Social Studies

Secondary 3 Social Studies Issue Investigation & Empathy Week

The Issue Investigation provides a platform for students to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and values needed for active citizenship. As students conduct investigations on societal issues of meaning to them, they extend their inquiry skills by working as a group to gather and analyse data to surface trends and patterns, arrive at well-reasoned and substantiated conclusions and examine their personal assumptions about the issue.

In short, the Issue Investigation provides students with the opportunity to practise and demonstrate the 21st Century Competencies to become informed, concerned and participative citizens.

In 2024, our Sec 3 learners delved deeper into their Social Studies Issues Investigation in collaboration with the school’s Character and Citizenship Education, coinciding with the launch of the inaugural Empathy Week. Alongside a MAP lesson package where students learned about and experienced the challenges faced by people with disabilities, an actual visit to Ren Ci Nursing Home was arranged prior to the week’s highlights.

This initiative aimed to foster a deeper sense of empathy among AssumptionKnights towards the challenges faced by these segments of the population, as well as the corresponding support that may be beneficial to them. With these considerations in mind, the students continued to utilise the Inquiry Model to guide their thought processes, enabling them to articulate their opinions effectively through their Issues Investigation tasks, thereby becoming more informed, empathetic, and participative citizens.

Inquiry Question: Are there sufficient support given to meet the needs of people with disabilities in Singapore?

Student Artefacts:

Student Reflection

I learned more about the struggles people with physical disabilities face, be it financially, physically or emotionally. Before I did this project, I did not know much about them and could even say I was a part of the problem as well - I was stereotyping and labeling them, which was not nice of me.

Through the project and all the SLS videos and articles about people with physical disabilities, I finally understand how difficult it really is to live life normally with such disabilities, and that even with the help the government provides for them, it isn't enough until the whole of society finally understands and accepts them, until stigma goes away.

I learned to keep an open mind and to be empathetic. The next time I meet someone as such, I will know what to say and how to act.