The Social Studies Curriculum

Social studies began as civic education, says the author of this book. That makes sense, as in 1916 the USA didn’t have much of a history, at least not a history that was seriously written. Most education in this country was geared to vocational skills, so having a history lesson, aside from classics, would probably have seemed impractical. Even “American literature” didn’t exist as an academic discipline; it would not be until the 1920’s that Melville, Twain, Poe, Hawthorne, and Whitman were catalogued as “literature” for colleges.

This book isn’t a guide for teachers, but a discussion on the controversies. For example, the chapter 

Dangerous Citizenship shows how much censorship there is when it comes to social studies. In Texas, there is a massive push to rewrite history, eliminating all traces of feminism, socialism, and “equality” from the curriculum. Efforts to make it pro Confederacy and remove the Seneca Falls convention are gaining ground, with the goal of making the woman’s role in society look more submissive. Harriet Tubman would be included as a form of “good citizenship,” but there would be no mention of women’s rights. For economics, students would learn about Milton Friedman and his free market capitalism, but learn none of the negative traits.

The chapter Class Struggle In The Classroom is about how you can teach high school students about labor in the USA. By using the book Class Matters (NY Times) one you show the kids how the workers, capitalists, and unions all have competing goals. There’s a funny description of a cartoon where the capitalist is questioned over how much he pays the worker, how much the worker makes (in products) and what the capitalist did to get where he is. Finally he says “shut up, the workers and media might hear you.”

This book is a great eye opener to what social studies has become. However, a lot of the negative news regarding censorship didn’t arouse any sympathy from me. Even if subjects are removed from the curriculum, there’s nothing to stop the teacher from sneaking it in. For instance, let’s say the state of Texas removes the Seneca Convention from the curriculum. A student could use that for a project, and the teacher can let her (or him) be “teacher for a day” and teach the class. Whatever you achieve in the classroom is all on the head of the teacher, not the curriculum.