By Dr. Lawrence Paska

“Social studies” in this context is perhaps best defined as students’ inquiry about the human-made world around them. All inquiry begins with a question.

If your students ask a question about some aspect of how the human-made world works, chances are that question is relevant and applicable around the world, beyond the focal point of the students’ initial inquiry.

Compelling questions are the ones our students care about—they focus on enduring issues and concerns and are asked by students in their own way every day.

Such questions cannot be easily answered in “yes-no” terms, nor do they have a single interpretation; rather, they require multiple disciplines, perspectives, and sources of evidence to be understood.