Educators filed into the Plaza Park Hotel in Boston this week to take part in a major regional conference aimed at promoting the instruction of social studies.
The 38th Northeast Regional Conference on the Social Studies, sponsored by the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies, started Monday and ended yesterday.
In attendance were teachers and administrators from New Hampshire to New Jersey. Although most who were at the conference worked at middle and high schools, colleges and elementary schools were represented as well.
According to Mary Ellen Sorensen, who teaches at the Spofford Pond School in Boxford, Mass. and ran the pre-conference publicity for this year's conference, it is "the largest regional social studies conference in the country."
"We have a well-mixed group," Sorensen told the Daily. "Our goal is to hit 2,000 participants, but we usually get around 1,500."
Each year the conference chair chooses a new theme for the conference. This year's chair, Roger Desrosiers, who teaches in Millbury, Mass., selected the theme "Citizenship Education: Democracy in Action."
Newsweek columnist and senior editor Jonathan Alter was a guest speaker at the conference earlier this week.
Throughout his speech he spoke about the value and importance of history and social studies. Alter said that history is interesting because of the stories that can be gleaned from it. He also explained how indebted he is to the social studies teachers he had while in school.
"They changed my life," Alter said. "Now I always try to bring history and historical context to Newsweek."
He explained how now more than ever teaching history and having a background in it is important. "The more confusing the present is, the more useful the past becomes," he said.
Educators also sat in on a number of workshops and special sessions where they brainstormed methods for the integration of social studies into the classroom.
One of the workshops this year was entitled "Making Social Studies Real: Super Strategies for All." James David Moran, a representative from the American Antiquarian Society, presented at it.
"Our goal is to help you get students involved with primary sources," Moran told the group. He encouraged teachers to educate their students about using resources such as libraries and museums.
At other sessions, presenters suggested activities to help students become better citizens. The session "Connecting Students to Current Events," which was aimed at those teaching upper elementary and middle school children, encouraged educators to help students become more aware of current events through enjoyable activities that the whole school can become involved in.
In addition, organizations such as the History Channel, the publishing company Prentice Hall and the museum Colonial Williamsburg set up booths in an exhibitor's hall and sold reduced-priced books and other items teachers can use in the classroom.
"I hope we help give participants the enthusiasm to stay in teaching," Sorensen said. "The dropout rate for teachers within their first five years of teaching is extremely high. It's a great job, and I hope we encourage them to stay."
