Civics As The Predominant Subject To Be Handled In The Social Studies

For many years after the recognition of the social studies field historians were inclined to regard the field as a fad or a frill, as temporary emphasis. Many of them sincerely felt that history was broad enough and deep enough to supply pupils with the social, geographic, political, and economic elements necessary for orientating themselves in the contemporary world. According to this view, there was no real need for civics, geography, and sociology as school subjects. The above paragraph seems to indicate that the public schools of a dynamic society are conscious agents for social improvement. Satisfactory assumption of this responsibility requires that the public schools proceed in such manner that two major objectives may be accomplished. The first of these is that of making it possible for each girl and boy to acquire an understanding of the present social order, its complexities, its problems, its memorials, and its hopes. The second is that of making it possible for each boy and girl to achieve the maximum of his or her potential ability to contribute and live in a better social order