Many teachers struggle with how to incorporate current events into their history and social studies classes. They are afraid of being seen as biased or bringing up controversial topics and parents often expect them to stick to the curriculum. However, bringing these topics into the classroom is an excellent way to engage students and help them see how their subject matter is relevant in their own lives.
The world we live in is increasingly interconnected and something happening on the other side of the planet can have a major impact here. That’s why it’s important to teach students how to understand the bigger picture and how to make sense of current events that may have an effect on their lives, whether they are related to politics, climate change or the economy.
Teaching about Big Events in the context of sociohistorical frameworks can help students understand what might be driving their own and other people’s experiences and responses to them. For example, a social event like a war or a civil crisis might cause young people to ignore the norms and values of their parents’ generation and develop independent youth cultures with their own beliefs and values. This “intergenerational normative disjuncture” might then lead to large increases in drug use, sex trade and a wide range of other risky behaviors.
In addition, sociohistorical frameworks help us understand what variables might determine the outcome of a Big Event, and how those outcomes are then shaped by other factors, including the impact of pre-existing societal structures and changing pathways variables. These processes can be bidirectional and include uncertainty, feedback loops and a variety of other complex relationships.