COURSE AUDIT (REVIEW)

Building Bridges across Social Science Disciplines

RUDOLF T. VECALDO, EdD

Associate Professor III
NESC & NSEC Restructured Basic Education Curriculum K to 12

Compartmentalized Focus on Integration Spiral Progression

Enhanced Curriculum and Integrative Pedagogy are means to build bridges across social sciences
Goal Social Sciences: Social Understanding Leading to Civic Competence

Social understanding is knowledge of human societies. It focuses on the in-depth

analysis of social realities drawing from anthropology, demography, economics,
geography, history, psychology, political science, and sociology.

Civic competence is the readiness and willingness to assume citizenship

responsibilities. These responsibilities include more than just voting. For in a
democracy, it is also one’s responsibility to be lawful, and to be just. (“Injustice
anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” famously said by Martin Luther King,
Jr.)
1. ANTHROPOLOGY
- came from the Greek word “anthropos” which means person and Latin word “logos” which refers to study.
- considered as the “holistic” science of man. It provides a holistic account of human nature. It always sees to it
that the biological, linguistic, historic and cultural aspects of any problem are considered.

2. DEMOGRAPHY
- study of the size, structure and distribution of the populations, and spatial and/or temporal changes in them in
response to birth, migration, and death.
- statistical study of human population
* FORMAL DEMOGRAPHY
- limits its object of study to the measurement of population processes
* SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY/POPULATION STUDIES
- analyzes the relationships between economic, social, cultural and biological processes influencing a
population
3. ECONOMICS
- came from the Greek word “oikos” which means household or estate and “nomos” which refers to custom or
management
- is a social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth or
available resources
- "the science which studies human behavior as a relation between scarce means having alternative uses." (Robbins,
1932)
- Without scarcity and alternative uses, there is no economic problem.
MAJOR BRANCHES OF ECONOMICS
* Microeconomics- the unit of analysis is the individual agent, such as a household or firm
* Macroeconomics- the unit of analysis is an economy as a whole
4. GEOGRAPHY
- came from the Greek word “geographia” which literally means “earth description”
- attempts to understand the earth in terms of physical and spatial relationships. The first geographers focused on
the science of mapmaking and finding ways to precisely project the surface of the earth
- seeks to understand humanity and its natural environment
5. HISTORY
- came from the Greek word “historia” which means to inquire, research or investigate
- is the continuous, systematic narrative and research into past human events as interpreted through historiographical
paradigms
- isang salaysay na may saysay sa mga taong pinagsasaysayan
* Historical Methodology- comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and
other evidences to research and then to write history.
IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING HISTORY
• History explains the strong connection of the past, present and the future.
• History reflects the people’s identity, struggles and experiences.
• History mirrors the events of the past that convey worth- cherishing lessons.
• History helps in developing nationalism and civic consciousness among the people.
6. POLITICAL SCIENCE
* Aristotle in his Politics stated “men by nature are political animals.
* As long as there is power play in human relations, politics exists.
* Politics must be understood critically; thus, Political Science sprung.
- is an academic and research discipline that deals with the theory and practice of politics and the description and
analysis of political systems and political behavior
- provides the frameworks from which journalists, special interest groups, politicians, and the voting public scrutinize
issues related to politics, governance, leadership and the entire state
- Herbert Baxter Adams is credited with coining the phrase "political science" while teaching history at Johns Hopkins
University.
7. PSYCHOLOGY
- derived from the Greek words psyche (mind or soul) and logos (study).
- ancient Greeks considered psychology simply as study of the soul
- can be defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
* Behavior – activity that can be observed objectively or any related action or reaction we do under specified
circumstance.
*Mental processes – point out to man’s rationality – intellect (presents the object to the will) and will (the
ability to make a choice)
- considered a science because it employs scientific methodologies
8. SOCIOLOGY
- combination of Latin and Greek words; socios points to companion and logos connotes to study on a high
level
- studies social relation that affects human behavior
- focuses attention on all kinds of interaction and social processes
 Dimensions in Building Bridges Across Social
Science Disciplines
◯ Intellectual Skills
◯ Integration- interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary
◯ Depth and Breadth
◯ Unity and Diversity
◯ Multiple Perspectives
◯ Multiple Learning Environments and Resources
Knowledge
Which social knowledge is most important? We can answer this question in three ways: disciplines, themes,
and topics. One way to determining which social knowledge is most important is to refer to the disciplines
(also called fields) of study. Within these disciplines, knowledge is systematically created, interpreted,
critiqued, and revised continually in a never-ending process of disciplined (i.e., it’s systematic, not random
or without rules of inquiry) knowledge construction.

Attitudes and values are directed less at cognitive knowledge and more at emotion, feeling, and beliefs
about right and wrong. Particular attitudes (also called dispositions, traits, and virtues) and values are
essential to democratic citizenship. Examples of these are the following:
Being committed to the public values
Developing a reasoned loyalty to this nation
Taking responsibility for one’s actions
Fulfilling one’s obligations to the community
Skills define what students should know how to do. A skill, then, is also called know-how or procedural knowledge.
Skills are often subdivided as follows:
I. Democratic Participation Skills
A. Listening to and expressing opinions and reasons
B. Participating in classroom, school, and community decision making,
C. Working cooperatively to clarify a task and plan group work
D. Accessing, using, and creating community resources
II. Study and Inquiry Skills
A. Using and making time lines, maps, globes, charts, and graphs
B. Locating, reading, and analyzing information from a variety of resources, such as books, encyclopedias, the Internet,
newspapers, and libraries
C. Writing reports and giving oral presentations
D. Distinguishing between primary and secondary sources
E. Forming and testing hypotheses
III. Intellectual Skills (critical thinking and problem solving)
A. Comparing and contrasting
B. Making and evaluating conclusions based on evidence
C. Identifying and clarifying problems and issues
D. Distinguishing fact from opinion
E. Inferring cause-effect relationships
MODES OF INTEGRATIVE TEACHING IN RECOMMENDED BY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
*Focusing Inquiry
- Uses questions to organize learning
- Teacher guides learners to discover answers to questions, whether or not answers pre-exist ( Agno, 2008)
- Learners become creators of knowledge rather than passive recipients
- Process of conducting investigation is given more importance than the concepts under study
* Thematic Teaching
- Themes organize learning around ideas. It provides coherence or unity
- Teacher focuses on the activities that accompany the unit (3)
- Through the theme, learners see the meaningful connections across learning disciplines. (5)

* Content-Based Instruction
- There is the integration of content learning with the language teaching aims (2)
- It highlights the concurrent study of language and subject matter with the form and sequence of
language presentation dictated by the content materials
- It crosses barriers between language and subject matter courses as it aims at developing
learner’s academic language skill (1)
 Guiding Principles in Teaching Social Sciences/
Social Studies
◯ Active- learning by doing
◯ Challenging- thought-provoking
◯ Integrative- interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary
◯ Value-laden- emphasis on values
◯ Meaningful- relevant to real life
Discovery Learning. This teaching model is based on the idea that content is not given to learners
in finished form. Rather, it is discovered by learners before they can internalize it. In discovery
learning, the major task of the learner is to discover something and not merely to learn the content.
By and large, discovery learning is to accomplish three related education purposes like (1) to
provide students which opportunities to think independently; (2) to help students discover how
knowledge becomes known; and (3) to promote higher-order or critical thinking skills such as
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Inquiry Learning. This is commonly known as the inquiry process which is apparently the
application of scientific method to teaching. In fact, experts exalt the inquiry process for it provides
learning activities reflecting the highest form of higher-order thinking or critical thinking. Inquiry
learning is a higher mental operation that introduces the concept of discrepant event, something that
establishes cognitive disequilibrium to help students develop skills in observing and being alert for
discrepancies.
Problem-based Learning (PBL). The essence of this model consists of presenting students authentic
and meaningful problems situations to serve as springboards for investigations. The special features of
problem-based learning (PBL) include driving questions or problems, interdisciplinary focus,
authentic investigation, and collaboration. Its purpose is to help students develop their thinking,
problem solving, and intellectual skills.

Cooperative Learning. This is the procedure whereby learners work together in small groups and are
rewarded for their collective accomplishments. The key characteristics are rewarded for their
collective accomplishments. The key characteristics or attributes of cooperative learning are the ways
the groups or teams are made up; by the kinds of tasks to do; by the groups or teams are made up; by
the kinds of tasks to do; by the group’s rules of behavior; and by the motivation or reward system.
Cooperative learning benefits both low-and high- achieving students who work together in academic
tasks. It has a wider acceptance of people who are different. Simply put, this model teaches students
skills of cooperation and collaboration. Group Investigation facilities cooperative and collaborative
activities in the classroom. It involves a combination of independent learning and group work.
Decision-making. This is an intellectual process that requires students to select the best alternative
choice on a set of conditions or circumstances. This process requires the students to review and describe
the issue or the problem to be resolved and to identify the various alternative that could be used to
resolve the issue, problem, or question. Moreover, decision-making involves the making of intelligent
choices by identifying objectives and alternative ways of achieving them. It is used to make personal or
group decisions about activities and procedures and to weigh options available to people studied in units
and current events.

ACES-Teaching Approach. The ACES Teaching Approach (Four As) follows a logical sequencing of
learning activities from the mood-setting activity to the closing as shown below:
Phase I: Activity
Phase II: Analysis
Phase III: Abstraction
Phase IV: Application