Why is Humanities class important?
Humanities is the only class that we have every day in 8th grade. This means that the Humanities is important, but many students, including this author, are not sure why it is so important. The Direct Message interviewed 8th-grade Humanities teacher, Mr. de Oliveira, to ask him just what makes this class so essential.
Riko: Why do we have Humanities class every day?
Mr. de Oliviera:
“Humanities in 8th Grade here at AES Middle School covers 2 subject areas, English Language Arts and Social Studies. Therefore, we have class every day because if they were separate classes you would meet for the same amount of time.”
Riko: What will we learn from Humanities class?
Mr. de Oliviera:
“Our focus for the whole year in Humanities is looking at how power impacts our world: how people use power to instill change and revolution, control others, and push for a better future.”
Riko: Why do middle school students have Humanities class in 6th grade and 8th grade, not 7th grade?
Mr. de Oliviera:
“Actually, only the 8th grade has Humanities now. We split Humanities into the separate classes of English Language Arts and Social Studies in both 6th and 7th grades a couple of years ago because we decided the changes in the courses that we were making at those levels would work better if those classes were not taught together. The 8th Grade Humanities program was not changing very much that year and currently plays a big role in the PeOPle (POP) Project, so we decided to keep Humanities one class in 8th grade for now.”
Finally, we know that the 8th graders have their Humanities class every day because the Humanities class is taking the role of two subjects: Social Studies and English Language Arts.
8th Graders: What do you think about your Humanities class vs. 7th grade English and Social Students. Leave a comment and let us know.