Education: What

and Why
One Social Studies
Chapter

is the subject matter that is studied.

two-sided coin. On one side
This definition is like a curriculum.
education jargõn for the
what of teaching and earning-the
"Subject matter" is drawn from the array of
includes the facts, ideas, skills, issues, and methods of inquiry sci-
It
geography, civics and government (political
fields called the social sciences: history, humanities-philosophy,
and anthropology. The
ence), economics, sociology, psychology, arts-are involved as well."
the visual and performing
ethics, literature, religion, music and social studies curriculum draws
serve as resources: The
These fields of study or disciplines
children with meaningful
on them, blending andintegrating them as needed to provide
But to what eiids? What are the goals?
learning experiences. earlier as democratic
On the other side of the coin is the purpose, which we introduced
to nake informed and reasoned decisions
for the públic good as cit-
citizenship: "the ability
an interdependent world"
izens of a culturally diverse, democcatic society in
Another way to think about the two sides of this definitional coin is found in the vision
social studies teaching helps students develop social un
statement of the NCSS: "Powerful of human beings' social
derstanding and civic efficacy Social understanding is knowledgeand the humanities. Civic
worlds drawn from history, geography, the other social sciences,
eficacy is the readiness and, willingness to assume citizenship responsibilities. These re
also one's responsibility to
sponsiilities include more than just voting. In a democracy, it is
serve on juries and to be just and lawful; one is expected
to be tolerant of politica' and cul-
tural differences; it is one's duty to participate in creating and evaluating public policy; and
it is one's duty to be civic-minded-that is, to think not only of oneself and one's rights and
freedoms but also of the good of the whole community. In general, one must be both able
and willing to walk the democratic path.
Schools typically approach these broad goals by way of three subgoals:knowledge, atti-
tudes and values, and skills. More specifie obyectiwes are typically 1listed under each subgoal.
when readers examine their state and local social studies curriculum guidelines, they will
most likely find that the guidelines take this form or one that issimiax

KNOWLEDGE
Which social knowledge is most important? We can answer this question in three ways: dis-
ciplines, themes, and topics.
One way is to refer to the fields ofstudy-the disciplineswhere this knowiedge is cre-
ated. As we saw above, these are the fields of history, geography, civics and government (po-
itical science), economics, sociology, psychology, and anthropelogy.
But these are large fields containing huge numbers of ideas and information! Another
way to answer which social knowledge is most important is to identify crucial themes drawn
from these fields. Themes help teachers narrow the scope somewhat and give them a better
idea of which social knowledge deserves thie most attention. The Curriculum Standards for
Social Studies created by the Natipnal Council for the Social Studies identifies 10 such
themes. They are rapidly becoming the best-known knowledge themes for social studies in-
struction in the elementary and middle grades:
I. Culture
2. Time, Continuity, and Change

JataC. fark
Cail Paandaa la, tlu , BRn, 20D
 Studies Educa t i o n
PART ONE ôrient ation to Social

Environments
3. People, Places, and
4. Individual Development and Identity
Institutions
5. Individuals, Groups, and
6. Power, Authority, and Governance
7. Production, Distribution, and Consumption
8. Science, Technology, and Society
9. Global Connections and Interdependence
10. Civic Ideals and Practice

Take a minute now to read in the accompanying Samplerthe brief descriptions of each ofthe
10 themes. The remainder of the Sampler spells out each theme and gives teaching examples
for both early grades and middle grades. An NCSS website gives more details on each thenme
and provides links tò teaching resources for each: http://www.ncss.org/links/home.html
A third way to answer the "Which knowledge?" question is to identify topics. For exam-
ple, students should know about:
. The history, geography, and cultures of their neighborhood, community, and home
state; how they are similar to and different from other places in the world; how people
live and work there; how they depend on one another to meet their basic needs.
.
The history and geography of the United States.
.The history and geography of the world.
.Thefoundations and principles of American constitutional democracy.
The laws and government df the community, state, and nation.
The world of work, of earning and saving, of production. and consumption, in the
local community, the state, the nation, and world.
.Basic human institutions (the family, education, religion, government, and the
economy) and their variety across.culures.
Human-environment interaction.
Current events and enduring public issues.
.Men and women who have made a difference in their
communities and beyond.
Looking back at the three ways of answering the question, "Which knowledge is most im-
portant?" we see 7 disciplines, l0 themes, and 10 topics-This should give readers a good, al-
though very general, understanding of the goals of the social studies curriculum. Before we
aim for a more detailed
understanding, we should first get a similarly general understand-
ing of the other social studies goals.

ATTITUDES AND VALUES

The second subgoal of social
at rational
stsdies learning-attitudes and values-is directed less
knowledge and more at the affective domain, that is, the realm of emotion,
feeling, loyalty, and commitment. Particular attitudes and values, also called
tions or virtues, are essential to democratic disposi-
citizenship. Without them, democratic gov-
 SocialT Studies
Education: What and Why
Chapter One

are typica!
What are they? The following
ernment and civic life would be impossible. curriculum guidelines in
listed in state and local
examples of what readers will find
this category.
suggested
publicvalues of this society
as
commitment to the
1. Developing reasoned
a
pledges (e.g"liberty
and
decisions, and
in its historical documents, laws,
court

justice for all"). when making

with value conflicts that arise
2. Being able to deal justly and «ffectively
decisions about the common good.
to all citizens and the role of
3. Knowing the basic human ri_hts guaranteed
those rights.
constitutiopnal democracy in protecting
to this nation and its form
of government. Note that
4. Developing a reasoned loyalty a
but to a form of government:
the "Pledge of Allegiance" is made not to a person
republic (constitutional democracy).
5. Developing a feeling of kinship to
human beings everywhere to the human family.
6. Treating oneself and others with respect.
and fulfilling one's obligations to the poitical
7. Taking responsibility for one's actions
community.

SKILLS .'

should be able to do. Of course, doing

The third subgoal-skills-identifies what students
extent because of the knowledge that
involves knowing; skillful behavior isskillful to a great
because he or she knows how to do it well. Ac-
Supports it. A child is skillful-at sOmething
and skills, are closelyrelated. This cate-
cordingly, the first and third subgoals, Knowledge
is subdivided as follows:
ory often
I. Democratic Participation Skills
and reasons.
A. Listening to, expressing, and challenging opinions
B. Participating in classroom, school, and community decision making. Especially,
inter-
participating in group discussions of public issues (classroom, community, me-
such discussions;
national) with persons with whom one may disagree; leading
diating, negotiating, and compromising.
C. Working cooperatively to clarify a task and plan group work
D. Accessing, using, and planning community resources
II. Study and Inquiry Skills (including reading and writing)
A. Using and making time lines, maps, globes, charts, and graphs.
B. Locating, gathering, organizing, and analyzing information from various resources
such sbooks, electronic media, newspapers, and the library.
C. Writipg reports and giving oral reports.
D. Distinguishing between primary and secondary sources.
 Studies Education
to Social
0rientation
PART ONE

main idea, to
for a variety of purposes-to get the
E. Reading social studies materials author bias.
to research all sides of a controversial issue, to detect
get information,

E. Forming and testing hypotheses.

III. Intellectual Skills
and issues.
A. Identifying and eBarifying problems rela-
other times and places and inferring cause-effect
B. Drawing analogies from
tionships.
evidence.
C. Drawing conclusions based on
conclusion (critical thinking); distin-
D. Determining the strength of an argûment or
guishing between fact and opinion; detecting propaganda.
and against one's position on an issue).
E. Reasoning dialogically (arguing both for

Currisilum Scope and Sequence

and the social sciencedisci-
Although most elementary and middle schools include historyconduct in
plines in their social studies programs, they do not ordinarily separate courses

The usual orga-

.

geography, history, political science, or the other social science disciplines.

nizational format combinés components from more than a single field to form an interdis-
ciplinary or integrated study around some theme or topic. For example, a sixth-grade class
might study the topic "Crossroads of Three Continents-The Middle East." In such a study,
geography would be tssential, as would history, economics, and government. Doubtless,
too, anthropology would be included because this area of the world was the birthplaci-ví
three of the world's major religions.
It is not the purpose of the elementary school to teach the social science disciplines apart
from their relevance to children's lives. They should be taught in ways that will help children
gain insight into the social and physical world in which they live. When children are mak-
ing islands and mountains in the sandbox or learning to map the playground, they are deal-
ing with geography-in simple ways. When they learn about the need for agreed-upon rules
in games, or when they compare the playground bully with the elected classroom president,
they are beginning to understand basieideas from political science (law, power, and legiti-
mate and illegitimate authority). And whenyhey dramatize the signing of the U.S. Consti-
tution and are then helped to create a classroom constitution-a rulebook they agree to fol
low-they are having their first brush with history and self-government. In these ways, the
subject matter is connected to what the children already know and do. But the curriculum
should also broaden children's horizons, taking them to distant places and times--to the
life of a scribe
in{Cleopatra's court, the boy crowned emperor in China, and village life in
one of the first
fafming communities thousands of years ago. So, the social studiescurricu
lum is connectedlto the child's life, and it enlarges that life outward to include the far
and the long agol Thanks to away
children's vivid imaginations, this is often no
them, but they need skillful adult great leap for
guidance if the journeys are to be both enjoyable and
productive.