HSSE Online Editorial

The shift towards discipline-based approaches in history and social studies education in recent years has seen greater emphasis on a teaching methodology that prioritizes thinking, understanding and active learning in the classroom. In history education, for example, there is increased awareness amongst teachers that developing deeper understandings in history involves giving students opportunities to actively engage with knowledge about the past and having them come to grips with the nature of the discipline. In similar fashion, a re-orientation in social studies education in Singapore is seeing a paradigm shift in the way the subject is taught – focusing more on ways to develop and strengthen students’ understanding of selected (local and global) themes and getting them to think about complex issues that are critical to today’s citizens.    

Accordingly, methods of teaching would have to change in response to these re-orientations. Acquiring more powerful ideas in history or developing better competencies when managing complex issues in social studies, however, demands a certain level of conceptual clarity and depth of understanding. Engaging students with issues that are central to a discipline, content that is controversial in nature, and understanding goals that favour application and evaluation, may not be suitably accomplished using traditional methods of instruction. Instead, inquiry-based and concept-driven methods of teaching and learning are likely to offer teachers greater flexibility and useful conceptual frameworks that can help manage student learning, engage students in discussion practices, and create opportunities for students to construct, clarify and communicate knowledge. These are critical components of instruction that – when done right – will allow students to develop more sophisticated ways to manage controversial and contentious issues in history and social studies.

But what does concept-driven teaching and learning look like in the classroom? What goals or outcomes should concept-based teaching aspire to achieve? Which concepts are critical and what are some ways teachers can approach the teaching of these concepts? What should be done to develop teachers’ own (disciplinary) competency and expertise? The articles in this issue of HSSE Online attempt to address these questions in the context of history and social studies education. Each article examines pertinent aspects related to concept-teaching and discipline-focused instruction and explores some implications for pedagogy and classroom practice:   

In “Developing Historical and Metahistorical Thinking in History Classrooms: Some Reflections on Research and Practice”, Arthur Chapman puts forward possible reasons for students’ difficulties in understanding causal explanation in history and suggests a pedagogical strategy to develop students’ understanding about historical causation.

In “Military Government and its Discontents: The Significance of the British Military Administration in the History of Singapore and Malaya”, Kelvin W.K. Ng presents an account of the brief period when Malaya and Singapore came under the British Military Administration (BMA), and demonstrates how the topic can be used to stimulate inquiry into historical significance and historical change.

In “Serious Fun: Game Design to Support Learning about the Surrender of Singapore”, Matt Gaydos, Tharuka Maduwanthi Premathillake, Neo Wei Leng, Connie Tan, Ivy Maria Lim, Suhaimi Afandi and Mark Baildon highlight the development of a history game collaboratively designed by a group of historians, history education specialists, and game designers, and share some ways the game can be used to teach historical chronology and chronological thinking skills.

In “Towards an Effective Professional Development Model to Deepen History Teachers’ Understanding of Historical Concepts”, Andrew Anthony, Lloyd Yeo and Suhaimi Afandi report on a small-scale study based on a Master Class workshop, and found that an effective Professional Development (PD) structure designed to develop history teachers’ knowledge bases can transform their beliefs about history learning and raise teaching competencies.

In “Teaching for Historical Understanding (TfHU): Developing a Discipline-based Curriculum Model at Tanjong Katong Secondary School”, Suhaimi Afandi, Rozanah Basrun, Nani Rahayu Mohamed, Liz Sriyanti Jamaluddin, Sya Feena and Nur Hazelin Idayu report the experiences of history teachers from Tanjong Katong Secondary School in their attempts to craft a discipline-based curriculum model focusing on instruction that develops historical understanding.                        

In “Conceptual Teaching in Primary Social Studies: Teaching the Primary Three Reader, ‘Making the Little Red Dot Blue and Brown’ in a Conceptual Way”, Sim Hwee Hwang looks at the challenge of teaching subject matter knowledge within a tight curriculum time, and argues for a paradigm shift towards conceptual teaching in primary social studies.  

In “Diversity: Approaches to Building Conceptual Understanding in the Social Studies Classroom”, Koh Kar Loong Kenneth and SN Chelva Rajah support the recent emphasis on student mastery of core content (key concepts) and dynamic content (case studies) in the teaching of secondary social studies, and offer possible strategies to encourage teachers to develop their students’ conceptual understanding of diversity.   

In “Developing Conceptual Understanding in Social Studies Using Technology and Discussion”, Mark Baildon, Michelle Lin and Gene Chia discuss the experience of one secondary social studies teacher teaching the concept of progress through technology tools and discussion techniques, and found that in developing students into more active learners the teacher had transformed her own beliefs, thinking and expertise as a practitioner.

Suhaimi Afandi
Guest Editor,
HSSE Online December 2016