School Social Studies draws from several academic disciplines like History, Geography, Political Science, and Economics. The courses in Social Studies Education will introduce students to the main features of these domains of knowledge and to debates on what to teach in school through school subjects like history, EVS, social-political life, etc., and to ways of teaching them. The students will learn to see social studies in an integrated and interlocking manner along with their interfaces with the physical sciences. Their grasp of key concept areas will be strengthened. The courses will also enable students to understand how teachers in school actually transact these subjects, and build alternative materials and pedagogies. The courses will help students establish connections between nature of knowledge, curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and materials in social studies education.

The first course is titled, Knowledge and Curricular Debates in Social Studies. The core distinguishing features of social science will be taught in this course. Key methodological aspects of various disciplines will be introduced, and how knowledge is produced and understood in them will be discussed. Students will learn about debates over different curricular approaches in the social studies. The various ways in which academic social science has been converted into social studies will be learned. An integrated understanding will be promoted, connecting different concepts and knowledge domains with one another.

The second course, Pedagogy of History and Political Science will introduce the basic principles of teaching for lower and higher forms of learning. Students will learn to prepare for classes and make lesson plans. They will also learn different approaches to assessment and apply them in these areas. Students will do this around some key concepts of History and Political Science, as taught in different school boards. Their grasp of those key concepts will be strengthened. In the third course, Pedagogy of Sociology, Economics and Geography, students will explore different pedagogic approaches for lower and higher forms of learning by reference to key concepts of Sociology, Economics and Geography as taught in different school boards. This will enable students to understand some core concepts and how to teach them. Students will also explore different kinds of assessment appropriate to these areas. The fourth course is titled, Social Studies Teaching and Material Development. This course will be taught during fieldwork in the third semester. Students will be guided to observe teaching practices in various kinds of schools. They will try out different pedagogic and assessment techniques in actual teaching situations. They will try to devise appropriate curricular materials. Students will learn to reflect upon
their classroom experiences, the response to their curricular materials and to improve upon them.