HSSE Online

Subject

Magic Words: Writing as a Tool for Learning in the Humanities

Keith C. Barton (Indiana University) Keywords History Social Studies Secondary School Literacy Writing can be a powerful tool for learning in the Humanities. When used well, it helps students clarify their thoughts in a quick, simple way, and it provides teachers with ready insight into how students are making sense of content.  Writing is also a […]

Magic Words: Writing as a Tool for Learning in the Humanities Read More »

The Notables: Making Significant Historical Personalities Come Alive

Rindi Baildon (Singapore American School) Keywords History Social Studies Primary School Historical thinking The study of significant people in history can be an engaging, meaningful, and integrated learning experience for upper primary school students. In this article I describe a project, The Notables, which immersed my Grade 4 students in a series of social studies and

The Notables: Making Significant Historical Personalities Come Alive Read More »

Deepening Secondary Students’ Understanding of Coastal Management at Labrador Park through Fieldwork

Yi Ling Elissa Goh (New Town Secondary School, Singapore) Keywords Geography Secondary School Fieldwork The impetus for action research on experiential learning of geography stems from a desire to introduce a more “engaged” form of geography, whereby students move beyond the academic study of geography in the classroom to making sense of geography in relation to

Deepening Secondary Students’ Understanding of Coastal Management at Labrador Park through Fieldwork Read More »

Exploring Controversial Issues in the Primary Social Studies Classroom

Wang Yao Chang Melvin (Rosyth School (Singapore) Keywords>Primary Social StudiesPrimary SchoolControversial IssuesClassroom IntroductionThe curriculum is an inextricable part of what prolific author and cultural critic Raymond Williams refers to as the “selective tradition” of schooling (Williams, 1977). What this means is that through the very selection of what is taught in school, only certain knowledge and

Exploring Controversial Issues in the Primary Social Studies Classroom Read More »

Taming “Issue Investigation”: Singapore Secondary Social Studies Teachers’ Accounts of Challenges Encountered and Strategies for Coping

Peidong Yang (National Institute of Education (Singapore)) Keywords Social Studies Junior College Secondary School Social Studies social studies education Singapore teacher professional learning Introduction The upper-secondary Social Studies (SS) syllabus (Express/Normal-Academic) released in Singapore in 2016 introduced a component called “Issue Investigation” (II). Speaking to the target learners, the SS textbook defines and explains II as

Taming “Issue Investigation”: Singapore Secondary Social Studies Teachers’ Accounts of Challenges Encountered and Strategies for Coping Read More »

Environmental Education in Singapore: An Analysis of Environmental Knowledge in the Lower Secondary Geography Curriculum

Yee Jie Ying (National Institute of Education (Singapore)) Keywords Geography Junior College Secondary School Environmental education Introduction Curricula Goals of Environmental Education Environmental education (EE) was first developed at a time when environmental degradation became widely prominent (UNESCO, 1976). EE becomes even more relevant today as we are ever pressured by pressing environmental issues such as

Environmental Education in Singapore: An Analysis of Environmental Knowledge in the Lower Secondary Geography Curriculum Read More »

Centering the Periphery: Giving Students’ Voice and Choice

Siti Dzhawieyah (Elias Park Primary School (Singapore) Keywords Primary Primary School education social studies education In April 2019, I carried out an action research study with a class of High Ability Primary 6 students to understand how to better engage students in a Social Studies class through discussion of controversial issues. Based upon my observations, these

Centering the Periphery: Giving Students’ Voice and Choice Read More »

Commentary: Inquiry-based Learning and Teaching

Baildon, Mark (National Institute of Education (Singapore) Keywords Social Studies Junior College Secondary School inquiry base Why inquiry-based learning? Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is now considered the gold standard in curriculum and classroom practice. If we consider inquiry to be the methodical building of evidence-based claims and arguments, it is central to authentic intellectual work, disciplinary reasoning,

Commentary: Inquiry-based Learning and Teaching Read More »

The “Black Rain” – A Re-assessment on the Dropping of “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” on Japan

Goh Chor Boon (National Institute of Education, Singapore) Keywords History Junior College Secondary School History In 1965, Masuji Ibuse, a native son of Hiroshima, published his Black Rain (Kuroi Ame).[i] The novel is masterful reconstruction of death from radiation sickness based on the diary of a Hiroshima survivor plus interviews with some 50 hibakusha or victims of the atomic holocaust. Ibuse’s

The “Black Rain” – A Re-assessment on the Dropping of “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” on Japan Read More »

Assessing Historical Discussion

Barton, Keith C. (Indiana University) Keywords History Junior College Secondary School pedagogy Discussion can be a valuable element of history classrooms, and assessing participation can provide an important means of improving students’ engagement in this valuable form of communication. Doing so requires that teachers identify the specific skills of historical discussion that they want students to

Assessing Historical Discussion Read More »

Scroll to Top