Social Studies
Our Teachers
Social Studies Department Philosophies
We believe that everyone should be a lifelong learner. We further believe that everyone should understand and exercise their rights and responsibilities in a free, democratic society, thus enabling them to function as an informed, responsible citizen. In our increasingly complex, diverse world, everyone must understand and accept the pluralistic nature of life, recognize human rights, and function as a positive citizen in the world community. In our core curriculum, World and United States History, we emphasize the development of democratic ideals. Our elective menu further explores the understanding of government and expands social knowledge with World Religions, Psychology, Sociology, and Contemporary Issues course offerings.
About NHS Social Studies
The primary purpose of a history and social science education is to prepare students to have the knowledge and skills to become thoughtful and active participants in a democratic society and a complex world. “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” is not just a historical phrase from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. It is an ideal that must be renewed and reinvigorated by each succeeding generation. The future of democracy depends on our students’ development of knowledge, skills, and dispositions that will enable them to embrace democracy’s potential, while recognizing its challenges and inherent dilemmas.
An effective history and social science education teaches students about the legacy of democratic government, incorporates diverse perspectives and acknowledges that perceptions of events are affected by race, ethnicity, culture, religion, and the infinite variety of personal experience.
An effective history and social science education also aims to teach students to think historically and to integrate knowledge from many fields of study. It aims to increase critical thinking skills, to increase each student’s ability to make logical arguments and each student’s ability to use data analysis and digital tools to understand our complex world.
From the MA Department of Education
High school students take courses in United States history, world history, news/media literacy, and other social sciences. They learn through research and inquiry, completing multi-step projects focused on important and interesting questions and problems. At
some point during high school, students lead a civics project in the community.
No matter what courses they take, all high school students develop certain history and social science skills, or practices:
- Being an involved and knowledgeable member of society
- Recognizing problems and questions that need to be addressed
- Collecting information from various sources and deciding which to trust
- Explaining what they have learned about a problem or question
- Explaining what should be done about the problem or question
Throughout high school, students explore how people of diverse backgrounds have built the United States, how the country became a world power, and how its people have fought for equality and against injustice. Students also explore world cultures, empires, and nations and the many ways in which they have interacted throughout history and continue to interact today.