Subjects - Society

The HomeLearn program uses an integrated 'thematic' approach, to keep the 'big picture' context while still having work related to the different subject 'details'. It uses a sequence of "themes" or Units to make sure that the full curriculum for Science and Society is covered over the course of the year.

The sequence is primarily organised around Science topics, with the Society topics varying a little in order between different courses. There are 7 Society topics covered over 12 Units, so most are in 'pairs', with a first Unit of the topic being more general and the second being an 'investigation', or 'process' extension of the first. One key aspect of the Society curriculum is the emphasis on the 'process' of investigation, and this is specifically emphasised and stepped through with these 'process' Units.

Topics from the Society faculty area were developed separately for the Australian National Curriculum, first with History and then Geography and now Civics & Citizenship. This has, unfortunately, resulted in a very unbalanced time allocation across the faculty topics, leaving no room for some important topics such as 'Economics' and 'Work & Careers'. The HomeLearn program includes all Society topics in a balanced approach, and so differs significantly from the 'fragmented' approach of the National Curriculum.

Another educational fault which we believe exists in the National Curriculum approach to some Society topics, particularly 'History', is the use of a 'linear' development instead of a 'concentric' approach. For History, the focus moves from a local to world perspective, and then in a linear way through periods of history. As we use source readers with particular themes that lend themselves very well to certain historical periods, and because our courses are 'literacy' based and not 'year' based, our Society Units do no necessarily follow the arbitrary chosen year sequence of the National Curriculum.

This chart shows a typical sequence of the Society topics, in this case for the "Wildcats Cougar" course, with some general comments about the style of treatment of each topic.

	Wildcats Cougar Course
Book	Society Topic	Topic comments
		The topic of 'Economics' seems to be one that has been missed in the Australian Curriculum, and this is also a significant failing as a basic understanding of economics is essential for young people to consider. This topic generally covers the basic principles of economics, which are often extended by case study in a 'process' Unit.
		'Natural & Built Environments' would comprise the 'Physical Geography' part of the Australian Geography Curriculum (along with Conservation). This topic covers the characteristics of natural environments as well as man-made ones and the effects that one has on the other.
		This is an example of a 'process' Unit, where the 'Natural & Built Environments' topic is extended through an 'investigation'.
		'Culture' is another name for the 'Social Geography' part of the Australian Geography Curriculum. This topic covers the characteristics of culture and case studies of different cultural groups. This relates to some extent with the Elective topic of Languages Other Than English, which also includes a cultural aspect.
		This Unit focuses on the topic of 'Careers & Work'. This topic is not yet part of the Australian Curriculum, which is a major failing as it is essential for young people to consider. The HomeLearn program makes sure this is included in a balanced Society curriculum.
		This Unit extends the topic of 'Careers & Work', through an investigation, thus ensuring that strong aspect of the Society curriculum is actively covered.
		'Conservation' would be considered as part of 'Geography' in the Australian Curriculum, but it really should be dealt with as a separate topic. This is often a 'cross-over' topic between Science and Society, and is often matched with 'Natural Resources' as a Science topic in most courses, including this one. This is about the conservation of the natural environment.
		This is another example of a 'process' Unit, where the 'Conservation' topic is extended through an 'investigation'. The emphasis with these is on the process, with the topic being the context or subject of the investigation.
		'Civics and Citizenship' is a separate subject in the Australian Curriculum, but that tends to over-weigh the balance of the overall curriculum. This topic looks at government, generally with a particular focus on Australia, but sometimes by comparison with other forms of government.
		This is another example of extending the topic, this time of 'Citizenship', through an investigation of a case study. The emphasis of these is on the process, with the topic and theme being the context or subject.
		The subject of 'History' is always covered as a 'pair' of Units in each course, to make sure that the time allocation goes close to matching what the (unbalanced) Australian Curriculum seems to demand. As noted above, the historical period being studied is chosen based on the source reader - in this case the reader has four different stories related to four different historical periods, so a choice can be made.
		This is one further example of a 'process' Unit, where the 'History' topic is extended through an 'investigation'. In this example (Cougar) a consideration of family charateristics in one story leads to an investigation of family history .. which is the focus of the History curriculum in early years.