Introduction

For any program to be successful, whether it be a theater production, an athletic team, or an academic program, there needs to be a clear vision on what is to be addressed and attained.  In proposing a rationale for a social studies program, there are certain elements that one must consider to create a clear picture of what a successful social studies program should incorporate.  To begin with, the field of social studies needs to be defined.  Then one must look at what learner outcomes are expected from the students involved in the program.  An important element of any social studies program is the question of how students are prepared to be informed, responsible, and involved citizens during and beyond their high school years.  Lastly, one must look at how the program can be shaped to be meaningful, challenging, integrative, value based, and active.

Definition

There are many ways to define “social studies” ranging from detailed, in depth descriptions to “the other courses in addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic.”  In the current educational atmosphere focusing in on “the basics” and statewide standards, a social studies program can take a back seat to other disciplines thought to be more important to a student’s education.  As such, the discipline of social studies has defined just what it is and its importance in the educational process.

The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) adopted the following definition in 1992:
Social studies is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence.  Within the school program, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences.  The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world (NCSS, 3).

While this definition seems daunting on the surface, it basically contains three main points, that social studies is the study of people and cultures, it covers and integrates many disciplines, and its main goal is to make students better citizens.  As such, any successful social studies program must keep these three main points in mind in the development of its program.

Learner Outcomes

Essential to every social studies program is a defined set of outcomes that every student should master as they progress through the program.  These learner outcomes need be broad enough to include the many disciplines of a social studies program yet specific enough to direct the curriculum.  The outcomes should be learner based and have real world applications.  Some learner outcomes that fit this and the preceding definition of a social studies program are the following:

investigate the society they live in

investigate diverse perspectives and cultures of the world

analyze historic events and people from multiple perspectives and the resulting impact upon the world

examine primary source documents and draw own conclusions on meaning and importance

develop critical thinking skills to analyze and solve problems

examine civic rights and responsibilities

participate in civic projects and actions

By building a curriculum on learner outcomes that stress involvement, critical thinking, and have real world application, students will be more engaged in the learning process.

Citizenship

As defined by the National Council for the Social Studies, a primary goal of the social studies is to develop the citizenship skills of students.  According to Engle and Ochoa, students are often taught the social sciences in isolation and just as topics to be covered without investigating social issues and problems.  As Berman points out, social responsibility does not just happen but must be cultivated within the school curriculum.  To this end, a social studies program and its study of the social sciences is vital to developing social skills and citizenship.

A primary component in the development of citizenship is instilling a sense of community within the classroom.  By working on social skills such as communication, cooperation, conflict management, and perspective taking (Berman, 1990), students gain the basic skills needed to live successfully in a community.  These skills can be incorporated into almost any lesson taught in a social studies program and are most effectively learned when also modeled by the teacher.

Just as important as community building is providing students with opportunities to make a contribution to the wider community.  Programs outside the regular school curriculum such as Public Achievement provide students with these types of opportunities to examine real world issues, however, these can also be implemented as part of a social studies program.  By giving students a chance to make a difference in their community, they become not only interested but responsible for their community.  Students also gain firsthand knowledge of how institutions work and organize and dispel the prevailing notion that they lack power to effect change and are disconnected from decision making.

Powerful Social Studies

The National Council for the Social Studies defines powerful social studies as meaningful, challenging, integrative, value based, and active (NCSS, 162).  A social studies program which embodies these five qualities will not only engage the learner but will leave lasting impressions and provide the student with the tools necessary to live in modern society.

Meaningful social studies is authentic and useful in every day life.  Students learn not only how to solve a particular problem, but how to solve other problems not yet imagined.  Students learn less number of topics but investigate each topic more deeply.  As Scheurman and Newmann state, “authentic intellectual achievement consists of more than the ability to do well on an academic test.  It involves the application of knowledge to questions and issues within a particular domain.”  Social studies takes on meaning when students see the learning as worthwhile, important, and connected to their real world.

Challenging social studies motivates students to learn.  By exposing students to a variety of perspectives on controversial issues and guiding them through the material with thoughtful questioning, a teacher not only models critical thinking but creates a setting in which students can begin to think critically themselves.  As educational theorist Jerome Bruner puts it, “all students can learn if a teacher shows them how to think and discover knowledge for themselves” (History Alive!, 16).  By using a variety of learning approaches, a teacher challenges students’ multiple intelligences and reaches more of the students in the classroom more often.

Integrative social studies can come naturally to a program because of the diverse disciplines and topics covered under a social studies program, however, these disciplines need to be connected and not taught in isolation.  By drawing upon resources within the social studies program and including disciplines such as art, music, english, and science, the learning experience becomes deeper and more powerful for the student.  Teachers model effective cooperation for students when they work across discipline lines.  Students gain multiple perspectives on a topic or issue and learn in a variety of teaching methods.

Value based social studies provides students with the opportunity to investigate controversial issues and problems, learn different perspectives regarding the topic, and develop their own opinion or solution to the issue or problem.  As Passe stated, “everything we do reflects our values, every decision is a choice between competing values.”  Hand in hand, students learn the value of respecting other points of view on an issue, the realization that people can hold differing opinions yet live together in a community.

Lastly, active social studies is engaging, reflective, and student centered.  Students are participants in an active social studies program, relating what they already know to the current topic, constructing new ideas or solutions, and discussing the content of the course with each other rather than merely sitting in their desks and receiving the material passively.  Teachers in an active social studies program are continually making adjustments, taking new approaches to the material, and actively learning as the students are learning.

Sources

Berman, Sheldon. “Educating for Social Responsibility.”  Educational Leadership, November 1990, pp. 75-80.

Engle, Shirley H. and Ochoa, Anna S.  Education for Democratic Citizenship: Decision Making in the Social Studies.  NY: Teachers College Press, 1988, pp. 91-105.

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS).  Curriculum Standards for Social Studies.  1994.

Passe, Jeff.  “The Value of Teaching Values.”  Social Education.  March 1999, pp.124-5.

Scheurman, Geoffrey and Newmann, Fred M.  “Authentic Intellectual Work in Social Studies:  Putting Performance Before Pedagogy.”  Social Education.  January 1998, pp. 23-25.

Teachers Curriculum Institute.  History Alive! Engaging all Learners in the Diverse Classroom.  Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley, 1994.
 

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