A Rationale for Social Studies Education in Michigan.

The central purpose of social studies education is the development of citizenship. In social studies education four elements are essential. The first element is knowledge. Social studies must draw heavily upon the social sciences, including history, and from related fields such as law, psychology, the humanities, journalism, and the arts. Young people must come to see that the ideas which make up the body of the scholarly fields change over the year. Knowledge must be balanced between understandings needed in young people's own immediate social worlds and society at large, and it must be intellectually honest. The second element is values. Identifying their own values must be a part of students' education in social studies. So also must be recognizing the values of others. The third element is skills in acquiring information and thinking about social affairs. Young people need skills to make their knowledge and values active and so continue in the lifelong process of learning. The fourth element is social participation. Everyone lives as part of social groups, which influence and are influenced by their members. Without direction toward action, social studies education becomes passive. The paper concludes with a description of the characteristics of programs which must be implemented if these four elements are to be translated into actual learning opportunities. Included among these characteristics are that objectives must be clear, learning activities must be appropriate for objectives, varied instructional materials are needed, the classroom climate must be supportive, and there must be assessment and evaluation. (Author/RM)