Numbers+and+Social+Problems

Birds Dead and Deadly


 * We constantly encounter claims about social issues, not just in present-day news reports, but in history and literature: abolitionists calling for an end to slavery, women campaigning for the right to vote, and so on. In our contemporary world, these claims frequently feature statistical evidence--about the numbers affected by a given problem, about public opinion regarding an issue, about trends and patterns. Too often, numbers are equated with facts: if there's a number, someone must have counted something, therefore the number must by true. Yet these figures often can't bear close inspection-- they turn out to be little more than guesses. Social problems claims generally--and their numbers in particular--offer excellent subjects for those in promoting critical thinking. **


 * In this seminar we will use sociological studies of a variety of social problems to explore the processes by which issues come to the attention of the press, the public, and policymakers. We will examine the rhetoric used to mobilize support for different causes, and pay particular attention to the role numbers play in this process, and ways dubious numbers creep into conversations about social issues. I have talked about these issues with all sorts of audiences, from legislators and judges, to journalist and educators interested in promoting numeracy. Too often, innumeracy is understood as a mathematical deficiency; if only students had better calculating skill, they would be numerate. ** But I believe that thinking critically about numbers in the news requires asking other questions: who counted? why did they count? what did they count? and why did they count it? ** Students need to discover a stance between credulously accepting ("It's a number, therefore it is a fact.") and cynically dismissing ("You can prove anything with statistics.") the claims they encounter; that is, they need to learn to be critical thinkers. **


 * Intended audience: ** this seminar should be relevant, not only for social studies teachers who teach about history and social issues, but also for teachers in the humanities concerned with analyzing persuasion, for those who teach statistics, and for anyone interested in fostering numeracy and critical thinking ** . CCSS in Reading: Informational Text K through 12, as well as specific literacy standards in the social sciences, history and the physical sciences at all levels can be addressed. Making distinctions between fact and opinion, identifying bias, wants vs. needs, fair vs. equal, and persuasive techniques are all subjects that can benefit from participation in the seminar. **

One weakness that I see in primary school is that students are expected to read literature at a growing rate of complexity and independence by the end of the school year. Often, there are few opportunities to help learners with weak critical thinking skills. Our pacing guides require us to continue teaching through our curriculum and hope that concepts will “stick” by the end of the school year. How can these learners who are already below proficiency catch up to standards they must meet by the end of the school year? My students will make greater learning gains when I make learning relevant and this seminar will help me to make deep, relevant connections between my students and the content. When I think about how to make learning accessible to my students, I think about experiential learning. Just reading about a topic is not as good as seeing a picture and making it real through hands-on learning. I believe students need learning experiences to develop their English Language Arts skills. I would appreciate the opportunity to participate in Timothy J. Barringer’s Seminar, Understanding History and Society Through Images, 1776-1914. Barringer’s seminar will help me learn how to focus students on historic images and apply Literature and Visual Arts standards to make their learning concrete. I would like to challenge my students to interpret works by a male and female artist focusing on gender. I thought Howard Pyle’s masculine pirates would be interesting to compare to Mary Cassatt’s feminine mothers. I envision the lesson activities developing sequentially: first we would take an art form and put in into a historic context by using inferencing skills. Next, we would describe images from a third-person perspective to help students develop their understanding of character traits, motivations, or feelings. Then we would describe images from a first-person perspective to help learners dive into new experiences. Finally, through experiential learning, we will take the setting, decompose it by examining sensory details, and recreate it through creative movement, tableaux, mini-museums, and first- person artifacts. My unit would focus on Literacy Standards including Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, Range of Reading and Level of Complexity. In addition, my unit would target Speaking and Listening Standards in Comprehension and Collaboration. Finally, we would center on Visual Arts Standards which would include Choosing and Evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas and Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.