How My Definition of Social Studies Has Changed

At the beginning of the semester when I thought of social studies it was more in line with culture
and history. Essentially then I felt these two areas were the most important aspects of social
studies. My view has changed in that I now see social studies curriculum as a tool to train our
future citizens and leaders. Our students must study the past and learn about mistakes made as
well as historical achievements. A solid grasp of geography is essential for stewardship of our
planet as well as understanding geopolitical events. Civics is important because it explores the
technicalities of citizenship and government. Economics helps students by empowering them
with knowledge of how our market economy works as well as how to make use of that
information. All of the strands of social studies reinforce each other to develop a broad picture of
the community, state, nation, and the world respectively. Prior to this class I put a high priority
on social studies but now that we are near the end of the semester I think an even greater
emphasis should be placed upon it within schools. Social studies is essentially the knowledge of
how our society came to be, how it is held together, and how it interacts with other societies on a
global scale. At this point I think that a succinct definition of social studies wouldnt do the
content area justice. But, if I had to narrow it down I would do so in the way Plato did in his
work The Republic. There are essential truths that must be taught to todays youth so that they
may become active citizens in the future and social studies is the tool that makes this happen.
Through social studies students learn their rights and responsibilities which is means they know
what they are entitled to as citizens and what they must do to earn their place as a citizen. I
would now say that social studies is the body of knowledge necessary to educate a student for
future activities as a citizen. Without social studies there is ignorance of how both our nation and
the world works. The four strands effectively interrelate and complement each other in such a
manner that todays 5
th
grader could achieve content knowledge equal to some of the Founding
Fathers. Simply put social studies is the knowledge and self-empowerment that allows todays
student to become a fully aware citizen, which is essential for the survival of or government and
way of life.