Social studies lessons are all around us
Access to technology and, with it, the exponential growth of access to information is changing how we think about teaching traditional subjects such as social studies.
Even high-school students can easily compare and contrast national views on world events and the significance of those events simply by going to the online national newspapers of a variety of countries.
Most, if not all, foreign national newspapers append automatic translation to their online versions. Language is no longer a barrier to international understanding — even for high-school classes.
Canadian high school students can have access to the stories and the editorials that reflect views from other countries about major events such as the U.S. Tomahawk missile attack on a Syrian air base.
Social studies is no longer about what happened way back when — it can now be much more about the who, what, where and why of what is happening now. Why, for example, do we hear so much about Syria these days? Where and what is Syria?
The Globe and Mail describes Syria as “a complicated part of the world … a most complex nation: a patchwork of competing tribal and religious groups that number in the hundreds.”
Le Monde, read widely across France, quotes the European Union as saying: “The U.S.-led strike at Shayrat air base in Syria had an understandable intent to prevent and deter the spread and use of such [chemical] weapons and was limited and focused on that goal.”
So here’s a question, class: Does the word “understandable” imply approval or support?
Now let’s look a map of Europe and see if the political and geographic positioning of those countries explains “understandable.”
The Le Monde editorial continues with a caution that “there can be no military solution to the conflict in Syria” and that “only a credible political solution, as defined in Resolution 2254 and in the Geneva communiqué of 2012, will ensure peace and stability in Syria.”
Class, do some quick research. Where is Geneva and why is it relevant to this event?
El Mundo, the most widely read newspaper in the Hispano-American world, (class, which countries does that cover?) takes a less global approach, focusing more on the idiosyncrasies of the American president: “The billionaire said he wanted to focus on ‘making the United States big again,’ as his campaign motto prayed, not looking too much at what happened outside its borders, even bent on erecting walls on them.”
Mmm — no fan of the American president there.
El Mundo continues: “For the most part, the great world powers have approved and justified the reprisal, while a few voices, with Russia at the head, have condemned it as an aggression against a sovereign nation.”
Why might Russia condemn the missile strike? What interest does Russia have in Syria?
Let’s take a look at Russia’s national newspaper, Pravda.
“The Americans will be trying to oust us from Syria. Their task is to push us to the North, deprive us of bases in Khmeimim and Tartus. We should stand up to them toughly … We should deliver them the S-300.”
Class, what is an S-300? Wikipedia has an article on that. Is that “tough talk” from Russia’s leading newspaper or does it reflect the Russian government’s stance?
Pravda also suggests that Trump’s daughter Ivanka had “significant influence on the decision made in the Oval Office.”
What is Pravda really saying about the American president?
What about Asian countries? How have they reacted to the U.S. missile strike on Syria?
The China Daily reports: “A fullscale military offensive by the U.S. and the SDF on Raqqa city will be launched early next month.”
The Japan Times says that “a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group steaming toward waters off the Korean Peninsula … [is] widely interpreted as containing an implicit message to Pyongyang that the Trump administration will not rule out unilateral military attacks on the Kim regime.”
Class, what and where is Pyongyang? Why is Japan interested in this event? Let’s take another look at the map.
Taken step by step, there is enough social studies here — geography, history, international relationships — for a week of research and reporting.
In fact, there is too much information. We are going to have to split into groups with each group reporting back on what it finds about one country’s interest in that controversial missile strike.
After all, class, social studies really should be about the world we live in today, the world you need to understand more about, the world you will inherit tomorrow.