The concept of Social Studies is a wide area and in the UK, this incorporate subjects such as Sociology, Social Policy, Psychology and Economics. These subject areas are in very high demand, particularly at Advanced Level study where students would normally start making decisions about which particular area of specialism they would wish to pursue. Economics for example is a very prestigious subject within the social science discipline at A Level, and as you will know, it is the heart of an economic system. Students wishing to pursue this subject at A Level will normally be required to possess at least a B grade in Mathematics at GCSE in order to be comfortable with the mathematical contents and in most cases, concurrently pursuing A Level Mathematics if they are with the intention of pursuing it at a degree level.

The main challenges facing the subject is the fact that students mostly struggle with the applied contents and also the mathematical aspects of it.

I am from the United States. When I was growing up "social studies" was the blanket term our school used for history, geography, government, world cultures, and vary basic introductions to economic and sociological subjects. Throughout elementary school, social studies was one of the required area and it was a subject on my 4th and 6th grade state proficieny tests, and the Ohio Graduation Test, which I had to take in order to graduate from high school. So it was definitely considered a core area. The problem is that our school restructured its curriculum based on state tests. We had separate history classes in high school, but we couldn't take them as 10th graders because that was the first year we could attempt the graduation test, so we took a "social studies" class that used a a test prep book as the textbook. It consisted of basics about the U.S. government, a basic overview of U.S. history, basic U.S. geography, and basic economics. We covered a lot, but nothing in depth and not much about other cultures that year. I would say social studies was valuable as a core subject when we were in elementary school, but really lacked depth as a unified subject when we were older. But that's state testing in the U.S.

Hi Mohammed,

In Ethiopia Social Studies (incorporating geography and history) is a compulsory subject in all government and private elementary schools and occupies a few hours each week on the timetable. (Civics & Ethical Education, which covers knowledge of rights, law and the constitution is taught as a discrete subject).

Dear Mohammed A. Al-Nofli,  

I hope the following references/ attachments may be of some assistance

Kind regards

Paul Chaney

Uslu, Salih (2015) Expectations of Social Studies Teacher Candidates' from Department and Reasons for Their Preference, Education, Volume 135, Number 4, Summer 2015, pp. 465-476. http://www.projectinnovation.com/education.html

King, M. Bruce; Newmann, Fred; Carmichael, Dana (2009) Authentic Intellectual Work: Common Standards for Teaching Social Studies, Social Education, Number 1 / January/February 2009, pp. 43-49.

Alazzi, Khaled; Abudalbo, Mousa (2013) Prompting Cooperative Learning through Sport Education and Social Studies: Jordan, Learning and Teaching, Volume 6, Number 1, 2013, pp. 79-93. http://dx.doi.org/10.7459/lt/6.1.06

Duncan, Arne (2011) The Social Studies are Essential to a Well-Rounded Education, Social Education, Number 3 / May/June 2011, pp. 124-125. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/search/article?option1=tka&value1=social+AND+studies&sortDescending=true&sortField=default&pageSize=10&index=29

(2009) Powerful and Purposeful Teaching and Learning in Elementary School Social Studies, Social  Studies and the Young Learner, Number 1 / September/October 2009, pp. 31-33. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/search/article?option1=tka&value1=social+AND+studies&sortDescending=true&sortField=default&pageSize=10&index=55

JP Shaver - 1978 An Interpretive Report on the Status of Pre-College Social Studies Education Based on Three NSF-Funded Studies. [attached]

RE Gross - 1976 - Status of the Social Studies in the Public Schools of the United States: Facts and Impressions of a National Survey. [attached]

Schrag, Francis (2004) What Future for Social Science? Educational Theory, Volume 54, Number 1, February 2004, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2004.t01-2-00abs.x

In the United States the National Council for the social studies acts to ensure “Social Studies is a recognized and well respected core subject; Public policymakers look to NCSS for developing and maintaining a well-informed and engaged citizenry….” etc. see http://www.socialstudies.org/about/strategicplan

Williams, D.B. (1960) The Status Of Social Science, The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Volume 4, Number 1, 1 June 1960, pp. 27-35 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8489.1960.tb00264.x

Kazancigil, Ali (2003) Strengthening the role of the social sciences in society: the World Social Science Initiative, International Social Science Journal, Volume 55, Number 177, September 2003, pp. 377-380 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2451.2003.05503002.x

I agree with Rafael it is the same in Nigeria too and I think you check the materials Dr Paul gave.

Thank you so much for all of the interesting responses. 

Education system in Oman is divided into two stages: basic education (grades 1-10) and post basic education (grades 11 & 12). In the basic education stage, social studies is a compulsory subject for all students in grades three to ten in public and private schools. The curriculum is organized around three main areas: geography, history, and civics. It covers a wide range of topics, including the study of society, government, geography and history of the country, other countries in the region, population studies, environmental issues, earth systems, etc.

In the post basic education/ secondary education (grades 11 & 12), the social studies program offers two required civics courses dealing with a variety of topics about Oman society. In addition in these courses, there are four elective courses (2 history courses  and 2 geography courses). There is some progress in teaching social studies such as increased emphasis on student-centered approaches and integration of geo-technologies (GIS, Remote sensing, GPS) into the geography curriculum (just grade 12). Still there are a number of issues facing the subject, including insufficient instructional time particularly in basic education grades, curriculum design issues, the need to focus more on maps skills and geo-technologies across grade levels, and focus more world cultures.  

ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/download/35662/20202

It is considered low-level importance by policymakers and others who shape curriculum through standards, etc.

I have attached an article here that offers a strong critique for the weakness of social studies in America.

Another proposed set of standards, the Core Knowledge Sequence, is an attempt to rectify this problem.  It is proposed by E.D. Hirsch and focuses on the important role of cultural literacy in reading comprehension.  Here is a link to their site, which is very good (however, it is not endorsed by many schools in comparison to the total amount)

   LINK: http://www.coreknowledge.org/sequence 

The study of social studies is not only important but also relevant. There is no doubt that every normally functioning country in the world has social studies at various levels of education, that is, form school level to doctoral programs. The U.S. American National Council for the Social Studies has aptly defined it as the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence." From this definition  the relevancy of social studies is more prominent in the sense that ultimately it is to create civic competence. Without it, other studies as indicated by you would would hardly matter. If you would like to get an insight into the subject matter then you may browse: www.socialstudies.org

A few words about the Czech Republic. In primary school, the situation resembles Germany (or Baden-Wuerttemberg) as described above. In primary classes we have an integrated subject. In secondary schools (in all ISCED 2 schools and in ISCED 3A schools), the history and geography have traditionally quite strong position in curriculum and school life. On the other hand, the other social sciences are usually taught within a container subject called civics or so, and the quality of the actual and teaching may vary a lot. The civic education topics are portrayed as important in curricular projects but the actual opportunity to learn may be compromised substantially.

Hi Mohammed,

Until recently Social Studies was one of the core subjects in the Queensland Curriculum; however, in recent times, due to political decisions, Social Studies has been removed and replaced with Geography and History. In my view this is a retrograde step as both were included in Social Studies in an integrated way and now teachers have to determine the integration themselves. 

The way education works in Australia they could well rejoin in the future. 

Kevin

It is a core subject in our school curriculum and we even prepare teachers in our degree programs to teach students of Social Studies.

Many thanks,

Debra

Following

In Kenya, social studies is important for all the 8 years of primary education.