PEDAGOGY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Book excerpt: Written in an easy-to-understand style, the text has been thoroughly revised in tune with the spirit and need of the new nomenclature Pedagogy of Social Sciences in place of the old designation Teaching of Social Studies. It reflects on the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to teach Social Sciences in an effective manner. Introducing new chapters, the second edition of the book mainly focuses on improving the methodological concepts of the Social Sciences teachers. In doing so, it covers various strategies and devices of teaching Social Sciences, e-learning in Social Sciences, e-learning resources in Social Sciences, and professional growth of the Social Sciences teacher. Besides, the chapters of the previous edition have been updated, with the required information given in various new sections. This book is suitable for a course on ‘Pedagogy of Social Sciences’ for the students of B.Ed. and M.A. (Education). It can also be used for the in-service teacher education programmes organized by the Central and State education boards. NEW TO THE SECOND EDITION  In addition to the four new chapters, the book now incorporates several new sections: • Concept and meaning of the term Social Sciences; distinguishing the subject Social Sciences from Natural Sciences and the subject Social Studies; justification for using the term teaching/pedagogy of Social Sciences in place of teaching/pedagogy of Social Studies (Chapter 1) • Bloom’s revised taxonomy, 2001 (Chapter 4) • Views of NCF and Focus Group (NCERT) about curriculum at the various stages of school education (Chapter 5) • Survey method and cooperative learning method for the teaching of Social Sciences (Chapter 7) • Reference books in Social Sciences (Chapter 9) • Atlases, newspapers, digital audio recorders and players and documentaries as instructional material or teaching aids (Chapter 11) • Question banks, grading system, open book examinations and use of rubrics as the means and ways for improving the evaluation programmes in Social Sciences (Chapter 23)  Also, the chapter on ‘Relationship of Social Studies with other Subjects’ has been replaced with a more comprehensive and detailed chapter on ‘Correlation in Social Sciences’ (Chapter 6). KEY FEATURES  Chapter-end summary and study questions to help readers review the important topics and drill the concept discussed, respectively.  Numerous figures and tables to facilitate easy understanding of the concepts.  References and Suggested Readings to provide scope for further reading.