An integrated curriculum in social education

Developed as a research document 1982-90, the Humanities Core Curriculum chart provides a twin matrix of LARGE IDEAS and SUGGESTED CONTENT consisting of:

                    CHANGE                                                 Conceptual Cluster
                           HISTORICAL TIME
                           SPATIAL AWARENESS
SELF & OTHERS                                  Self & Society Cluster
COMMUNITY
ORDER IN SOCIETY
ENVIRONMENT                                    Natural Cluster
RESOURCE USE
INDUSTRY                                              Technological Cluster
TRANSPORT/COMMUNICATION
MARKETING
THE WIDER WORLD                           Social Economic Geog Cluster

          The Teacher Handbook:
 

SOCIAL EDUCATION FOR AUSTRALIAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS   A "Futures" Perspective  
                                                            (Incorporates the HCC chart curriculum)

• includes aspects of ANTHROPOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, ECONOMICS, POLITICS, THE LIFE SCIENCES, APPLIED SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY all at levels suitable for Years K-6
 
• Includes sections on Learning and Teaching: A Futures Perspective
          and Ideas For Teaching Practice
 
• also raises such issues as:

the hidden curriculum; failure and success; understanding marketing; political literacy; media and violence; positive approaches to pollution and drugs; the best discipline is self discipline; learning from direct experience.
 

What educators have said about the HCC and Teacher Handbook:

... a new conceptual thrust which can be of great value to the gifted. Professor of Education, Purdue University, Indiana, USA (1986)
 

... very much a handbook by a teacher for practicing teachers. ... should be of interest to all engaged in
helping young people make sense of a very complex world - both in the present and into the future. Primary Education, Publisher, 1990
 

... I am certain your material has universal appeal to teachers and would be valued by experienced and
inexperienced educators ...   Jacaranda Wiley, Publishers, 1992

...a curriculum that can readily be adopted for use in most schools ... it is a valuable and practical resource. As such it deserves the attention of both generalists classroom teachers and social education specialists.   Curriculum Perspectives, Journal of the Australian Curriculum Studies Association September 1992.
 

... curriculum  is the only one I know of which synthesizes the major educational theories of the 20th century.... succinct, grounded in social education, and offers a future perspective which should prove as valuable in the coming century as it is currently.  United States educationist,  prominent in the area of gifted education (1996)

Whilst perusing your Humanities Core Curriculum, I felt that all the disjointed pieces of information, advice and knowledge learnt at uni and from brief practical experiences was immediately clarified, thus formulating meaningful understandings of myself as a future teacher.  Third year mature age teacher trainee, Queensland University of Technology (1997)
 

 

• the design and development of a curriculum based upon a "constructivist" theory of learning;
• the application to learning theory drawing of the recent research of brain scientists;
• The setting out of concepts and content in a planned sequence covering  seven years, K through 6;
• the "futures" focus;
• the integration of a number of separate but related study disciplines;
• the emphasis given to higher order language skill development;
• skill building activities leading to inquiry learning, problem solving and decision making;
• the sequential listing of research and processing skills;
• the developmental charts of skills in understanding space and historical time;
• the opportunities for school based curriculum development and cooperative planning by teachers.

The Teacher Handbook which includes the HCC chart is still available direct from the author
 

Address: PO Box 72 Park Orchards, Victoria 3114, Australia
E-mail: <tinkler@hotkey.net.au>    Tel: 61 3 9876 1209     Fax: 61 3 9876 1480

Price: A$30.00  (includes postage within Australia)

 
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