Welcome to Arkansas Stories, Arkansas Studies |
Integration with Other Social Studies Strands Obviously if one is to understand much of what has happened in Arkansas over the past two hundred or so years it is critical to understand the world and national events and issues which provided the immediate context within which Arkansans were required to respond. For example, you cannot possibly understand how and why Arkansas ultimately joined the succession from the Union that precipitated the Civil War unless you are familiar with Arkansas’s internal and external geography; the larger institution of slavery; the world and national economic context within which these events took place; the contemporary intellectual foment regarding human rights; and, both the nature and history of our national and state governmental structures. Without this, you simply are not able to comprehend how this momentous decision was made or the future consequences that stemmed from this decision. This is why the Arkansas Studies Curriculum has taken pains to place the specifics of Arkansas History within the context of the other critically important Social Studies strands. For example, as the young characters in Cephas Faulk experience the rigors of subsistence farming and share-cropping Cephas provides them with insights derived from both national events and economic theory. So as Fourth Grade students learn about how Arkansas’s economy evolved and changed they are also learning about general economic theories as well as world and national events and practices. To help to put this integrative strategy into perspective the Arkansas Studies Curriculum has not only aligned its sample Unit and Lesson Plans with Student Learning Expectations related specifically with Arkansas History but with all the other Social Studies strands as well. As a matter of emphasis, however, we are completely convinced that for Arkansas citizens it is much more important to understand Arkansas History from the inside out rather from the outside in. The simple memorization of a list of facts about Arkansas’s role in the Civil War, such as the dates and times of certain battles were fought and the names of governors and generals, does not come close to providing students with any kind of insight into why Arkansans then did what they did or the long-term, devastations whose consequences that were to shape the lives of unborn Arkansans over the next century. It is critical that students be aware of the national and world-wide context of events that helped to frame the decisions that Arkansans made, but, in the end, it was Arkansans who made these decisions and Arkansans who suffered the consequences of these decisions. It is vital that those who will be responsible for making the decisions that will shape Arkansas’s future be aware of this.
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