STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY

SOCIAL STUDIES :: 2006 :: PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHY

In 1992, the Board of Directors of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the primary membership organization for social studies educators, adopted the following definition: Social studies are 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 the natural sciences.

NCSS's statement, "Essentials of the Social Studies" (NCSS 1990, 9-11), further identifies citizenship education as the primary purpose of K-12 social studies. Effective social studies programs prepare young people to identify, understand, and work to solve the problems facing our diverse nation in an increasingly interdependent world. An effective program:

  • fosters individual and cultural identity along with understanding of the forces that hold society together or pull it apart;
  • includes observation of and participation in the school and community;
  • addresses critical issues and the world as it is;
  • develops perspectives on students' own life experiences that allows them to see themselves within the broader world context;
  • prepares students to make decisions based on democratic principles; and
  • leads to citizen participation in public affairs.

In essence, "The primary purpose of the 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."1

Underlying this scope and sequence is the principle that neither gender, economic status, nor cultural background limits a student's ability to understand social studies and develop civic efficacy.

 

1NCSS House of Delegates, Expectations of Excellence, 1998.

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