed the “big ideas” they hoped their students would come to understand. Ms Lee likes to think about what she hopes her students will remember in the future, after they have forgotten many details. Ms Lee believes that when you have really learned something, it stays with you for life.  She also believes that her students show they understand what they have learned when they are able to explain and apply it, rather

than simply get correct answers on a test.  Ms Lee and her colleagues identify a few deep understandings for each subject they teach and then they link each unit to one or more of those understandings.  They have learned through experience that if they keep the big picture in mind as they teach, the students are more likely to make connections and develop deep understandings.

Stop and think for a moment about why you want to be a teacher.  You probably did not think, “Boy, I really want to make sure children do well in examinations,” or “I really want to help students memorize a lot of information.”  While doing well in examinations is important and memorizing information has its place, you probably had other things in mind.  Most people decide to be teachers because they like young people and they like learning.  Teachers want to help young people grow, develop and learn.  In this paper, we will help you think about what it means to learn and what the implications of that are for your thinking about what to teach.

You have probably realized that it is important to think about how to teach, but you may not have realized that you also need to think about what to teach.  Although you will be given a syllabus and told what needs to be taught during the school year, this is only the outline.  Rather than simply

trying to “cover” everything, it is important to understand the “big ideas” and identify the key skills contained in the syllabus.  If you do not make sense of what is to be taught, how can your students begin to make sense?  Let us begin by briefly thinking about what it means to really learn something and how people learn.