When teaching social studies, it is very difficult to decide how to teach the content. As a social studies teacher, one must decide exactly what to teach, how to go about teaching the material, and why the material is important to teach. The National Council for the Social Studies standards, state standards, and school district curriculums help answer the question of what to teach. However, the questions of how and why are left up to the individual teacher. These two questions can be difficult to answer. Social Studies for the Twenty-First Century is an excellent resource that can help answer those questions. The book is divided into six major sections. Each section contains two to four chapters providing in-depth explanations and examples for teachers. The first section describes the many definitions of social studies, its organization, the philosophical view of social studies, and how social studies relate to one another. This section provides teachers with an overview of the goals of social studies, the theories of social studies, the practice of social studies from the didactic, reflective, and affective teaching approaches, and the relationship of the content from each subject area within the social studies realm. Jack Zevin uses the fusion model to explain how one topic can interrelate with psychology, economics, political science, anthropology, religion, philosophy, history, sociology, and geography. This model is an outstanding graphic organizer that teaches teachers how to integrate other social studies subjects into one lesson or unit. The second section provides information about the teacher’s role, student’s role, and the organization of instruction. Zevin reminds teachers that it is important to remember the students are an audience. As a teacher there are many ways to adapt material. Again the use of didactic, reflective, and affective approaches is explained in relation to the roles that are played within the social studies classroom. When organizing the instruction, it is suggested that a teacher understand the group dynamics of the classroom and how to use those group dynamics when creating projects and questions. The third section tackles the teaching strategies that can be used during instruction. This section by far is the most useful to middle and secondary social studies teachers. Examples are provided for lower and higher student skill sets, unit planning, and the evaluation process. The information is straightforward and easy to use. The examples provided in the evaluation section use the higher order of Bloom’s taxonomy. Many forms and examples of alternative assessments are provided in detail. This will help a teacher save time trying to create evaluation methods that truly show what a student knows. The fourth and fifth sections examine how to teach social studies within the individual subject areas of social studies. Sample lesson plans using different approaches are provided including primary and secondary sources. A criticism of each approach is discussed in detail. Textbooks, media sources, and databases of material are also discussed. Zevin describes the “new age” of multimedia as a way to make the lessons come alive in the social studies classroom. The sixth and last section describes the professional issues and emerging trends of social studies. Political perspectives, professional organization perspectives, and professional publications perspectives are explained and discussed in this section. Zevin describes the professional identity of a social studies teacher as a generalist-specialist. He encourages teachers to become a member of a professional organization and define themselves as professionals within their field. This is a boost of confidence that social studies teachers need. An appendix is also provided with resources and organization methods for teachers of social studies. Social Studies for the Twenty-First Century is a mustread for any social studies teacher working in middle or secondary schools. The information and details provided are user-friendly, researched-based, and a great teacher resource.
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