RELEVANCE OF SOCIAL STUDIES IN THE 21ST-CENTURY SOCIETY: STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES

Social Studies is a key tool in this changing world. It serves as the foundation of social development across the country and acts as an agent of change that transforms an individual into an effective citizen of the nation. Moreover, the Philippine K to 12 curriculum accentuates the role of social studies in developing the learners’ literacy and effective engagement as a citizen of the country. This study aims to elicit the junior high school students' perspectives on the significance of social studies in 21st-century society. It involved 25 Grade 7 students enrolled in a public secondary school in Zambales, Philippines. This study used a qualitative descriptive design with a semi-structured interview guide as the primary gathering tool. Five major themes emerged from the categorized statements of the participants. Social studies is still relevant today as it encourages community participation, enhances critical and creative thinking, fosters cultural sensitivity, broadens global perspective, and promotes values formation. Moreover, participants claimed that social studies promotes cultural heritage, fosters economic efficiency, serves as a source of meaningful information, and brings people back to the past. The study recommends that teachers should enhance their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) in Social Studies to keep abreast with the demands of 21st-century society. Further, teachers are encouraged to make the teaching of Social Studies contextualized, indigenized and localized to make it responsive and relevant in the current setting.Keywords :21st-century society, social studies, students’ perspectives, qualitative research, Zambales, Philippines