Chapter 4: The Social Sciences and the Humanities in Citizenship Education: Contributions and Limitations

The goal of social studies to foster a stronger democracy is not complete when either citizenship or social studies education is defined as merely the teaching of the social sciences. Educators, including some social studies educators, sometimes speak of the social sciences and citizenship education as if they are synonyms. They are not. Furthermore, the literature seldom makes clear how very differently the humanities and the social sciences relate to citizenship education and how the two might relate usefully to each other (Houser, 2005). In the absence of clarity on this point, the humanities are often seen as a supplementary source of knowledge, a role for which they are not well suited. Or, they may be construed to be an alternative approach to citizenship education based on emotional or ideological persuasion rather than the presentation of well-grounded facts derived from the social sciences. When the humanities are used for purposes of emotional or ideological persuasion in citizenship education, they serve a doctrinaire purpose, which is entirely inappropriate for a democratic curriculum. To be most effective, citizenship education should draw on both the social sciences and the humanities as equal partners. Subject matter can also be drawn from the personal experiences of young citizens or the teacher or from other fields of study where a particular specialization is useful for understanding the issue being studied. Importantly, the humanities and the social sciences serve as a means for understanding. They are not ends or goals for a democratic curriculum. The overarching goal of this curriculum, as presented in the first three chapters, is effective democratic citizenship. However, the humanities and the social sciences are symbiotic partners, the first focused on values, feelings, insights and perspectives; the second focused on empirical findings, making equally important contributions to the understandings and decisions that citizens must learn to make in an intelligent and responsible way (Atkinson, 1937). To illustrate, we can study about major events throughout history by reading historical accounts that represent serious historical scholarship such as those of Carter G. Woodson, Barbara Ward, Bruce Catton or Richard Hofstader. However, we gain a completely different perspective about the Vietnam War if we read Neil Sheehan (1988)A Bright and Shining Lie that reveals new data and new insights on the war. Citizenship educators do not have to choose between these diverse sources of knowledge and insights; they can and should use both to enlarge the perspective of student-citizens regarding the issues that they study. (Arnold, 1967; Selwyn, 1995).