Pages: 13

This chapter explores the origins of social studies education, its purpose, and what it was intended to look like. In doing this, we will examine the philosophical underpinnings behind social studies education as well as examine the significant role that John Dewey played in its creation and development. The chapter closes with the role public school teachers played with the success, or lack thereof, of social studies education and how the field’s future remains intertwined with the ability of teachers to fulfill its ambitious civic purpose.

Pages: 13

When the 1916 Report connected social studies education to democratic citizenship, fueled with a social melioristic emphasis on addressing contemporary issues, the field naturally became mired in a conundrum. How should a teacher address those contemporary issues that may not be in line with the values of our democratic society? Should a teacher, for instance, position students to be critical of the dominant social order? What if those positions are considered politically partisan? How politically partisan should a social studies classroom be? This chapter addresses this conundrum by first focusing on the moment this issue first came to surface in the field with the rise of George Counts’ social reconstructionist philosophy. The chapter then addresses more contemporary work on political disclosure in the social studies classroom.

Pages: 9

The overarching purpose of this chapter is to examine the curricular counter-response to the rise in propaganda of the Charles Coughlin era that yielded noteworthy pedagogical strategies and tools that may usefully serve the contemporary social studies classroom as we face the current rising tide in propaganda.

Pages: 11

This chapter essentially examines the type of history teaching necessitated by living in a democratic society that Alan Griffin clearly articulated in the 1940s and how that relationship remains central to an effective contemporary social studies classroom.

Pages: 9

This chapter tells the story of the rise and fall of Harold Rugg’s landmark social studies textbook series. The story of Rugg’s textbooks reveal much about the challenges that exist with teaching for democratic citizenship. But also, Rugg’s texts provide all citizenship educators with a blueprint pattern for future iterations of a comprehensive social studies education.

Pages: 13

This chapter continues the theme of addressing social issues but doing so by paying particular attention to those issues that social studies educators Maurice Hunt and Lawrence Metcalf called “closed areas.” Closed areas, according to Hunt and Metcalf, are areas of interest “not open to reflective inquiry” among individuals and sometimes entire communities. Some notable examples include issues related to race and sexuality. The chapter also addresses how addressing closed areas continue to be a source of difficulty for social studies teachers.

Pages: 14

This chapter delves into the work of one prominent figure of the new social studies movement, Edwin Fenton, who some regard to be the leader of the movement. This work rhymes closely with the signature pedagogy and inquiry-based learning in the contemporary literature and practices of social studies education. This rhythmic pattern will be closely pointed out through an analysis of some contemporary trends in social studies education.

Pages: 14

While public policy in the mid-twentieth century emphasized academic rigor in social studies education, some scholars contributed to the field in ways that represented a more expansive vision of education. These scholars emphasized morality as a central educational endeavor. To what extent is academic rigor valuable, these scholars argued, if schools are producing students who are immoral? In many ways, these scholars built upon the work initially laid out by John Dewey’s articulation of a social democracy, which served as a guiding force for Ernest Horn’s efforts nearly a century ago. These scholars, in sum, picked up where Dewey and Horn left off. This chapter focuses upon the work of the two most prominent of these scholars: Lawrence Kohlberg and Nel Noddings.

Pages: 11

The tradition of social meliorism seemingly took a back seat in the mid-late twentieth century to an increased interest in the social science disciplines. The work on moral education provided clues that school was more than academic preparation but rather, a preparation for life and for a belonging to a democratic society that relied upon active participation from its citizenry. While arguably helpful, the new social studies failed to provide answers to anything that did not focus on academic preparation for students. No one was more critical of this fact than Shirley Engle of Indiana University. This chapter focuses on Engle’s long-standing attempt to resuscitate social meliorism and reflective inquiry back into the field of social studies education.

Pages: 12

As the twentieth century closed and we jettisoned through the first two decades of this century, three areas prominently emerged in social studies education that help to strengthen the field and improve its commitment toward democratic citizenship: multiculturalism, global education, and technology integration. This is the focus of this final chapter. These three areas are not intended to stand alone as a replacement of anything in the trajectory of social studies education but rather, enhance and enrich curricular practices. This chapter identifies these three areas as ones to be “infused,” or pervasively included, throughout the social studies curriculum. In other words, these three areas should be naturally included throughout courses and projects in the field.