Sarah Eller works as a high school social studies teacher in her native city of Raleigh, North Carolina. Social studies has been defined by the National Council for Social Studies as an “integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence.” Broad and generalized classes in social studies are meant to prepare students for later studies in history, government and like-minded classes. In general, elementary students study geography, progressing to world and U.S. history in middle school, and becoming more specialized in high school with civics classes revolving around government and political science.
As a high school teacher, Sarah Eller Raleigh would not, today, teach geography. Geography enjoyed much more popularity as an area of study before the 1950’s, when many geography classes were eliminated and elements of geography were integrated into history and earth science classes. Traditionally, population, location, climate, and topography were emphasized. History has generally been broken down into world and U.S. history. Many districts start students’ studies with U.S. History during the Revolutionary War, working up to the present day. Deeper analysis of specific aspects of American history take place during the first two years of high school, while world history is covered in terms of regions, religions, and international conflicts during the junior and senior years. Specialized classes in principals and types of governments, and the current status of world affairs, comprise classes in civics and current events. Sarah Eller Raleigh’s current events instruction encourages upper level high school students to examine the forces and events which impact and change governments and social systems.
Sarah Eller Raleigh 