Advancing Social Studies Learning for the 21^st Century with Divergent Thinking

Abstract

Social studies teachers of all grade levels are responsible for (a) connecting students with standards-based content, (b) engaging students in their own learning, (c) expanding students’ levels of understanding by co-constructing new knowledge, (d) motivating students to express and exchange ideas with one another, and (e) incorporating social studies across the curriculum and into their students’ lives. To achieve powerful learning that is meaningful, active, challenging, valued and integrative as well as to demonstrate 21^st Century Skills more efficiently and effectively, social studies teachers are urged to feature divergent thinking. Using divergent thinking, students deconstruct a topic into parts and then generate as many creative, original, and varied productions as possible. This article provides ten classroom-tested strategies with specific examples in civics, economics, geography, and history that can be easily adapted along with guidelines and checklists for classroom implementation. Additionally, ten benefits of implementing divergent thinking strategies that make learning informative, critical, creative, and rewarding are described.

Keywords:

• divergent thinking
• social studies education
• powerful learning
• 21^st century skills