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Interview Responses And Arizona Schools

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David Aleman is a 4th grade teacher from Arizona who was kind enough to sit down and discuss the current state of social studies education in Phoenix schools. The interview gave new depth to my understanding of how social studies is currently being taught in my state. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the interview responses and Arizona’s 4th grade social studies standards for such things as thoroughness, clarity, relationship to literacy development, and the shifting emphasis off of teaching social studies topics.
Social studies ultimately about civic education, or civic competence. The idea being that all students need to have a certain amount of knowledge, skills, and democratic dispositions to be an active participant in their community (Chapin, 2013). The Arizona standards are quiet complex and thorough when it comes to social studies in the fourth grade, but only in some areas. Asking Mr. Aleman a few questions regarding his personal feelings on social studies as a content area, I was ill-prepared for the honesty of his responses. First, was the question of whether or not social studies was a subject that students needed. This teacher felt that social studies was extremely important because it was a way to connect students with their past and cultural identity. I think that this is reflective of the Arizona state standards, which emphasis learning about the history of civilizations in Arizona and the Southwest. While the focus is on Arizona, it stresses the

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