Social Studies

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The Social Studies Revolution Begins in Britain
Author(s): Vincent R. Rogers
Source: The Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 50, No. 3 (Nov., 1968), pp. 162-165
Published by: Phi Delta Kappa International
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2. The Social Studies
REVOLUTION
Begins
in Britain
By VINCENT R. ROGERS
. . .
men [must] choose among alternative modes of thought and behavior.
It is in helping people to make these choices not as sheep but as men,
not blindly in response to subliminal stimuli or visceral incitation but
consciously and rationally that behavioral science can make its best
contribution, knowing that human nature, no less than the physical uni
verse about us, admits of scientific exploration and analysis, and-^within
limits?of guidance and control.
?Peter Odegard
Peter Odegard's capsule sum
mary of the uses of behavioral
science serves quite effectively,
I think, as a mini-definition of the
new social studies. If one adds to
it the notion that the scientific ex
ploration and analysis of human
behavior be carried out (in schools)
largely through the medium of
broadly integrated, cross-discipli
nary studies of man and society, one
has an even more
adequate working
definition of the shape social studies
has taken in the U.S. during the
last decade.
The term "social studies" itself
is, of course, old hat in both Britain
and the United States. Indeed, there
are interesting parallels between the
emergence of the social studies
movement in the two countries?
especially between about 1944 and
the early 1950's.
In Britain, social studies received
its vigor and initial impetus with
the passing of the Education Act of
1944. This landmark in the history
of English education immediately
raised the school-leaving age from
14 to 15 and, therefore, called for
secondary education for all rather
than for the intellectually able alone.
The sudden introduction into sec
ondary education of large numbers
of children representing all ability
ranges presented obvious and trau
matic problems for English educa
tors. Pleas were made for "practi
cality" and "relevance" in educa
tion, and the call for some form
of social studies as a substitute for
traditional, bookish, often dull and
lackluster history and geography
was heard throughout the land.
This initial movement was
crushed, however, almost before it
began. English teachers received
precious little support from their
academic colleagues at the univer
sities, and the overly ambitious
curricula that were foisted upon
unsuspecting children generally
lacked any semblance of scholarly
order, accuracy, or recency. These
new "stunts and theories" were
broadly condemned even by those
for whom they were designed?for
they possessed the unforgivable
dual stigma (in England) of being
both "unexamined" (i.e., none of
the regional examining boards
bothered to write examinations in
social studies) and identified with
nonacademic children. Better a
watered-down history or geography
course that offered at least the
possibility of an Ordinary Level
examination pass?regardless of the
hours of drudgery involved inmem
orizing misunderstood answers to
irrelevant questions?better this
than a "new" course that, whatever
its relevancy, lacked both status
and respect.
The situation remained largely
unchanged until the mid-1960's. The
last five or six years, however, have
brought about a series of monu
mental changes in English educa
tion; and heated, often bitter debate
is going on simultaneously over a
number of issues, ranging all the
way from primary school class size
to the relationship between uni
versities and colleges of education.
A host of reports?Newsom, Rob
bins, Crowther, Plowden?have
MR. ROGERS (726, Syracuse Uni
versity Chapter) is professor oflflluca
tion and chairman of the Department
of Elementary Education, University
of Connecticut.
162 PHI DELTA KAPPAN
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3. emerged almost at once, each call
ing for its own brand of reform, and
each raising a score of significant
questions that will affect English
education for generations to come.
In a society that places an unusual
value on tradition, continuity, and
gradualism, the call for somuch re
form in so short a period of time
seems almost diabolically upsetting.
Surely the most viciously debated
question has been the movement
away from what Ian Lister has
described as a "highly selective
educational system whose ultimate
achievement is to reject almost
everyone" to something quite the
opposite. Comprehensive schools
are "in," selective secondary schools
are "out"; automatic movement from
primary school to secondary school
is "in," 11-plus selection is "out";
"relevancy" is "in," narrow scholar
ship and early specialization are
"out"; enter (again) the social
studies.
Before attempting to describe
some fairly specific illustrations of
the new social studies in England, it
might be well to point out a num
ber of factors unique to English
education that have affected both
the emerging "shape" of the English
version of the new social studies
and the time it is taking (and will
take) for the movement really to
catch on.
In general, English teachers and
curriculum workers seem to view
curricular problems from one of
two extreme positions. The first
view (the traditional position) is
that there are certain topics, certain
periods in history, certain places
on the earth's surface, certain facts
that people need to "know." The
curriculum is structured to include
coverage of these facts and topics.
Curricular revision generally in
volves arguments concerning
whether we are spending too much
time with the Tudors and Stuarts,
whether we ought to give increased
attention to Commonwealth coun
tries, etc., and a "revised" syllabus
often results in a mere shuffling of
quite similar topics, periods, and
places.
The second view is largely a
violent reaction against the first. I
think, perhaps, it is expressed most
vividly by an American writer, John
Holt, writing in his controversial
How Children Fail:
We cannot have real learning in
school ifwe think it is our duty
and our right to tell children what
they must learn. We cannot know,
at any moment, what particular
bits of knowledge or understand
ing a child needs most, will most
strengthen and best fit his model
of reality. Only he can do this. He
may not do it very well, but he
can do it a hundred times better
than we can. The most we can do
is to try to help, by letting him
know roughly what is available
and where he can look for it.
Choosing what he wants to learn
and what he does not is something
he must do for himself.1
In many ways it is this latter po
sition that has stood in the way of
serious curricular revision in the
social studies almost more than the
more obvious traditionalist view
particularly as it affects change in
primary education. The ideas of
Dewey, Montessori, Rousseau, and,
in particular, Piaget have taken
hold in England in a way that has
never really happened here. If
Bruner is the father of recent cur
riculum reform in the U.S., he is
only a distant cousin to the move
ment in England (although this is,
as we shall see, rapidly changing).
Planned, sequential, all-the-way
through curricula are frowned upon
by many "child-centered" English
educationists; learning must be con
crete, and those suggesting that
vicarious experiences may also play
a role ask for (and receive) no
quarter; the child's interest is the
only motivation that matters; chil
dren are not logically minded and
cannot deal with cause and effect
or other "inert" ideas; one learns by
following an interest, and teachers
must not get in the way; and (per
haps most devastating of all to the
American structuralist) it really does
not matter a great deal what one
learns in social studies?trees or
Australia, it is all the same so long
as the impetus for the study derived
from the child.
No doubt this is somewhat ex
aggerated and perhaps unfair.
Nevertheless, the social studies rev
olution in Britain (and it must be
emphasized that the conflict is only
in its earliest stages) cannot be
understood without some mention
of the forces operating upon it?
and no force is playing a stronger
role or will have more to say about
the emerging shape of social studies
in England than will her powerful
"neo-progressives."
Despite all of this, however, the
battle has been joined and the re
volution is under way. The tradi
tionalists (at least) are in retreat,
succumbing
to arguments
some
thing like this one (which I heard
used with typical English dryness
and telling, patient condescension
at a recent conference): "We taught
the history of Joan of Arc in our
schools because every educated
adult knew the history of Joan of
Arc?but they only knew it because
the schools had taught it.Thus if the
schools stopped teaching it, then, in
time, every educated adult would
not know the history of Joan of Arc,
and the need to continue teaching
it would finally have vanished?
unless we examine the needs of
children and society and discover
that there are good reasons why
we should go on teaching it."
At this moment in time, then,
demands for a greater emphasis
upon the behavioral sciences as
sources of significant content are
being expressed in increasing num
bers; discovery and inquiry ap
proaches that have already made
vast changes in the teaching of
math and science in Britain are
now called for in social studies as
well; thematically and conceptually
organized courses of study are re
ceiving ever-increasing attention,
and once-loathed "packages" of
learning materials are making their
way upon the English scene. A few
examples:
At London's famed Kidbrooke
School (one of England's largest
and surely one of her best compre
hensive high schools) faculty mem
bers have been working incessantly
to develop effective, lively social
studies courses, courses that go far
beyond the practically oriented,
locally confining syllabuses so typi
cal of 1944. Essentially, Kidbrooke's
courses are firmly rooted in the
vocabulary, concepts, and work
November, 1968 163
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4. ways of the social sciences. They
are not geared exclusively to "non
academic" children, and they are
at least as rigorous and demanding
as are the more or less typical
history and geography offerings
generally taught to children at this
age level. Without attempting a
thorough description of the specific
syllabuses currently being taught
at Kidbrooke, it seems especially
important to mention that all stu
dents take a social-science-humani
ties course during their first three
years. Ultimately, students may elect
to do advanced work in economics,
as well as in sociology.
Perhaps one of the most refresh
ing approaches to the study of man
and society in secondary schools
is currently in the process of de
velopment at London's St. Dun
stan sCollege, a large, independent
boys' school with a reputation for
academic excellence. St. Dunstan's
is good enough to dare to be differ
ent, and its headmaster is, ap
parently, willing to allow his less
complacent faculty members to ex
periment with a variety of new
ideas.
St. Dunstan's middle school (in
cluding boys aged 13 to 16) is, at
this writing, offering a new social
studies course for virtually all of its
students. It is not tied to external
examinations; therefore, it can range
both widely and deeply in search of
challenging topics for study. Simi
larly, since it is taught by established
members of the geography and
history departments who have got
ten together and pooled their talents,
it has something of a headstart
in conquering (on a local level, at
least) the "prestige" or acceptance
problem referred to earlier. While
the syllabus itself is flexible and,
quite purposely, rather sketchy, the
following description should give
the reader some idea of the nature
of the course:
To begin with, ancient and medie
val history are excluded since, as
the syllabus states, "priorities lie
elsewhere." Third-formers begin
with a study of what is essentially
the economic geography of Britain
in the twentieth century. Problems
related to population growth and
distribution, the development of
power resources, farming and its
relationship to natural (and na
tional) needs, etc., are studied, as
well as topics dealing with the
growth of the idea of democracy
and problems of contemporary Brit
ain (political, sociological, and eco
nomic inparticular). Fourth-formers
study the growth and development
of modern Europe, including such
topics as colonialism and political
ideologies, as well as a brief history
of the United States and its emer
gence as a world power. The fifth
form consists of an attempt to com
pare less familiar societies possess
ing "widely different cultural pat
terns from those of Western Eu
rope." Both contemporary China
and Russia are studied in some
depth, as is "Africa in the Twentieth
Century." Finally, the course con
cludes with a study of the "Makers
of Modern Society," e.g., Freud,
Mazzini, Darwin, Henry Ford, and
others.
Perhaps one of the most thorough
and creatively designed examples
of the new social studies inEngland
is the program developed under
the direction of C. J. Hetherington,
headmaster of Kibworth Middle
School inLeicestershire. Ultimately,
Kibworth decided to create a social
studies curriculum that would em
phasize individual rather than class
learning?a curriculum that would
replace traditional history and geog
raphy courses?a curriculum that
would combine the talents of a
team of teachers?and, finally, a
curriculum organized in terms of
broad, interdisciplinary "themes"
rather than narrow, fact-saturated
topics.
At this writing, the course for the
first year has been developed and
is being tried out in the classroom.
-+*7&<&&,
"Little Marcie is afreshman sitting in at Oberlin, Jon is a junior protest
ing at Berkeley, and Frank, Jr., is a senior at Indiana University rioting
in Ft. Lauderdale."
164 PHI DELTA KAPPAN
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5. The basic theme is "Mankind in the
Making," and five subtopics com
prise the essential areas of study for
the year. These are: Man's Begin
nings, Man the Toolmaker, Man the
Farmer, Man the Artist, Man the
Communicator.
The children are divided and
subdivided into groups of various
sizes for differing activities; ample
use is made of tapes, films, slides,
etc. However, the heart of the
program (and, I think, its truly
creative and unique aspect) is the
individualized study carried out
through the study booklets created
by Mr. Hetherington and his staff.
About four-fifths of the student's
time is spent working on carefully
graded assignments outlined in the
booklets?all under the guidance of
a member of the teaching team.
Children are free, however, to
choose particular topics for study,
select varying sources of informa
tion, and to proceed at a pace
which suits their abilities.
Similarly, the powerful Nuffield
Foundation, together with the in
fluential "Schools Council," has
given a considerable push to the
entirely school-developed programs
described above by sponsoring (and
funding!) a number of experimental
programs. For example, Nuffield
has organized a humanities-social
science project, the aim of which
is to offer to schools appropriate
materials which are inquiry-based
and interdisciplinary in nature; an
other team is working on a social
science-based course for primary
children, while still others are in
volved in projects as varied as "a
programmed approach to environ
mental studies," "thematic teaching
in the primary school," and "the de
velopment of an integrated course
for 11-year-olds dealing with man's
transition from primitive society
to early civilization."
The battle, of course, is far from
over. There is still the danger that
social studies will again become
associated with the "nonacademic"
child. External examinations still
play a vital role in college or uni
versity admissions and as an avenue
to better-paying post-secondary
school jobs, and social studies
courses are not
generally examined
in this way. The law maintains that
religious instruction belongs in all
state-supported schools, and there
are many who insist upon putting
English, religion, and the social
studies together, forgetting or ignor
ing the difficulties involved in
blending a field of study whose
mode of inquiry is based on the
gathering and evaluating of empiri
cal data with an area whose view
of man and society rests, rather, on
faith. There is a danger also that
the "1950 School" will finally pre
vail and that social studies courses
for average secondary school stu
dents will take the form of this
curriculum suggested in a recently
published (1966) and frighteningly
well-received book dealing with
how to teach the social studies:
At Home: A variety of practi
cal courses for boys or girls, often
both. For example: 1) Our Kit
chen. What is essential for a good
kitchen? The water supply. How
to replace
a tap washer. The gas
supply. The electric supply. Pay
ing the bills. How to mend a fuse
and wire a plug. Heating the
home. Safety in the kitchen. Cook
ing the right food the right way.
2) Handyman. Concreting the
garden path. Painting and decor
ating. Fuses and plugs. Pipes and
taps. Toilets and drains. New look
for old furniture. Putting up
shelves. 3) Our health. A course
which will differ for boys and
girls. Cleanliness. Personality and
appearance. Good clothes. Dis
ease.
Preventing accidents. First
aid. Problems of adolescence.
Time To Spare? An arts or lei
sure course covering the life and
work of amateur and professional
writers, artists, photographers,
musicians, actors, and sportsmen.
Looking For a Job. The prob
lems of youth employment:
secur
ity, pay, hours, travel, companion
ship, training, qualifications, insur
ance, prospects. Applications and
interviews.
Getting on with People. At
school. The Youth Club. At work.
Receiving and entertaining
friends. Going steady. Marriage
Guidance Council. The Church.
Can we secure happiness?
Lawrence
Cremin once wrote that
the most pressing educational
need of our time was to design
curricula that "make no
compromise
with truth or significance" and yet
prove "attractive and comprehen
sible" to all children?bright or dull,
motivated or disinterested, advan
taged or disadvantag?d. This per
haps summarizes the task, the issues
at stake, for the social studies in
novator both here and in Britain.
It is on this issue that we have
gone to the barricades, and it seems
to me to be entirely worthy of the
"blood, sweat, and tears" that un
doubtedly will be called for in the
course of battle.
1J. Holt, How Children Fail. New York: Pit
man Publishing Corp., 1964, p. 179. Q
American Teachers Flock
To Canadian Schools
American college and high school
teachers flocking to take positions in
Canada have reversed the former out
flow to the U.S., according toCanadian
immigration officials.
Some 857 university professors and
high school principals emigrated to
Canada from the States in 1967, a
400 percent increase from the 208 in
1963. Figures for other teachers leav
ing the U.S. show a
comparable in
crease, from 199 five years ago to 965
last year.
Near parity in pay, with particular
advantages for high school teachers,
are
usually listed as reasons for mov
ing; the slower pace of life in Canada
and the opportunity for adventure are
also mentioned.
Americans have congregated
es
pecially in the Calgary and Edmonton
areas of Alberta, where an oil boom
and cattle ranching
seem to attract
Americans from the West. Canada's
new frontier in the north also has an
appeal.
University teachers sometimes cite
the more intimate relationship between
faculty and students and a more con
genial community life in Canadian
educational institutions, which are
generally much smaller than their
U.S. counterparts.
A few teachers also contend that
there is greater academic freedom in
Canada, but this is hard to demon
strate.
A total of about 19,000 Americans
migrated to Canada last year. This
compares with a 10-year average of
about 40,000 Canadians a year emi
grating to the U.S. Recently the latter
number has declined.
November, 1968 165
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