1. Education for Transition Towards a Global Society: A Fresh Look at K-8 Social Science ACEL/ASCD International Conference “New Imagery for Schools and Schooling” Robert Siegel Sydney, Australia, October 11, 2007
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3. The Need for a Paradigm Shift “ Here lies the great challenge to contemporary social science: creating and transmitting the knowledge for understanding and coping with a future that remains largely unknown.” - Alvin Toffler (1974)
4. Family Clan Tribe City-State Nation Earth ...Ever-expanding loyalties and sense of wholeness
5. “ The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture…should, by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society.” - Shoghi Effendi, Oxford Scholar, 1938
6. … the purposes of education in terms of what sort of person one needs to be to develop sustainable communities and thrive within the new paradigm [is to become] the Possible Human … Caine and Caine Education on the Edge of Possibility , 1997
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13. Making the transition from the Cartesian paradigm: “ the belief that for every complex system the behavior of the whole can be understood entirely from the properties of its parts.” To the Systems Thinking paradigm: “ the belief that the properties of the parts can be understood only from the organization of the whole.” -Fritjof Capra 1996
23. “ There is remarkable consensus among educators and business and policy leaders on one key conclusion: we need to bring what we teach and how we teach into the 21st century.” TIME Magazine, December 18, 2006
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32. A New Social Science Curriculum Framework Example: Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade General Objective : Recognize the essential spiritual nature of the human kingdom and its characteristics as compared to the other kingdoms of earthly creation, and that it is precisely this spiritual nature that distinguishes the human kingdom from the animal kingdom.
33. Example: 3rd and 4th Grade General Objective: Internalize the concept of the oneness of humankind and that the earth is the home of all humankind A New Social Science Curriculum Framework
34. A New Social Science Curriculum Framework Example: 5th grade General Objective: Internalize the concept of universal cycles in history and our current transition toward humanity’s coming of age and a new universal cycle.
35. A New Social Science Curriculum Framework Example: 6th grade General Objective: Understand the concept of a borderless world and the progressively related meanings of dependence, independence and interdependence.
36. A New Social Science Curriculum Framework Example: 8th grade General Objective: Understand the significance of the phrase new world order , appreciate its emergence on the planet and value its importance as the latest stage in the development of humanity on earth.
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38. Rob, how can we consider, let alone envision, a different Social Science Framework? “ We will probably never perceive fully the multiple ways in which we influence our reality. But simply being open to the possibility is enough to free our thinking.” Peter Senge, 1990
40. Education for Transition Towards a Global Society: A Fresh Look at K-8 Social Science ACEL/ASCD International Conference “New Imagery for Schools and Schooling” For further references and/or a copy of the framework, visit http://21stCenturyEducation.org or send request by email to: [email_address]