A Summary of World Issues From the Social Studies Perspective and From the History Perspective
Unit One
Social Studies: The central concept of this unit is human rights. The objective is to give students an opportunity to consider which obligations, in the form of human rights, individuals and groups should collectively assume for each other.
History: In this, unit students will investigate the consequences of World
War I and the political responses to the destruction of traditional order and
values. The rise of totalitarian regimes exemplified this disillusionment
.
Unit Two
Social Studies: The central concept of this unit is population. This unit is a study of the conflict between population size and its burden on the environment. Students are introduced to the problems of population growth. They will examine the situation facing the world today and the forces which contribute to the rate of growth of a population in order to consider the social ramifications of population size.
History: After World War I, no nation wanted to experience another world
war and all sought to achieve national security and international peace. The forces
of nationalism, ideology, and economics all made the achievement of those goals
unattainable resulting in World War II
.
Unit Three
Social Studies: The central concept of this unit is the environment. Students will examine the conflict between protecting the habitat and satisfying human needs. The implications of the various alternative approaches to the environment will be analyzed.
History: The decline of the European powers combined with a growing desire for self-determination resulted in the end of colonial empires. The desire for self-determination by distinct populations continues to affect both national and international politics.
Unit Four
Social Studies: The central concepts of this unit are production and distribution. Students will consider the conflict between the rights of those who produce wealth and those who have great need for it.
History: The emergence of two superpowers, during and after World War II, each representing a competing ideology, is the central focus of this unit. The global implications of this rivalry are also investigated.
Unit Five
Social Studies: The central concept of this unit is conflict. The dialectic in this unit is between the need for security found in some kind of international organization and the need for sovereignty and the power to defend it. The issue is how to find collective security without sacrificing individual and national autonomy.
History: This unit addresses a number of the issues which dominate contemporary affairs. The dialectical reasoning approach is used to address such issues as the environment, population growth, human rights, and conflict.
The Core Concepts of World Issues
Autonomy
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The concept of autonomy deals with the individual's need:
- to be separate and distinct from the natural and social environment; and
- to be independent and to feel in control of events around oneself.
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Autonomy, as reflected in the history curriculum, focuses on the individual within the state, the rights/responsibilities that should be the prerogative of the individual and those that should be the prerogative of the state. |
Integration
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The concept of integration deals with the need by individuals to be a part of a larger whole in order to meet their physical, social, and human needs. Humans cannot develop and express their humanity outside of a human society. |
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On the international level, two conflicting forces exist embodied in the concepts of national sovereignty and collective security. National decision makers and societies have to determine how best to secure the well-being, territorial integrity and sovereignty of their nations and whether securing these goals can be best achieved through the institutions and actions of the nation state or some international organization of states. |
Dialectic
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The issues facing the world do not have simple clear solutions. Rather they are multifaceted, ambiguous situations requiring choices among contradictory and conflicting values which can only be evaluated by presenting and discussing various viewpoints on an issue. |
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The global challenges/issues addressed in this curriculum are issues which differ in their regional impact and interested constituencies, and which share some common attributes such as the immediacy of their impact and the merit of global attention and action. Controversy surrounds each of the challenges/issues. Seeking policies/solutions to meet those challenges will require an open analysis of the alternative viewpoints surrounding those challenges/issues. |
Social Studies Foundational Objectives
The knowledge objectives are to help students understand:
- that human rights are those rights which people in society collectively have decided they will honour because people are morally entitled to them;
- that population growth rates vary from region to region and that regions with different population compositions make different demands on social policy;
- that the environment is a complex system of interacting, interdependent parts, of living and non-living parts, with the whole environment being greater than the sum of each part;
- that individual welfare is the feeling that one's personal potential is being developed so that a fulfilling and satisfying life is possible;
- that governance is the process of decision making and policy determination aimed at maintaining social stability within society.
The Skills/Abilities Objectives are to help students understand:
- dialectical thinking as the process of searching out the oppositions, conflicts, contrasts, contradictions, and differences in the content of a subject or issue in order to find a unifying idea without discarding the internal tension;
- the steps of the problem-solving process;
- the conflict-resolution process; and,
- the decision-making process.
The Values Objectives
are to help students understand that:
- values issues have internal conflicts which have to be resolved through the processes of:
- dialectical reasoning,
- problem solving,
- decision making, and
- conflict resolution.
- in considering a life of dignity and humanity:
- there are rights everyone is entitled to regardless of their contribution to society, and
- there are obligations everyone in society must assume for others.
- the goal of progress is seen by some as being met when:
- a population as large as possible is allowed to exist,
- the standard of living of a population is as high as possible, or
- a population has learned to live in harmony with the natural environment.
- objectively as something like a machine which can be manipulated as humankind sees fit, or
- subjectively as an organic whole which has the capacity to react to the way it is treated.
- in protecting the well-being of people within society, it is more important to:
- maintain order and security regardless of the legal protection of human rights, or
- protect human rights regardless of the short term effect on order and security.
- in promoting its best interests, a nation has to consider:
- the needs of its citizens and the state as being of paramount concern; or,
- the needs of the global system of which the state is a part as being more important.
History Foundational Objectives
The knowledge objectives are to help students understand:
- that there exists an interplay among the social, economic, political and cultural domains within a society and that changes within one of the domains will impact the other forces;
- that various political paradigms, when functioning, will impact the relationship between individual rights and collective rights;
- that nations sometime perceive that their security/sovereignty can be best secured through the mechanisms of alliances or membership in multinational organizations dedicated to preserving the integrity of its member states;
- that distinct populations will seek to secure the decision-making processes which have an impact on their distinctiveness and well-being; and,
- that there are challenges/issues that are global in that they have global consequences and will require global involvement in seeking solutions to those issues.
The Skills/Abilities Objectives are to help students understand:
- dialectical thinking as the process of searching out the appositions, conflicts, contrasts, contradictions and difference in the content of a subject or issue in order to find a unifying idea without discarding the internal tension;
- the steps of the problem-solving process;
- the conflict-resolution process; and,
- the decision-making process.
The Values Objectives
are to help students understand:
- that values issues have internal conflicts which have to be resolved through the process of:
- dialectical reasoning,
- problem solving,
- decision making, and
- conflict resolution;
- that a debate exists within all societies as to the proper balance of individual rights and the collective rights of the society and as to which should have paramount importance;
- that a nation has to determine whether the needs of its citizens and the state (national sovereignty) or the perceived needs of the global community should have paramount importance;
- that controversy exists over what paradigm of leadership and decision making can best secure the well-being of a nation's population; and,
- that controversy exists over the relationship between humans and the environment and how best to safeguard the long-term well-being of both humanity and the environment.
A Conceptual Overview of World Issues
