Can a structure be created that provides a broader and more valid base for the general education curriculum in the social studies than would the structure of social science disciplines? One alternative would be to focus on the making of decisions about public issues as the crucial element of citizenship behavior in a democracy. Using the common…

This paper defines, inquires into the relationships, and analyzes the terms social sciences and social studies. Too often social studies are a simplified instructional adaptation from the social sciences in which curricular decisions are made on the basis of dictates of the social science disciplines and of college prerequisites. A social studies…

Traditionally, the social studies have been defined as the social sciences adapted and simplified for pedagogical purposes. This definition assumes that the criteria for curriculum selection and development in social studies should come from the social sciences and not from an independent view of what the social sciences should be about. Hence,…