Potential of the Textbook «exploring History and Society» in the Formation of Environmental Competence of Grade 6 Students

Abstract

The article examines the peculiarities of the formation of environmental competence of secondary school students in the teaching of history and civic education in the lessons of the integrated course “Exploring History and Society”. The components of environmental competence as a key one are characterized, which are formed by means of various subjects and courses in the civic and historical educational field. The author defines them as a set of acquired knowledge, personal experience and emotional and value orientations of students, which are based on understanding the relationships between the natural and human environment, its changes in the conditions of social development, the impact of human activity on the environment in time and space, development and transformation of nature in the past and present by a person (cognitive component); the student’s ability to evaluate his/her own actions in nature and solve life situations with orientation to the principles of sustainable development of society; the ability to act responsibly, to participate in public and social life concerning the solving of environmental problems (activity component); to use the experience of history for self-knowledge and the achievement of the goals of sustainable development of society, the ability to assess the impact of an individual’s behavior on his/her immediate environment, the local community, Ukraine and the world, in particular the environment (motivational and value component). The didactic-methodological characteristics of the model curriculum of the integrated course “Exploring History and Society” (grades 5–6) are outlined in terms of opportunities for students to master interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and attitudes as components of environmental competence. The methodological potential of the textbook of the integrated course “Exploring History and Society “ in the formation of environmental competence of 6th grade students in the context of the Concept of the New Ukrainian School and the requirements of the State Standard of Basic Secondary Education is revealed. It was determined that sixth-graders’ assimilation of the main concepts and ideas of the educational content is ensured through a system of competence-oriented cognitive tasks of a research and search nature of varying degrees of complexity. The implementation of such tasks in the textbook is provided by the use of active learning technologies. The content of the tasks makes it possible to use them in a differentiated way, to organize the independent work of students, and to achieve the expected learning outcomes.