NCSS IV: Individual Development and Identity

 

     Studying Individual Development and Identity is an important aspect of teaching social studies. It is important to look at how people in history have developed, and what influenced people’s decision making back then. There is importance in having students compare how people developed and made decisions back then to an individual’s development or decision making today. During the Spring semester my classes studied Individual, Development, and Identity. My lessons on the abolitionist movement and women’s suffrage movement did address Individual Development and Identity because the class studied the development of major individuals involved in both of those movements (See Evidence 3). My lesson on Reasons for and Ways of Moving West also addressed Individual, Development, and Identity because we addressed the thought process of why many Americans believed in manifest destiny (See Evidence 1 and 2).

     Out of the ten NCSS themes, Individual Development and Identity was probably the theme I did the weakest job at addressing. While I did address this theme in a couple of lessons during the Spring, I did not do a great job in discussing it. During my lessons on the abolitionist movement and women’s suffrage movement I really did not go into great detail on what influenced those individuals to take the brave step that others did not take in fighting for the rights of oppressed groups. I also did not do a great job in having students look at the thought process of why many Americans back in the nineteenth century thought it was ok to hurt blacks, women, and Native Americans. Today it is hard to fathom a person supporting slavery and discrimination; however, it is important for students to realize the thought process of people during that time period was completely different from today. While that does not justify slavery or discrimination, it is important for students to realize if they or I lived back in nineteenth century America our Individual Development and Identity would be different than it is today. That is something I failed to address during my student teaching.

     In my future teaching career Individual Development and Identity is something I will have to continue to improve on addressing. While Individual Development and Identity is easier to address in a Psychology or Sociology class, there are ways to integrate it into other social studies classes. In the future I could have students write more personal journals or diaries as if they were a person living back in during a certain time period in history. I could also have students write what they would have done if they had to make a major decision in history, like President Harry Truman deciding to drop two atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II. If I can integrate these types of assignments into my future teaching assignments, students will have a better understanding of Individual Development and Identity back then, as well as today.

 

Evidence