How to Teach Social Studies? An Interdisciplinary Model for Pre-Service Primary School Teachers: SSSM (Social Sciences – Science – Mathematics)

This study tried to determine how the theory and practice of the social studies teaching course taken by pre-service primary school teachers were shaped. The research was conducted using a case study, one of the qualitative research designs. The study group consisted of 11 pre-service teachers studying in the third grade of the Department of Primary Teaching at a state university in the 2019-2020 academic year and 11 classroom teachers teaching in the schools where these pre-service teachers made observations. Criterion sampling, one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used to determine the study group. Semi-structured interview forms, field observations, lesson plans developed by pre-service teachers, and metaphors created by pre-service teachers were used as data collection tools. According to the study results, the SOFEM lesson plans developed by the pre-service teachers associated the Social Studies course with different disciplines, especially Science, Mathematics, and Health. They created the plans based on real fiction. It was determined that the pre-service teachers needed to be more decisive in making associations in different disciplines in the steps of the invention of the concept and transformational thinking, and they could not benefit from the studies of creating meaning about the concept and combining disciplines related to high-level skills. Nevertheless, they tried to adapt the Social Studies course to real-life applications by using different methods and techniques in the application step. On the other hand, it was observed that the classroom teachers in the field did not make use of interdisciplinary associations or integration of disciplines in their Social Studies course practices and that they used teaching methods and techniques such as question-answer and discussion in which the teacher was active. It was determined that the teachers in the field received theoretical training on Social Studies teaching before their service and had deficiencies in practice, and this situation was reflected in the learning-teaching processes in their classrooms. According to the results of the research, it can be suggested that classroom teachers should cooperate with faculties of education to associate disciplines, and teachers and prospective teachers should focus on practices to combine disciplines in the planning and implementation process in the Teaching Practice courses carried out in the classroom teaching program. It can be suggested that classroom teachers should come together with teachers from their own branch and teachers from different branches (Music, Visual Arts, Mathematics, Science, Turkish, etc.) to plan for the Social Studies course outcomes and develop activity designs for higher order thinking skills in these plans.