CHAPTER 6: Aestheticizing Social Studies

Whenever we think about teaching social studies, we are inviting a whole range of reactions, assumptions, questions, hesitations, and exciting possibilities. When we think back and dig into our memories, we might remember very little of our time in elementary schools concerned with social studies. But then we might remember exciting projects, compelling teachers, riveting materials. And we might feel worried about not being prepared with the right content to teach young others about communities, histories, the ways of movement, and exchange; what it means to “be” in the world. We might remember learning heroic stories about the “founding fathers.” A trip to a museum might call out from our memory as we think about our early encounters with science, art, and history. We may recall surprise at learning about the similarities between the places we live and those that seem so far away, and we might recall with horror the first time we learned that humans have committed, and continue to commit, systematic and massive acts of violence throughout history.