The content-free social studies classroom: James Kendra at TEDxMuskegon

[@null9513]

Man, this was my 7th Grade SS teacher. I'm glad to see him after so long, and he did great.

[@frenchsecurity3351]

2018 my SS teacher the best 3rd hour

[@frenchsecurity3351]

Now first hour

[@jellybean2619]

he's my teacher :)

[@venkataraju1745]

this is my 6 grade teacher

[@venkataraju1745]

i am very glad to see him

[@Varaidzo1]

I like this way of learning - taking ownership of your own learning. Looking things up rather than having information handed down to you.

[@chiguer.]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:17 Social studies teacher reflects on the challenge of teaching the subject effectively. 00:46 The purpose of social studies is to create citizens who can make good decisions and improve democratic life. 02:11 Students often find history classes boring because they lack relevance to their lives. 03:36 Social studies should go beyond history and include economics and civics to prepare students for real-life decision-making. 06:36 A content-free social studies classroom allows students to explore current events and make connections to their lives. 09:46 Teachers should engage students with relevant topics, encouraging them to ask questions and think critically about the world. 11:23 Focusing on students' passions and interests can help them become active and engaged citizens in the future. Made with HARPA AI

[@letitbe3319]

Why isn’t philosophy included in this interdisciplinary package? The parts of philosophy that teach us to think critically and logically.

[@s.u.p.r.e.m.e.society9607]

I love the discussion of interdisciplinary action and how it relates to social studies. I got a minor in math and enjoyed english in college but I want to teach social studies because I want to see my students actually apply those skills to question and understand the world around them today first and retrospectively learn history in the process. In that sense, math and language arts and science are like meta-subjects or prerequisites to the contemporary and local analysis that social studies must have as its foundation. It's an educational cycle that displays the complimentary nature of differing pedagogical fields and ultimately the importance of educators in all those fields! TEACHERS RULE!

[@iammrbeat]

Understand the world now first- I couldn't agree more!

[@ichibaopac2860]

Mr. Beat I see your point but understanding the here and now is impossible without knowing how it came to be that way. I in no way endorse the old form of studying history with the memorization of dates and wars. Knowing the present is important but it doesn't tell us anything unless we have something to compare it to.

[@TechReviewTom]

Its interesting how much easier it is to learn the subject when there is not the pressure of a deadline.

[@chaseparsley9209]

I get the importance of applying social studies to life today, but can’t we have current events as part of the curriculum in a history class so we don’t skip the history? I think it is an extremely dangerous thing to simply say that our students do not need a foundation of knowledge, and we can simply look up stuff we don’t know to suffice for this gap. Having a foundation of knowledge is critical to interpret events and question things in life, isn’t it? I am very skeptical of this look it up world we live in. Some things are really complicated, like the Holy Roman Empire, communism, the Protestant Ref., etc. etc. and I think sometimes students need a push in the right direction to learn these things.

[@franciscoarvizu8434]

I only had Mr.Kendra for a semester and I can easily say he was one of my favorite all time teachers

[@jellybean2619]

he' s literally my teacher and has a ted talk what-

[@YaraMelki]

Amazing. Thank you.

[@elliottrivera2251]

I enjoy that teaching method where the students are involved through their personal devices. i remember being in class and texting most the time anyway. So by getting the students a reason to be on their devices is innovating.

[@Jordyn1119]

This is so good I want him as a teacher!!!! I hate social studies but I would love it if I had him as a teacher!!!!

[@franciscoarvizu8434]

Jordyn Elizabeth he is very chill

[@socialstudiesconcepts]

Thanks for sharing...quite inspirational

[@HeyYouWhereMyMoneyAt]

If kids learn that at an early age they are most like to be more involved in politics, in their communities, and practice their right to assemble. I think the standardized testing limits teachers ability to do this sort of stuff. maybe im wrong, but i know kids don't want to learn about what happened 100 years ago since they dont deem it useful. I wish I was exposed to such things in my school years. You did a great job sir..

[@TheSingingHistoryTeachers]

+Hey You i agree, its very difficult to have students care about the Ottoman Empire, They will only learn if they can see value in the material, and sometimes it's very difficult to make that student-history connection.

[@AshleySmith-to8vy]

This was great! Thank you for sharing.

[@socialstudiesconcepts]

Fantastic, I like this.

[@jadeshangle457]

This guy was my teacher and he was lit but I slept most of the time in his class

[@festermcsquillis]

A decent historical analysis does analyze economics and civics. In fact the first lessons I planned were on the economics of Indian cultures. I couldn't graduate with my degree if I just regurgitated facts. I had to formulate arguments about cause and effect or content that displayed conditions of life that you couldn't just figure by reading. You had to have analytical skills to assess things like that. I'm all for eliminating content requirements that restrict the use of these skills. But if you are really doing history, you would have to place events in the contexts of government and civics and economics. Maybe he's on to something about ordering events to showcase different concepts like economics. He sounds like he might have been a political science major.

[@latebloomer4755]

Yawn...history is a bore half the time. No need to get hung up on the miniscule details. It's the big picture narratives that are important. He has it right when he says modern history is most important.

[@nickkindred4764]

But how do you get all the state required standards taught so they can pass their standardized testing and teacher gets to keep their job???

[@deepika_33]

Nice....thank you

[@shivamsanoria9053]

Excellent

[@plumstingray315]

He’s my teacher this year

[@miekejacobs-tankink7955]

I still remember a lot of what I learned in 8th grade social studies. Let's base an experiment in education on your miserable experiences. Perhaps a bad teacher. If not 8th grade, then when will students learn US history? There is plenty of time to learn social studies. It's a bigger picture than your world view.

[@hoasjhdfiadsf]

History isn't about memorizing facts and dates.... The field has changed since the (?) 80s? when he went and got his bachelor's. You want to talk about cutting content, then trim back on this amalgam of bunk fields that now comprise "social studies." Social slush is more like it. Your view of economics seems to be more "consumer science."

[@ichibaopac2860]

Bravo Bruckner history in most EU countries today is about making connections between the here and now and the past, and make informed guesses at what consequences it can have in the future. History should not be seen as a separate part of social studies, but as an integral part of it. Knowing how things came to be is equally as important as knowing how they are right know because without it there is no perspective. / studying to be a history teacher in Sweden.

[@judedavis3997]

I had him for social studies in 7th grade, bruh

[@sanjivgogoi7387]

In Assamese Kendra means centre... I just want to say that... It's better to hear about social studie

[@samuelayalabulla4052]

please try to talk better, or just improve the video because it is very difficult to understand if you don't vocalize. anyway, thank very much for everything, this is is very useful and helpful

[@richmondvernon9993]

Couldn’t possibly disagree with this more strongly.

[@richmondvernon9993]

@Paul G Nye Paul, respectfully, it's very important not to create false dichotomies or mischaracterize other people's positions. We don't want children to pick up that habit so we would do well not to model it for them. Thank you.

[@elliottrivera2251]

*giving

[@dan.wood86]

That's right. Keep the kids working so hard and focused on tests, so they can't learn about what is important. Give them the tunnel vision they need to blind them.

[@VintageGirlMemories]

Yawn, step up your presentation,