4: Research on Issues-Centered Social Studies

For many years social studies educators have advocated the use of issues-centered instruction on philosophic grounds, similar to those put forth in the first chapters of this handbook. But skeptics and believers alike have wondered whether empirical evidence exists to warrant its use. This chapter addresses the question: Is there evidence that issues-centered social studies yields benefits? The answer must first be qualified in that studies conducted in particular contexts in the past cannot prove or predict what will happen in a future setting, and available research tends to be correlational, not causal. That is, researchers studying particular classrooms found that issues-centered instruction was associated with various phenomena; they did not establish cause-and-effect relationships as one might in a laboratory. Examining the available research can, however, be insightful to those considering the implementation of issues-centered teaching because there is reason to believe that when this approach is used under certain conditions, students may like social studies, and may develop higher-order thinking skills, participatory political attitudes, and an awareness and concern about global or other important societal issues. But before examining the research base for such possibilities, a few cautions are in order.