This article describes and defends a revision of the traditional elementary social studies curriculum rationale. It calls for retaining most of the same topics, but developing them more coherently and shifting emphasis from the expanding communities sequence to introducing students to the fundamentals of the human condition as the primary…

Discusses a study of the views of social education professionals and elementary social studies teachers on elementary social studies education. Reports many areas of agreement between the two groups and mostly minor points of disagreement. Concludes that social education goals would be better served by greater understanding between the two groups.…

Despite scholarly disagreement about the nature and purposes of social studies education, the most widely adopted elementary social studies textbook series tend to be remarkably uniform, consisting of compendia of facts organized within the expanding communities curriculum structure. Content selection and explication tend to be guided primarily by…

This article begins with an overview of elementary social studies, considering its purposes and goals, historical and contemporary controversies about learner readiness and curriculum content, and commonly reported problems with textbooks and time pressures. It then considers proposed reforms, first considering approaches recommended by others and…

Educators tend to view curriculum integration as an obviously good idea and thus adopt an attitude of "the more integration, the better." However, the analysis of elementary social studies presented in this report indicates that many of the activities suggested in the name of integration either: (1) lack educational value in any subject or (2)…

Argues that curriculum integration may lead to a diminution of social studies content. Contends that classroom activities done in the name of curriculum integration often have no educational value. Provides five guidelines to determine whether an instructional activity is appropriate for curriculum integration. (CFR)

In a previous report, the author critiqued the 1988 Silver Burdette & Ginn elementary social studies series (Silver Burdett & Ginn Social Studies), treating it as a representative example of what has been called the de facto national curriculum in elementary social studies. The present report begins with brief critiques of three other…

This article features an elementary teacher who has worked with the authors for the past 10 years in research on building a classroom community and using cultural universals as the centerpiece for elementary social studies for all children. "Cultural universals" are basic human needs and social experiences found in all societies, past and present,…

Issues relating to the design, selection, and evaluation of learning activities have been relatively neglected in educational research and scholarship. This paper identified some fundamental questions in need of scholarly attention, reviews recent research findings, and then offers a conceptual analysis and a tentative list of principles that…

For this study, professors representing eight disciplines--science, mathematics, political science, music, literature, history, geography, and the visual arts--were asked first to review historical trends and current thinking in their disciplines and then to prepare papers about the ways in which the disciplines should be represented in the…

One of seven review/synthesis papers prepared to help frame the research program of the Center for the Learning and Teaching of Elementary Subjects, this paper describes historical developments and current issues in curriculum, instruction, and evaluation in elementary social studies, with emphasis on teaching for understanding and higher order…

Most social studies textbooks lack the content K-3 students need to develop basic social understandings, despite the fact that this is one of the goals of most state and district curriculum guides. This book offers an alternative/enhancement to the textbook, since it provides units structured around powerful ideas, developed in depth with…

Just because an activity crosses subject matter lines does not make it worthwhile; it must also accomplish important educational goals. Learning activities should be educationally significant or desirable even without the integration feature. Activities should also foster, rather than disrupt or nullify, major goals in each subject area. (MLH)

Presents study results of fifth graders' attitudes toward history. Includes interviews with the student subjects concerning what they know about history, what they want to know, and reasons to study history. Concludes that fifth graders are interested in history and familiar with the past but vague on the interpretive nature of history. (DK)

The traditional K-3 social studies curriculum has focused on food, clothing, shelter, communication, transportation, and other cultural universals. Very little information exists about children's prior knowledge and thinking about these topics. This study was designed to provide such information with respect to the topic of transportation, and in…