Educational Objectives; Elementary School Curriculum; Elementary Secondary Education; Learning Centers

Teachers, principals, and supervisors need to study, analyze, and appraise relevant issues in the social studies curriculum. This paper identifies different issues that can be considered in social studies, and points out the reasons for and against utilizing the different instructional materials, teaching methods, educational objectives, and curriculum decisions. The first issue discussed is the use of textbooks as the primary instructional material. Advantages of using texts include the time writers have spent selecting the content, the convenience of using a prepared teachers manual, and an adequately controlled vocabulary. Other issues include using content from the structure of knowledge, inductive versus deductive teaching, using affective objectives, using workbooks, and using programmed materials. Using criterion referenced tests is discussed as an issue. It is suggested as a