Book Talk Review

Throughout my experience with my Social Studies, Geography, and History course, we have read and summarized an entire textbook: “Elementary Social Studies: A practical approach to teaching and learning”, which I have found to be both helpful and meaningful to my overall practice. The textbook discusses both the evolution of social studies content wise, and the evolution of social studies teaching wise. Both are interesting to learn about and fully understand how they have developed into the practice that we teach throughout the classroom today.

Questions that arose while analyzing the first three chapters of this text consisted of what to teach about Canada? Just white based history? Native American history? And as anyone can see there has most definitely been a change in what teachers teach with social studies as now there are a lot more avenues and areas of interests such as educating students on Black history and Native American history. These areas have now become not only areas of interests for students, but also a new way to create an inclusive classroom. Teaching and incorporating various cultures and aspects of Canada’s geographical and historical development allows students to not only all feel included, but allows for teachers to teach inclusion and prevent prejudice and racism from occurring within the classroom.

Furthermore, social studies can also be looked at in five different lights: as a social science, as a reflective inquiry, as a citizenship transmission, as a critical reflection, and as a holistic education. I think that being able to connect all five of these outlooks with social studies is how teachers should aim to teach, and guide their lessons and inquiry. In my personal opinion, students will make a much stronger connection to their learning if they are genuinely interested in what they are learning and researching. To make this effective, I think by including and ensuring that the five different conceptions above make for interesting lesson and student centred lessons.

Overall, the social studies book by Ian Wright and David Hutchison, used to guide our understanding during the EDUC 8Y29 course definitely is a useful and inspiring one to properly guide and shape our understandings of what Canadian social studies, geography, and history should look like within the classroom.


For more information regarding other chapter summaries from this textbook please visit the google doc below:   

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WkLmE8JLu3cF_rZTB3_CYIAqWAIi09ZpM6L7X1wUOYQ/edit#slide=id.g6d462cf21_164