MODULE 1: WHAT IS SOCIAL STUDIES

MEANING OF SOCIAL STUDIES

Start Here!
INTRODUCTION
Effective teaching and learning of Social Studies at any level demands a detailed but not
lopsided understanding of the meaning of the subject in such a way that the bias of training
does not influence the way a teacher ends up handling the subject in class. In this Unit,
which happens to be your first contact with this course material, it is expected that you will
be familiarized with the definitions of the subject as supported by contemporary practitioners
of the subject. The various confusions that have characterized the definitions of the subject
based on the professional biases of teachers handling the subject in our schools will be
cleared. This will therefore give you the chance of getting acquainted with the details of
what an ideal definition of Social Studies should be.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of your interaction with this Unit, you should be able to:
1. identify definitions that are not compatible with the nature and focus of Social Studies.
2. give a concise definition of Social Studies which represents its value-laden nature and
focus.

Lecture Notes and Lesson Content

What Social Studies is Not
The circumstances surrounding the introduction of the subject, Social Studies into Nigeria can
be identified as one major factor that has influenced the way the subject has been variedly
defined in the past years. The early practitioners of the subject allowed their professional
background and preparation to influence what they perceived and taught as Social Studies.
Lawal and Oyeleye (2003) in support of this view remarked that the definitions, nature and
scope of the subject became so restricted to the confinements of the single discipline
purview of the Social Sciences.
To some of the practitioners in this category, Social Studies was defined as “amalgamation
of all knowledge of the arts and social sciences, in terms of history, geography, political
science and sociology. Quartey (1984) remarked that the protagonists of this view argue
that knowledge is one and indivisible and that it is only for convenience that it has been
divided into subject compartments. Curriculum labelled on this view only ended up
departmentalizing knowledge by selecting assortment of topics from the Social Sciences. This
can only compel the teachers holding this view to limit their selection of topics related to
their discipline, with emphasis on such topics at the neglect of other topics unless other
specialists can be found to handle other aspects of the curriculum.

Some other practitioners of the subject have equally defined Social Studies as the study of
the relationship between man and his environment. As an adjunct, they it is how man
influences the environment and how the environment influences man. Quartey (1984)
observes that this view has strong geographical and sociological connotations. These
standpoints present the false notion that Social Studies has nothing new to offer. By
presenting Social Studies in subject compartments, it attempts to negate the importance
attached to the attainment of unity of knowledge. Teachers who had this perception of the
subject’s definition, taught Social Studies purely for knowledge acquisition. This approach to
the definition of the subject does not adequately emphasize the affective domain of
learning as it merely focuses on the cognitive orientations of the subject.

Though none of these definitions can be an acceptable definition of Social Studies, each
contains some elements which an ideal definition of the subject should contain. Again, one
cannot deny that Social Studies deals with facts derived from interpersonal and man-land
relationship, but it is wrong to assume that it focuses on a body of precise memorable facts
about man and the environment. This is because Social Studies is not a discipline in which
academic selfishness is exhibited or promoted. That is, a discipline in which a teacher seizes
opportunity to emphasize his/her own area of specialization at the expense of the real
content of the subject (no compartmentalization of knowledge). This position will lead us into
looking at what an ideal definition of the subject should read like.

What Social Studies is

Notable scholars have defined Social Studies in ways that confirm the subject as a value-
laden discipline. For instance, Frost and Rowland (1969) defined the subject as essentially
studies of human relationship, like human to human, human to institutions, human to physical
environment and human to value systems. This implies that the subject is one that
encourages attention to be given to the process of living and working together, using of the
environment to met basic human needs, customs, institutions, values and life situations,
cultural heritage and its dynamic on-going characteristics.
Quartey (1984) in his own definition of Social Studies describes the subject as a “study that
equips the youth with tools necessary in solving personal and community related problems”.
Thus defined, Social Studies will not mainly aim at giving out knowledge, but it will equally
emphasize on inculcating a certain distillate knowledge which will assist humans in acquiring
the tools necessary for life. Such tools are knowledge, values, attitudes and skills. These tools
are expected to assist the learner in solving both personal and community related problems.
The National Council for Social Studies in the United States of America has officially defined
subject as:
An integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence
and help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions as
citizens of culturally diverse, democratic society in an inter dependent world. (NCSS 1992)
This implies that the goal of Social Studies purely revolves around citizenship education,
education for cultural integration and sustainable living. Social Studies can therefore be
described as a discipline which attempts to modify or change the learners’ behaviors in the
directions of acceptable values and attitudes through a process of studying human beings’
relationship with his or her environment and with the desire to provide solutions to various
complementing problems in order to ensure his/her survival, having been equipped with the
necessary tools such as values, attitudes, skills and knowledge (Lawal,1993).
As a social subject, it is more inter-disciplinary, more concerned with skills development and
more normative. It is a field of study in which content and purpose focus on relationships. It
provides knowledge, attitudes, values and skills that enable people understand better their
physical and human environments in order to act or behave as responsible citizens. Its
primary purpose is to
help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the
public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent
world.
CONCLUSION
The foregoing reveals that attempts at defining Social Studies can be fraught with
misconceptions
and professional biases. However, the correct definition of Social Studies will basically present
it as a discipline that deals with man’s problem of survival. The focus of the definition should
nevertheless not one that focuses on the problem per se but on how to prepare man to
confront such problems. Any definition of the subject that cannot make this happen should
be regarded as one of those that depict what Social Studies is not.

SUMMARY
In this Unit you have learnt that the area of specialization a teacher handling Social Studies in
schools is capable of influencing his perception of what the subject is. However, those who
present the subject as amalgamation of social sciences and humanities could be described
as scholars who stopped mid way while trying to do justice to the task. Rather, Social Studies
should be defined as a discipline that allows the learners to study people as they interact
with one and other, as they meet their needs for survival and comfort, develop their unique
life styles, work out problems of group living as they reflect on the knowledge, beliefs,
environmental characteristics and tides of circumstances that have brought them to their
present status and are likely to propel them into the future.

MODULE 2: What is the New Social Studies

Start Here!
INTRODUCTION
As a discipline of study, Social Studies cannot be described as a hastily devised topic that
happened by chance. Rather, it is a legacy and a tradition that requires citizens in a
democratic society to function efficiently and effectively. You will have the opportunity to
read about the evolution of Social Studies from both a global and national perspective in
this Unit. This will entail a review of the discipline's historical development in various key
countries, the circumstances that led to such development, and the interactive effects of
such developments on the discipline's growth in other countries across continents.
Within the last century, social studies have developed in various parts of the world with a
relatively similar goal, but due to a series of events that have been unique to the various
nations sharing the interest. In many countries, social studies has become viewed as a tool
for national development. The United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Africa,
particularly Nigeria, are among the countries where Social Studies ideas have greatly
developed and blossomed in recent years.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of your interaction with this Unit, you should be able to:
1. explain how Social Studies came to be in the United States of America;
2. describe the origin of Social Studies in Britain;
3. explain how Social Studies came to be in Africa; and
4. elucidate how Social Studies came to be in Nigeria.

Lecture Notes and Lesson Content

The Evolution of Social Studies in the United States
The United States of America appeared to be the "mother" country of Social Studies, and it's
no surprise that Obebe (1990) noted that Social Studies first appeared as a curriculum in the
United States of America's (USA) educational system during the first two decades of the
twentieth century. Distinguished scholars such as John Dewey, George Counts, Edger Wesley,
Harold Rugg, and Earle Rugg served as midwives, despite the stormy and difficult birth.
Thomas Jesse, Chairman of the National Education Association Committee on Social Studies,
released its final report as part of a major review of the reorganization.
In response to the enormous number of human problems that existed at the time, social
studies thought began to develop in the United States of America in the early 1900s. Some of
these issues were primarily social and political in nature, but they arose solely as a result of
the civil wars that the United States had just emerged from. Some of these issues were
viewed as cogs in the wheel of all attempts to ensure the development of a pluralistic and
modernized democratic state. By 1921, a national organization called the National Council
for Social Studies (NCSS) had been formed, with membership open to anyone interested in
social studies. This Council has charged itself, as well as its members.
Since then, the NCSS has played an important role in the development and acceptance of
Social Studies around the world. Several position statements on the basic rationale for Social
Studies education and curriculum guidelines have been written by the organization. Various
task forces were formed as a result of NCSS's efforts to review the scope, content, and
sequences of Social Studies. This has had a significant impact on the evolution of Social
Studies in American schools. The "new Social Studies" emerged in the 1960s as a result of
events in the world scene, such as the Russian launch of Sputnik (1957) and the American
internal social problems of the 1960s. During this time, curricula are being developed.
It is important to note, however, that there is no national Social Studies curriculum for all
schools in the United States of America. Every school district develops its own Social Studies
curriculum. Obebe (1990) observed that social studies in the American scene does not have
a static structure. It has evolved from citizenship education for national development to
include not only the local community, state, and nation, but also the global community in its
vision and meaning of citizenship. This is in recognition of the fact that all people live in a
multi-boundary world, not just a world of nation-states, but one with a wide range of global
systems in which they all participate.
It's worth noting that any society that wants to promote democratic discipline through Social
Studies education needs people who are willing and capable of effectively participating in
the solution of common problems. They must also be willing to make decisions that require
compromise among various points of view at times. This is critical for society's progress
toward desired outcomes. In the United States of America, this is the concept of Social
Studies. While other subjects do contribute to the development of desirable goals in young
people, Social Studies is seen as having the greater responsibility. This is due to the fact that
Social Studies is concerned with human behavior.

The Evolution of Social Studies Thoughts in the United Kingdom

There is very little evidence of Social Studies in Britain and other European countries prior to
the 1930s. Materials from Economics and Political Science, which were then taught as Civics,
were included in what could be considered Social Studies content at the time (Ogundare
2000).
This viewpoint is consistent with Lawton and Dufour (1914), as quoted by Obebe (1990), who
stated,
“There is little evidence of the existence Social Studies in the curriculum
at the beginning of twentieth century, although history and geography (which were fairly
established in the elementary and grammar school by the1920s) would sometimes
include materials generally referred to as “civics”.
The selection was extremely limited, and much of the learning was done by rote.
However, in the history of the British educational system, Social Studies thought was known to
have had some setbacks. The Hadow Report, published in 1926, criticized the content of the
school curriculum. The general character of teaching, according to the report, should take
into account the pupils' natural and social environments. This implies a desire for a curriculum
that is socially relevant and capable of preparing young people to become adults in a
modern society. The report also found elements of indoctrination in what was taught in
schools, such as teaching children to "honour the queen," "run away from every police
officer," and so on.
As a result, in the British educational system, this marked the beginning of a more dynamic
and affective thought, which Social Studies proponents later capitalized on.
The outbreak of World War II, which heralded some war problems that later had negative
consequences for British citizens, increased the chances of this dynamic thought. World War
II sparked a desire to build a better society as a result of the war's tragic events. More interest
in Social Studies was shown in order to solve the citizens' post-war adjustment problem.
As a result, British educators saw liberal education as a means of increasing human
understanding. The idea of including Social Studies in the school curriculum grew in
popularity as it was recognized as capable of assisting students and adults in becoming
socially conscious and responsible members of society. As a result, by 1944, the Social Studies
curriculum had emerged as a result of the establishment of secondary education for all,
when the school leaving age was raised from 14 to 15 years and teachers had to be re-
trained, as Lawton and Dufour 1974 pointed out. There was a tremendous growth in the
thought of Social Studies and British Schema between 1945 and the early 1950s.
However, subject specialists such as historians and geographers, who saw nothing special in
the growing ideas of the subject, resented the Social Studies program that emerged during
this time. Because of the constant spread of the subject, they felt uneasy. This resentment
hampered the development of the subject's teaching, particularly between the late 1950s
and 1960s. As a result of the recommendations of the Crowther Report of 1959 and the
Newton Report of 1963, there was a revival of interest in Social Studies by the early 1960s. The
two demanded that school curricula be tailored to the needs of an increasingly
industrialized and changing society.
As a result, there was a school of thought that Social Studies should focus on how to prepare
youth to become well-educated adults in an industrialized society. Since then, the British
school curriculum has given more emphasis to social studies. Key books and curriculum
projects on the subject appeared in 1968, a pivotal year for Social Studies. The dynamic
growth of British society, combined with technological advancements, has improved the
thinking of Social Studies in Britain to the point where the discipline's focus has shifted and the
subject is now referred to as Modern Studies, with topics such as living in the community,
living with others, urban life, and learning.
The general objectives of a British Social Studies course could be seen as developing in
children a more critical and balanced social awareness, based on the foregoing. In the
United Kingdom, the new Social Studies curriculum emphasizes insights, concepts, and
generalizations derived in part from social science.
The Evolution of Social Studies Thoughts in Africa
Without Africa as a continent, a discussion on Social Studies thought in the United States of
America and the United Kingdom may be seen as incomplete, because Social Studies
growth and development has been a universal phenomenal. (Oyeleye & Lawal, 2003). A
close examination of the evolution of historical social studies thought in the United States and
the United Kingdom reveals that it has had a significant impact on social studies thought in
Africa (Lawal 2003).
In Africa, social studies is a relatively new curriculum innovation that emerged after
independence in 1960. Most African countries were European colonies during this time. They
faced the challenge of instilling European values in their citizens, which had already been
incorporated into African school curricula. The colonial government's educational policies
were created to meet the needs of the colonial masters. Teaching was geared toward
developing Africans who could serve the colonial government's interests. Indigenous African
values, attitudes, and skills were overlooked.
However colonial education had some aspects of Social Studies. These were in form of
general knowledge, religion, and moral instruction. These were taught as Civics and
Government. History, Geography and Government were considered paramount teaching
school subjects during the colonial period to achieve the goals and objectives. Good
children upbringing was emphasized by colonial masters as a tool making them submissive
to colonial rule.
When some African countries gained independence in 1960, colonial education was
severely criticized by the same colonially educated Africans. The British educational system
was described as aimed at separating the Nigerian child from his or her cultural values rather
than instilling positive values in him or her. The educational systems and curriculum
development were the most important areas that both the leaders and the general
population of Africans were concerned about.
By 1967, there was a greater level of international interest in the development of Social
Studies ideas in Africa, particularly as a matter of continental concern. The introduction of
Social Studies as a formal school subject was proposed at an international conference held
at Queen's College, Oxford, United Kingdom, and this conference led to the important and
historic 1968 Mombassa Conference held in Kenya.
The Mombassa Conference, sponsored by the Educational Development Center (EDC) in
Newton, Massachusetts, and the Centre of Curriculum Renewal in Educational Development
Overseas (CREDO) in London, laid the groundwork for a better understanding of the
meaning of Social Studies and its application in Africa. The conference discussed the issues
surrounding the creation of a new Social Studies curriculum for various African countries. The
philosophy of Social Studies, the problem of teacher training, the development and
acquisition of resource materials, and evaluation techniques were among the topics
discussed at the conference.
Nigeria, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania,
Uganda, and Zambia were among the eleven African countries represented. The major
decision reached was that new Social Studies curricula for African schools, beginning with
primary schools, must be developed. Each country representative was to form a Social
Studies committee with the permission of her government to consider developing content
and materials for Social Studies in her country.
The conference also paved the way for the establishment of the African Social Studies
Programme (ASSP), which was later renamed the African Social and Environmental Studies
Programme, a permanent African international Secretariat based in Nairobi, Kenya, a year
later (ASESP). The organization was tasked with coordinating the continued development of
Social Studies on the African continent. As a result, it promotes an integrated approach to
teaching Social Studies, which has had a significant impact on future ideas about the
subject. The cultivation of national aspirations, love of one's country, and responsible
citizenship are examples of such ideas.
African countries that have embraced these ideas have developed other ideas in the
discipline, depending on the nature of their domestic issues. For example, with the end of
Nigeria's civil war and the resulting problems, Social Studies has been viewed as uniquely
capable of providing a firm foundation in national consciousness and integration to the new
generation of Nigerians.
To top it off, new trends in the development of African Social Studies include the provision of
opportunities for looking into the future while taking into account global issues involving
international relations between nations. For example, African Social Studies has recognized
the importance of paying close attention to the promotion of democratic and
technological values in order to keep up with changes in many countries' political,
economic, and technological systems.
The Evolution of Social Studies Thoughts in Nigeria
Without mentioning Nigeria, the country with the most populous black race on the African
continent and the entire world, any discussion of global developments will be meaningless.
During the colonial period in Nigeria, there was no such thing as social studies as an
integrated discipline (1840-1960). The teaching of a kind of curriculum called "General
Knowledge" was discovered in the country's primary and secondary schools (Udoh, 1989). Of
course, this meant that the Nigerian child was being educated outside of his or her own
environment, society, and culture. At the time, it was more appropriate to understand and
explain concepts from European examples.
Nigeria, on the other hand, was one of the first African countries to develop social studies.
This was due to the fact that the Ohio State University in the United States of America had
sponsored some Nigerians for Social Studies training programs as early as 1958. The arrival of
recipients of such training programs had a significant impact on their attitudes toward Social
Studies. They saw the social ills that accompanied Nigeria's transition from colonial rule to
independence, for example.
They discovered Nigerians' high rate of acculturation and the rate at which the country's
cultural traditions were crumbling. As a result, they believed that the only way to save the
country was to educate the youth in a way that would enable them to cope with the new
problem of change (Lawal, 2003).
An earlier attempt to introduce the subject as a formal school subject on an experimental
basis in Northern Nigeria teacher training institutions bolstered this line of reasoning. The
Northern Education Project and the Ayetoro Comprehensive High School Project in Western
Nigeria, however, introduced Social Studies to Nigeria between 1964 and 1965. During this
time, the then-Western Nigeria Ministry of Education convened a conference and agreed on
an outline of the Social Studies syllabus for secondary school classes I and II. With the help of
the Ford Foundation and the Comparative Education Study and Adaptation Centre, this was
later assigned to the Department of Social Studies at Ayetoro Comprehensive High School
(CESAC).
Due to the civil war in Eastern Nigeria, the experimental teaching of Social Studies did not
have a complete success. The Interim Common Services Agency's Northern states education
committee, however, decided that Social Studies should be taught in schools and colleges
in the Northern states (after the creation of six new states from the existing Northern States).
By 1969, the Institute of Education at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria had established a
Social Studies department. In that same year, a national curriculum conference was held in
Lagos, which improved the subject's national recognition as a means of achieving national
educational goals.
The materials produced for primary and teacher's colleges in the Northern states were out in
1970, and the CESAC's book was modified and refined. In 1971, more states, including Lagos,
Kwara, and Kaduna, began to introduce the subject. In 1971, representatives from the East
Central State Ministry of Education attended the Social Studies Association of Nigeria (SOSAN)
Conference, pledging their full support for the subject's teaching and learning.
The first ever National Social Studies Syllabus for primary schools was produced at the first
National Curriculum Workshop held in Ibadan under the sponsorship of the Nigeria Education
Research Council (NERC). The conference covered concepts, nature, objectives, teaching
strategies, teaching aids, and evaluation techniques.
The Nigeria Education Research Council (NERC) developed a syllabus for teachers colleges
in 1972, based on the need for pre-service Social Studies teachers in primary schools, and the
Institute of Education, ABU Zaria, included the subject in its Post Graduate Diploma in
Education (PGDE) program. In the same year, a degree course in Social Studies was
established at ABU, Zaria, and a Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) program was
established at Advanced Teacher's College Sokoto.
Another development occurred in 1974 and 1975 at the University of Lagos' Institute of
Education, where the subject was introduced at the Associateship and NCE levels. In 1976,
Universal Free Primary Education was implemented across the country, and the teaching of
Social Studies in primary schools took the place of separate social science subjects. In
teacher's colleges, it became a requirement. ABU, Zaria, began offering two-year Bachelor
of Education (B.Ed) degree programs in Social Studies in 1978.
By 1980, Social Studies was a core subject in primary and junior secondary schools, and the
National Policy on Education made it a core subject at all levels of our educational system.
The National Educational Research and Development Council (NERC), now known as the
Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), decided to review the
National Primary Social Studies Curriculum Guide, which was published in 1971, in 1981. The
Federal Ministry of Education published a revised guide in 1983." In 1981 and 1984, there was
yet another surge in the number of universities offering post-graduate degree programs in
Social Studies. Ife, Ibadan, Ilorin, Lagos, Nsukka, and Jos are some examples of such
institutions. The Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) also approved the Junior Secondary
School Social Studies Syllabus. (Udoh, 1989).
The National Teacher's Institute not only produced the Grade II Social Studies Syllabus and
Texts, but it also went on to write Social Studies course books for the NCE for Distance
Learning System, which began distribution in January 1990. Almost all colleges of education
now include Social Studies as part of their curricula. In Nigeria, more than ten universities now
offer degree and post-graduate programs in social studies. To some extent, the skepticism
about the nature, scope, and philosophy of Social Studies has faded. The new 9-year Basic
Education Curriculum launched in 2007 has made it a compulsory subject in the first nine
years of a Nigerian child's education.

CONCLUSION
A variety of reasons and factors have influenced the growth of Social Studies in different
parts of the world. For example, in many countries around the world, it has been used as a
partial solution to social problems. It began in Germany following World War II as a means of
establishing a new political order. Social Studies was used in the United Kingdom to legitimize
the teaching of social sciences, particularly sociology, while also preparing students for their
role in society. By the Butler Act of 1944, Britain eventually looked up to the integrated Social
Studies programme as an avenue for promoting in her youths the socio-cultural values which
Britain tradition has held in esteem for a longtime.
Social Studies in the United States of America (USA) has maintained its primary function of
preparing students for effective citizenship in a democratic society and instilling patriotic
ideals in the young (Kissock, 1981).
Social Studies has been used in African countries to help people improve their self-image
after colonial rule and heritage. It was used in Sierra Leone to learn how to improve the
economy. Its goal in Ghana was to change the society, particularly the political culture. It
became necessary in Ethiopia to instill the concepts of nationalism, unity, and
interdependence among the citizens of a new country with a diverse population. Its goal in
Nigeria is to assist in the establishment of a democratic society.
Despite numerous conferences, seminars, and workshops on Social Studies, the subject did
not gain widespread acceptance in Nigerian schools right away. Because of its newness or
a lack of understanding of its nature, scope, and dynamism, some people were afraid.
Others saw the development as a serious threat to their profession and campaigned against
it. As a result, the Social Studies Association of Nigeria was formed (SOSAN). Since then, a
number of other organizations have emerged to promote effective teaching of the subject
in Nigerian schools. These organizations include National Association of Social Studies
Educationists (NASSE) and Social Studies Teachers’ Association of Nigeria (SOSTAN).

SUMMARY
You have interacted with various ideas that influenced the development and growth of
Social Studies as a discipline of study in schools around the world, with a focus on the United
States of America, the United Kingdom, Africa, and Nigeria in particular. The various factors
that influenced such development and growth have been discussed. The impact of wars on
educational systems, the need to use curriculum content to emphasize and promote
national and cultural values, and the need to build a strong foundation in citizens on issues
of national consciousness and integration were among the most important of these factors.
The impact of the development of Social Studies in Africa on the growth of the subject in
Nigeria has also been discussed, with the caveat that development in Nigeria occurred
earlier than in other countries. The earliest recipients of Social Studies were primarily
Americans, and the development of the subject in the United States of America (USA) has
aided the development of the subject in other parts of the world.