Social Studies

Aims

The syllabus is organised around two core ideas – “Being Rooted” and “Living Global”. Through these two ideas, the syllabus aims to develop our students into well-informed, responsible citizens with a sense of national identity and a global perspective.

Curriculum

The Social Studies syllabus content is organised around three Issues and is anchored in a set of Knowledge, Skills and Values Outcomes. The three Issues correspond to societal issues that have been shaping Singapore society and the world and were selected with these considerations in mind:

The need to respond to the ‘new diversities’ in society
The need to strengthen the heart of an economically vibrant nation
The need to grow an informed, concerned and participative citizenry

The aims of the syllabus are to enable students to:

understand issues that affect the socio-economic development, the governance and the future of Singapore
learn from the experiences of other countries to build and sustain a politically viable, socially cohesive and economically vibrant Singapore
develop thinking and process skills which are essential for lifelong and independent learning have a deep sense of shared destiny and national identity
develop into citizens who have empathy towards others and will participate responsibly and sensibly in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society
develop into responsible citizens with a global perspective

To achieve these aims, it is important that students develop competence in three areas: knowledge and understanding, skills and processes, values and attitudes. The specific abilities to be developed are:

Knowledge and Understanding

to study the past through varied socio-cultural perspectives over time and space, and understand its relevance to the present through lessons learnt
to understand the structure of government and its functions in a contemporary society and recognise the importance of good governance and the roles and responsibilities of effective citizens
to understand the dynamics of living in a multi-ethnic environment and recognise the significance of social cohesion within a diverse society
to understand that the scarcity of resources affects the ways in which resources are allocated and managed, and recognise that informed decisions are made based on the choices available
to understand the global interconnectedness and interdependence among world societies and recognise the need to adapt to the changing world environment

Skills and Processes

to imbue students with the skills of critical enquiry, investigation and reflection
to develop critical and creative thinking in students. Critical thinking skills essentially refer to the skills of constructing explanation, and evaluating and interpreting information through making inferences, analysing evidence, comparing and contrasting views, and drawing well-reasoned and substantiated
conclusions. Creative thinking skills refer to identifying unique connections among ideas and suggesting insightful approaches to questions and issues
to develop students to be information-literate and adept in process skills so that they will be able to acquire, manage and use information creatively and effectively
to envisage possible and preferred futures and evaluate alternatives

Values and Attitudes to examine issues in society, locally and globally, so that students will:

appreciate the implications of various decisions, actions and relationships
respect and value diverse perspectives and cultural and historical backgrounds of people, and work towards peaceful relationships
appreciate the importance of living in an interdependent community with increasing global connections
recognise the value of participating as ethical, active and informed citizens in a democratic society within a global community
experience and appreciate their ability to influence the present and the future

National Syllabuses

Please refer to this link.

Pedagogical Approach

Students need a more active and authentic experience to make sense of and investigate societal issues through the process of inquiry. These issues are interdisciplinary in nature and usually drawn from the students’ experiences and society’s concerns.

Social Studies is taught using the Humanities Inquiry Approach, which is underpinned by four elements of inquiry, where learning should be Question-Driven and Evidence-Based, and involves Reflection and Knowledge Construction. These elements are further exemplified through students’ learning as they undergo the four stages of the inquiry process, which are Sparking Curiosity, Gathering Data, Exercising Reasoning and Reflective Thinking. Having a good understanding of these elements, the different stages of inquiry and strategies that facilitate these elements will lead to meaningful inquiry lessons for Social Studies.

Assessment

The assessment objectives are:

Objective 1: Knowledge

Candidates should be able to:

demonstrate relevant factual knowledge

Objective 2: Constructing Explanations

Candidates should be able to:

demonstrate an understanding of concepts and terms appropriate to the syllabus
select, organise and apply the concepts, terms and facts learnt
make judgements, recommendations and decisions

Objective 3: Interpreting and Evaluating Sources/Given Information

Candidates should be able to:

comprehend and extract relevant information
draw references from given information
analyse and evaluate evidence
compare and contrast different views
distinguish between fact, opinion and judgement
recognise values and detect bias
draw conclusions based on reasoned consideration of evidence and arguments