Helping my child discover the world we live in – and how Social Studies paves the way

How do we get children to be interested in the events around them? How do we develop their critical thinking skills, and prepare them for a world that is increasingly interconnected and diverse? MOE Curriculum Resource Development Officer Huang Churu, who has taught Social Studies for 13 years, discusses how these areas are taught in primary school through the subject. The mother of two also shares how she nurtures these skills in her son.

Ms Huang, with her son, poring over old photographs of her husband’s kampung days.

“What do you think life was like in the past?” I asked my nine-year-old, as a bout of spring-cleaning unearthed some old photos my husband and his uncle took at a kampung years ago. The grainy, sepia-toned photographs from a lifetime ago were objects of fascination to my son whose idea of a photograph exists in the cold hard shell of a mobile phone.

The teacher in me saw the opportunity to use the photographs to engage him in a conversation about life in the past and Singapore’s resettlement chapter. We quizzed my husband about why his family moved out of his kampung and stayed in a flat. We also searched for more images of kampungs and compared them to our present living conditions. As we chatted, I was pleasantly rewarded with snippets of childlike wisdom:

Me: Why do you think we live in flats now instead of in kampungs?

My son: Houses in a kampung would catch fire easily and spread quickly. That’s very dangerous. Living in HDB flats is much safer.

Me: Do you want to live in a kampung?

My son: Yes! I can play with my friends outside my house and there would be many different games we can play. There wouldn’t be a need for security cameras as everyone is a friend.

My husband’s recounting of afternoons spent sliding down hillsides on cardboard and scattering feed to the village chickens while perched on the shoulders of his uncle sounded fascinating to my son. He could imagine himself doing the same, had he been born in that era. These stories are windows into our nation’s history through which my son could glean some insights on how people in Singapore lived in the past.

It was heartening that the central theme in our conversation was about the simplicity of life in the past. Life was simpler, and at times harder. People did not have much – we hear about how families might have had to share a television between them, or pile into the back of a lorry to get around – but their days were rich with the simple joys of everyday life.

How Social Studies helps students discover Singapore and the world

There are countless tales about Singapore’s past that are waiting to be discovered – tales of sacrifice, resilience and perseverance. Such stories are a feature of the Primary Social Studies curriculum and reflect shared experiences that unite us as a nation.

As part of the national curriculum, Social Studies is also a child’s first touchpoint with Humanities and Social Sciences at the primary level.

 It begins with more recent experiences like how Singapore was united in the fight against SARS and COVID-19. As students progress to upper primary, we bring them further back into the past where they read stories about the early settlers and their contributions towards the development of Singapore. With an understanding of our shared heritage, students then learn stories about the founding years before Singapore gained independence and the journey that has led us to where we are today.

 Through these stories, students develop a sense of rootedness and appreciation for Singapore. As students navigate an increasingly interconnected world, it is important that they know the history of our nation and remain anchored in our shared values.

Ensuring our children are equipped with the 21^st century competencies

Looking back at the conversation I had with my son, I realised that I had planted the seeds of inquiry in him to understand what life was like in the past; this is especially gratifying for me as the pedagogical approach used in the SS classroom is inquiry-based learning.

Children are by nature inquisitive about the world around them and will want to clarify about what they have seen or heard. Hence, teaching through inquiry aims to harness this innate motivation in children to discover the world they live in.

In inquiry-based learning approach is learner-centred, and children are empowered to be responsible for their own learning. With this approach, students’ interest about a topic is piqued using tactile and digital resources or by telling stories and sharing about personal experiences.

Students are encouraged to find out more about the topic by gathering data from a variety of sources. They could interview their family members, or comb through videos, websites and news articles. After exploring multiple sources of information, they then make sense of the information gathered and consolidate their learning.

In addition, at appropriate junctures of the lessons, teachers engage students in reflection by asking questions that provoke deeper thought or to provide justification for their opinions. In doing so, students can learn to consider different viewpoints and exercise a discerning eye – critical thinking skills that are implicit in the inquiry-based learning approach.