Eric Tuwalski: Social studies curriculum matters in schools
During my course of teaching in four of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Secondary
Schools, I sometimes have to reflect on my role as a social studies teacher. I have gone through the mandatory studies and curriculum as a student, student-teaching requirements, state certification, and became a tenured teacher in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. All of the formalities are very important and proves to students and their families my role as a social studies teacher is valid and appropriate to the Pennsylvania standards, as well as the standards for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The question I ask myself is, why does my role matter in school? A social studies teacher has a unique place in the disciplines of education.
While I was on active duty in the United States Navy, I took liberty off the ship in Norfolk to drive back to the area and visit my family. I took the time to visit my younger brother in the school I had attended, Archbishop Carroll High School, to visit him and talk with my former teachers. My former teachers asked about my life in the Navy. I credited them for their influence and their teaching that applies outside the walls of their respective classrooms. My brother’s world history teacher, who had also taught me, introduced me to his class.
It was the start of my life coming full circle. All of a sudden, I found myself answering questions from students related to my service in the Navy. I ended up sharing my experiences with the class and saw them astonishingly writing notes in their notebook based on my talk with them about deployment operations, as well as the composition of our Amphibious Ready Group leading in operations related to the Global War on Terrorism.
We were in the first few years of the Global War on Terrorism operations in the Middle East back in 2004. I explained to the students the impact military operations have on the region, as people do not see the actual physical environment or daily routines we perform, however, they see the emotional side if they have loved ones serving overseas.
When you have the experience of being on deployment, you begin to view the world in a different perspective overseas and this perspective I use to apply to my teaching as I taught World History for a few years and built in curriculum related to the Middle East and the Mediterranean when it came to discussions for example with the civilizations in Mesopotamia and the Roman Empire. We understand those regions related to both Gulf Wars. The Roman Empire built an astonishing navy during the height of their power, and now we see the power capabilities of our own United States Navy.
The experience puts us in an interesting position to explain to students the military role in protecting citizens, building diplomacy, ensuring everyone in ship’s company are on task with their jobs, and completing the mission while on duty.
I also incorporate these into my current social studies teaching. For example, students will ask me why learning about the United States Constitution is important, or why do we need to know about the economy when we already have people creating policies to help make our nation grow and prosper? Some students find the social studies curriculum daunting or uninteresting, but we need to put into perspective the importance of these areas in our lives.
I explained in detail to students that reopening the Philadelphia Navy Yard for building new warships, could give a boost to our local economy in the way of creating jobs not only at the shipyard, but the jobs extend through the local Philadelphia economy through local supply manufacturers, restaurants, retail shops, and even entertainment. These elements I mention give our region the patriotic spirit our nation’s birthplace stands for. I explained to them we can provide for the common defense in our region and citizens will see the growth potential and will want to be a part of growing their own wealth in our region. The classroom discussions will branch out where students start to see the value of career choices and education in our region and I like to see this dynamic play out in the classroom.
We not only discuss Philadelphia from the past, we also discuss the potential our region can become based on these lessons. I do receive valuable feedback from students as they explain when they are college graduates or maybe decide to enter the trade fields, they would like to be a part of this experience. I told them all, this is the reason social studies is an essential discipline that will continue being taught in our schools.
Eric Tuwalski, Ed.D. is the Social Studies Department Chair at Archbishop John Carroll High School.
