Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Social Studies Content: Generalizations


Social Studies Content: Generalizations
By: Estanislao M. Mejia

 What is Social Science Generalizations?

           “Generalizations are a logical step in teaching. This will guide us to think critically about the context of knowledge and help us transferring that knowledge to a variety of topics within the social studies. After understanding the relationship between “fact” and “concept” students will be capable of producing high-quality generalizations that eliminate isolation of ideas and stimulate crossover and relevance to the social studies curriculum.”[1]

            Particularly, in Social Studies content, there are three elements to consider: these are facts, concepts and generalizations. These three concepts go together. They are interconnected and intertwined.  In the definition above, “it is a logical step in teaching...” “Generalization is the ability to discern between fact and concept.”[2] It is a step by step process. First we have the facts, and then out of these facts we form concepts and end up to generalizations.

            We have learned that knowledge is experiential. Knowledge starts from our sense perceptions. This knowledge are formed from our five faculties namely, sense of touch, sense of smell, sense of feeling, sense of hearing, and sense of taste. These are percepts.  Thus, it is confirmed by empirical evidences. These percepts are self evident. We need not to prove it wither these exist or not. However, the process of cognition must be followed naturally.

            In Latin (A Scholastic maxim derived from Aristotle) "Nihil est in intellectu quod non prius in sensu". This is also an empiricist maxim that in its most basic form states that "knowledge arises from evidence gathered via sense experience". This is often contrasted with rationalism which argues that certain concepts and knowledge are innate and "gained a priori, independently of experience".


II. Teaching Facts, Concepts, and Generalizations

You have to teach it all: facts, concepts, generalizations, hypotheses and all other forms of social studies knowledge. And you have to teach it all at once in some artful blend because none of it can exist in isolation. Concepts rely on facts, but facts are not meaningful except as they relate to concepts and generalizations. It is all a complex, interdependent structure, each layer relying on the layer above and below for support and cohesion. Pull one component out, and the structure collapses. Existing methods of teaching do not provide much help in deciding how each of these elements can be taught together or even sequentially for optimal student learning. Learning is a construction process. Students build understanding, piece by piece and often in highly individualistic ways. Not all students learn the same way. It is up to us to help them in the endeavor.[3]

            Some curriculists said that the “existing methods of teaching do not provide much help in deciding how each of these elements can be taught together or even sequentially for optimal student learning. Learning is a construction process. Students build understanding, piece by piece and often in highly individualistic ways. Not all students learn in the same way. It is up to us to help them in the endeavor.”[4]

            One of the most important implications of the new Essential Standards for instruction in K-12 Social Studies classrooms is the focus on teaching to Big Ideas. How to deal with these BIG IDEAS is our task. It is our task  to uncover the transferable lessons of Social Studies through the process of understanding, the role of generalizations in the teaching and learning process as well as how to write generalizations.[5]

            Generalizations are statements about relationships between and among concepts. Generalizations are true and verifiable for all cases on the basis of the best evidence available. For example, if you were once bitten by an Askal (a fact), you cannot generalize that all Askals bite. If, however, you had evidence that all Askals bite, you could make the generalization, “Askals bite. ”Generalizations organize and summarize information obtained from the analysis of facts. A generalization is usually a broad assertion. In contrast, a fact is a truth only about a particular incident or case.[6]

            Dr. Robert Sweetland in his Facts, Concepts, and Generalizations - Explanations, Examples, and Instructional Ideas defined generalizations as the summary statements of relationships between concepts, the summary statements of cause and effect, or the summary statements of predictions of future relationships. Furthermore, generalizations are powerful as they provide a way to consolidate information to make it more usable and easier to remember. Laws, principles, and theories are all kinds of generalizations. These generalizations require the connection of concepts by a relationship. Relationships can only be built with direct observational evidence and reasoning. Good teaching practices will mediate both.[7]

           
III. Forming Generalizations Skill

            Textbooks contain thousands of facts. Because there are so many facts, it is sometimes difficult to understand how they relate to one another and what their underlying meaning might be. One way to synthesize, or combine, a group of facts is to form generalizations. A generalization is a broad statement that describes a situation in terms of what is generally true. Most generalizations are used to connect different facts about the same situation or topic.
           
HOW TO FORM GENERALIZATIONS[8]

1. Collect information about the topic. As you read your textbook or other material, gather as many facts as you can about a particular topic or event. Make sure the facts come from trustworthy sources. Although you can be sure that all of the facts presented in textbooks published have been checked and verified, this is not always true of everything you read or hear. If the facts are incorrect, your general statement about the facts will be incorrect. ( e.g. Gregorio Zaide’s 1st Mass location in the Philippines, Mazau in Butuan? Masua in Southern Leyte? )

2. Look for relationships among the facts. Ask yourself what the facts have in common and what links them. Determine if the evidence forms a pattern. For example, the statements “Pedro likes tamarind,” “Pedro likes unripe mango carabao,” and “Pedro likes kalamansi” are related in that they concern fruits that Pedro likes and that those fruits are sour in taste. Thus the evidence forms a pattern.

3. Form a general statement about the related facts. Remember that when forming a generalization, all of the specific evidence must lead to the same general conclusion. If any of the facts do not fit, the generalization will not be correct. For example, knowing that Pedro likes tamarind, mango carabao, and kalamansi could lead you to make the general statement that Pedro likes sour fruits. If you know, however, that Pedro likes tamarind and kalamansi but hates sour fruits, you could not make the same generalization.

4. Make sure your generalization is valid. Keep in mind that your generalization must take into account all of the facts but must not make claims that the facts do not support. For example, if you hear a loud crash and the screech of metal, see a group of people gathering in the street, and then hear the siren of an approaching ambulance, you could use these facts to make the general statement that an accident has occurred. You could not, however, use these facts to say that there has been an accident involving an automobile and a motorcycle.


            Generalizations is also called enduring understandings. Big ideas, or essential understandings, are the conceptual ideas or lessons of social studies that being known or learned. Generalizations are derived from making the connection between at least 2 concepts.[9]

            In order for us to fully understand how generalizations are formed from the curriculum standards, we need to briefly review the structure of knowledge. Here we will see the role of generalizations as well as how to construct them.


            In a traditional curriculum framework, we would usually begin by identifying a topic that we wanted the students to study. For example, The Filipino Revolts during the Spanish Period.




          
Then, we teach a set of facts related to the topic and assess the students on how well they can remember that set of facts. Following this model of curriculum design doesn’t work anymore because there are so many facts to learn and so little time in which to teach. Students are unable to remember all of the facts because they rarely get the opportunity to think deeply about the content. This is a traditional coverage-centered curriculum.


            If we want students to acquire more intellectual depth in the Social Studies and transfer those facts to new events, situations, places, and cultures, then we must teach to a higher level of abstraction. In this way, students will be able to organize all of those facts around concepts and generalizations.

            So, instead of stopping at the factual level, we must identify the key concepts that will add deeper meaning to the topic under study. Remember that concepts are timeless, universal, abstract, and have many different examples. So we can use them to organize our topic-based curriculum. For this particular unit, The Filipino Revolts During Spanish Period, we may think about the concepts that we could teach like: global interactions, political ideology, innovation, values and beliefs, revolutions or even industrialization, global marketplace, or political and economic power.


            Once we have identified the concepts to be learned out of that particular topic, then we should begin to ask ourselves, what ideas can I help my students derive from this study that they can transfer through time, across cultures, and across other situations?
           

These transferable ideas could be categorized as either principles or generalizations. Principles are the foundational trusts of a discipline such as the law of supply and demand in economics. Generalizations do not rise to the level of principles, but are important conceptual ideas that students need to internalize in order to have deep understanding of their subject area.


An example of a generalization that we could write that would be supported by the factual study of the Filipino Revolts During Spanish Period might be: New political ideas may lead to revolution. Notice the two concepts in this example are political ideas and revolution. This generalization is an important idea because it transfers beyond the study of the Filipino Revolts During Spanish Period. It applies across different time periods, different cultures, and different situations.





Another generalization that supports the topic: The Filipino Revolts During Spanish Period could be: Technological advancement often transforms the global marketplace.




A third example could be: Nations with greater economic power usually yields more political power in world affairs.

Here is another example of a transferable idea that students may derive from the topic: the Filipino Revolts During Spanish period. A people’s values and beliefs shape their interactions with other people.




Conclusion:

            Generalizations are “big ideas” while facts are specific and limited. Generalizations come from an analysis of many sets of facts.  Before a generalization is proven, it is a hypothesis.  Hypotheses are potential generalizations. There are two ways to organize activities which help students to develop generalizations or prove hypotheses (potential generalizations), the inductive (discovery) approach or the deductive (expository) approach.  Both methods require students to understand the relationships among items and to be actively involved in learning. Facts, concepts, and generalization are inseparable in the teaching-learning method.









References

Banks, James A., with Ambrose A. Clegg, Jr., Teaching Strategies for the Social Studies:         Inquiry, Valuing, and Decision Making, Third Edition, New York:        Longman, 1985.
Bremen High School District 228 , How to teach Generalization, 2002-2015,         Blackboard, Inc. Available:  http://www.schoolwires.com (December 2015)
Dr. Robert Sweetland, Facts, Concepts, and Generalizations - Explanations, Examples,            and Instructional Ideas, Available: http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml (December     2015)
Erickson, H.L. (2007). Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking             Classroom.(Department of Public Instructions North Carolina, USA) p.98.
Fraenkel, Jack R., Helping Students Think and Value: Strategies for Teaching the          Social Studies,             Second Edition, New Jersey: Prectice-Hall, 1980.
Jarolimek, John and Clifford D. Foster, Teaching and Learning in the Elementary           School, New             York: Macmillan, 1985.
Marzano, Robert, Dimensions of Thinking: A Framework for Curriculum and Instruction,             Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1988.
SSCED Tool Kit, Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Strategies, Available/PDF/.   Retrieved December 2015 from http://www.socstrp.org ( December 2015)




[1] Shiveley, J.M., & Micso, T. (2009) Reclaiming Generalizations in Social Studies Education: Social Studies Research & Practice, 4 (2), 73-78. Retrieved December 2015 from http://www.socstrp.org/issues/PDF/4.2.6.pdf
[2] Ibid.
[3] SSCED Tool Kit, Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Strategies, Available/PDF/. Retrieved December 2015 from http://www.socstrp.org ( December 2015)
[4] Ibid.
[5] Erickson, H.L. (2007). Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom.(Department of Public Instructions North Carolina, USA) p.98.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Dr. Robert Sweetland, Facts, Concepts, and Generalizations - Explanations, Examples, and Instructional Ideas, Available: http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml (December 2015)
[8] Bremen High School District 228 , How to teach Generalization, 2002-2015, Blackboard, Inc. Available:  http://www.schoolwires.com (December 2015)
[9] Ibid. Erickson, H.L











Providing Equal Educational Opportunity


Providing Equal Educational Opportunity


By: Estanislao Mejia
To protect and promote the right of every Filipino to quality, equitable, culture based, and complete basic education…(DepEd)

Despite the almost universal recognition of State obligations to provide universal primary education and fair access to secondary and higher education through all appropriate means, education is not fully accessible for many people around the world. Developing countries face particularly acute challenges with regard to great social and economic inequalities, but developed countries also encounter challenges when attempting to ensure equal educational opportunities for all.

Concerns relating to equality of opportunity in education are understood as relating both to guaranteeing equal opportunities in access to different levels of education as established by human rights norms, as well as equal opportunities to evolve within education systems.

Free and compulsory primary education is an inalienable right of every child, and a core obligation of States under international human rights treaties. The Education for All process has furthered the global recognition of the duty to ensure every child receives free primary and basic education without discrimination or exclusion.

UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education

The UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education is a key instrument addressing the fundamental principles of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity in education. Equality of opportunity and equal access to education are guaranteed in the constitutions of many countries in all regions. Constitutional provisions are noteworthy in several countries.

Key factors affecting equality of opportunity in education
-          Physical barriers
Persons with disabilities, children living in the street or without parental care, migrant workers and their families, refugees, internally displaced persons and those affected by natural disasters or conflict. Moreover, nomad populations, including pastoral populations who remain deprived of equal opportunities in education, deserve special attention. . .
Inadequate public transportation and inadequate school facilities can be determinant factors in excluding students from the education system. Persons living in poverty are particularly affected; the concentration of communities living in poverty in remote areas or in areas that are poorly served by transportation is a key factor limiting their access to education institutions. This is particularly acute in rural areas where schools are not present.
These obstacles are commonly addressed through support for transportation of students, and by bringing schools closer to communities, often through improvements in transport infrastructure and the construction and expansion of education establishments in poorly served locations. Strategies also include the establishment of boarding schools.
Threat of violence against girls on the way to and from schools limits their education opportunities: household surveys in many countries identify distance as a major factor in parents’ decisions to keep daughters out of school, and concerns over security figure prominently.
The lack of support for transportation and inadequate facilities can also be a determinant factor in the exclusion of students with disabilities from education systems. Inadequate public transportation and poor infrastructure in rural and urban areas still impede access to schools for persons with mobility restrictions and those who have impaired vision. Within schools, inadequately built classrooms and toilets can also restrict their use by students with disabilities.

-          Financial barriers
Direct and indirect costs of schooling – as a central reason for children being out of school or dropping out. Tuition fees appear as the most obvious financial obstacle, and the accumulation of indirect costs, such as those related to transportation, school materials, uniform and other indirect
contributions, undermine access to education opportunities. Besides, disparities in the provisions for public education contribute to unequal opportunities for many students receiving education in poorly resourced schools, as compared to well-resourced ones.
Even if primary or basic education were to be accessible free of cost, such access cannot be universalized effectively unless financial support in the form of grants and bursaries is provided to the children who are excluded, in particular those who are victims of extreme poverty.
While significant efforts have been undertaken to improve access to free primary schooling, less efforts have been made in relation to higher levels of education. Students with limited resources therefore have very limited prospects to progress to secondary education and beyond. States have the responsibility to alleviate this financial burden and ensure that secondary education is generally available and accessible to all, as well as ensure equal access to higher education on the basis of merit or capacity.
A number of in-kind incentives, such as school meal programmes, especially in poverty-stricken areas, are implemented in order to ensure that income deprivation or poverty in general does not result in exclusion from schools. In broad terms, State investment in social-protection policies and its contribution to alleviating the burden on families and child poverty plays an important role in the promotion of education.

-          Linguistic and cultural barriers
The lack of education in mother-tongue or native languages is often a source of exclusion. This is particularly relevant for minorities and migrants. Estimates indicate that around 221 million children speak a different language at home from the language of instruction in school, limiting their ability to develop foundations for later learning
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, establishes in article 4(3) that States should take appropriate measures so that, wherever possible, persons belonging to minorities may have adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue. Moreover, available experience shows that a child learns better in his or her mother tongue in the formative stages and initial period of education.
Countries with numerous local languages where the official language is not the same as that used at home face particular challenges in establishing educational policies and language rights. The Forum on Minority Issues recommended that States take appropriate measures, wherever possible, to ensure that persons belonging to minorities may have adequate opportunities to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue. These measures are deemed to be most critical at the preschool and primary school levels, but may extend to subsequent stages of education. Respecting the richness of linguistic and cultural diversity, education policies in today's globalized world should give high consideration to mother-tongue-based, multilingual education.


Conclusions and recommendations

It is clear that normative action aimed at achieving equality of opportunities in education, both in law and in fact, needs to be intensified. The application of the principle of equality of opportunity in education, which is common to various international human rights treaties, calls for greater emphasis on the fulfilment of State obligations.

(a) Ensure adequate legal protection to the right to education and its equal enjoyment in all its inclusive dimensions.
(b) Address multiple forms of inequality and discrimination through comprehensive policies.
(c) Ensure adequate resource allocation.
(d) Support mechanisms promoting the enforcement of the right to education
(e) Take a human-rights perspective for moving forward the Education For All (EFA) agenda.
(g) Enhance international assistance and cooperation.
(h) Strengthen collaboration with academic institutions and civil society organizations



Reference:
Human Rights Council, Seventeenth session
Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development,
United Nations A/HRC/17/29
General Assembly Distr.: General
18 April 2011
Original: English