100 Years of Social Studies: What’s Changed & What Hasn’t

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[00:01:09] and what hasn't. So this special episode is specifically for upper elementary educators. We are taking a fun time traveling journey through the last century of the United States and the social studies education surrounding it. Imagine that you're in a classroom a hundred years ago, the maps are paper, the textbooks are black and white,

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[00:02:01] So in this special 100th episode, we're gonna take a little history lesson and compare what textbooks looked like in the 1920s versus now, we're gonna talk about how geography and world history was taught then and now, and also discuss what has improved and what still needs to change in our field.

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[00:02:45] So to set the stage, we are going to go back to the 1910s. In the 1910s, specifically 1913, the National Education Association, NEA, formed a committee on social studies to address issues in social studies education. It wasn't really called that in the sense as we know it today, but they were specifically influenced by national and international issues, including the threat of war in Europe, as well as the rise of industrialization, urbanization, and immigration. And over the course of the few years, they culminated with a report in 1916 that recommended a senior capstone class or problems of democracy to address pressing social issues. And back when they first combined together to form this committee, the curriculum was aimed for what they called social efficiency. Basically, they were wanting to prepare students to be good members of society. And I'm going to share with you a quote

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[00:04:24] From the nature of their content, the social studies afford peculiar opportunities for the training of the individual as a member of society. Society may be interpreted to include the human race. The social studies should cultivate a sense of membership in the world community with all the sympathies and sense of justice that this involves as among the different divisions of human society.

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[00:05:16] This was a big shift because previously a lot of schools taught history, civics, and geography as separate and very fact focused subjects. Also, you may have heard of this association, the National Council for the Social Studies or NCSS. This was founded in 1921 and this further solidified this field in also standardizing the term social studies as we know it

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[00:06:07] economics, sociology, civics, geography, and all modifications or combinations of subjects whose content, as well as aim is predominantly social. So there's a lot of subjects or domains under the umbrella of social studies. And a little bit more recently, in 1994, the National Council for the Social Studies published the first National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies.

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[00:07:03] A 1892 B, 1916 or C 1921. The answer to that would be B 1916. It surprised me and it might surprise you, but social studies, as we know it, is just over a century old. That was when educators decided to group history, civics, geography, and more into one umbrella term. Before that, nobody would've referred to teaching social studies.

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[00:07:55] from then and now. If you were to flip through a 1920s social studies textbook, it was a very modest hardcover with mostly text, some black and white illustrations, and maps that showed a very different world. Think large colonial empires and only 48 US states. You'd also find a very formal tone and a very Eurocentric or America centric perspective.

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[00:08:50] A 1920s text might have a chapter on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but likely not much if anything on Harriet Tubman or the Navajo Code Talkers, which really wasn't even public knowledge yet at that time and world history if taught

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[00:09:37] You'll see a much more inclusive approach, at least in theory. Modern social studies textbooks have a lot of colorful images and charts and diverse voices, and you're far more likely than a hundred years ago to find sections highlighting contributions of women and minorities alongside the traditional political topics.

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[00:10:25] and a lot of critics have talked about how even contemporary textbooks sometimes present a simplified single narrative of history, and they might gloss over more difficult and ongoing issues such as segregation ending in the 1960s, but not really going in too deep into how racism or sexism still might affect society today.

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[00:11:11] today we've got the internet and so many other materials, so that's maybe one thing that could be improved upon. Now I've got another quiz question for you. Let's see if you were paying attention. Which of these would you not find in a social studies textbook from a hundred years ago? Would it be A, a detailed account of World War I?

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[00:11:56] Even World War II in the 1920s wouldn't appear because it hadn't occurred yet, but something that would've happened would be World War I, which people in the 1920s called the Great War. And of course, they didn't know a second World War was coming so that's why the term World War I wasn't used in the old books.

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[00:12:45] So even though I might say like social studies textbook or social studies curriculum, and referring to a hundred years ago, it may or may not have been called that, but just kind of like an FYI. But let's talk about how it might have been taught. Usually geography was taught through memorization and map drills.

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[00:13:24] A century ago, a very well equipped classroom had a globe on the teacher's desk and a rollup map of the world, or some type of map where the United States was hanging by the blackboard. And of course those maps looked very different because.

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[00:14:05] So in a US map or flag had 48 stars, not 50, but in today's classrooms, geography has evolved in a variety of formats and the focus, while we do still teach maps and capitals, you might have a state capital's quiz where you have to find where countries are, depending on what you're teaching, we have expanded beyond pure memorization.

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[00:14:59] As well as just talking about the differences between countries and cities and all that stuff, tools have changed or at least improved. Instead of just paper maps, we have digital maps and interactive globes, and many teachers can use Google Maps or Google Earth for free to take students on virtual field trips around the world and see places that they might otherwise not have seen other than in pictures.

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[00:15:56] All right. Another quiz for you. In the 1920s, which tool was most commonly used by students to study world geography? Was it A, virtual reality headsets? B, pull down wall maps and globes, or was it C, interactive online atlases? So obvious answer would be B, pull down wall maps and globes. A hundred years ago, classrooms obviously did not have computers or vr, so geography relied on good old paper and canvas.

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[00:16:57] Now let's go into world history comparing how we might have taught world history in 1925 versus today. Back in the 1920s, world history wasn't always taught at the elementary level at all. If younger students learned history beyond the United States, it might be in the form of the explorers like Columbus or Magellan or even ancient history myths and legends.

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[00:17:55] There was very little coverage of Asian, African, or Latin American history in most schools at that time. And one reason was that many curricula were designed with a notion that history should foster national pride and moral lessons. So they emphasized the lineage of American democracy from European roots.

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[00:18:40] standards and intentions. Most state standards and the National Council for the Social Studies encourage a more broad, global perspective. By upper elementary students might learn about early civilizations in places like China, India, Africa, and the Americas, not just Europe.

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[00:19:22] possibly learning about ancient Egypt or teaching about ancient Egypt, and also discussing modern Egypt, you're comparing past ancient Egypt to what modern Egypt looks like. And of course implementation can vary depending on the grade level. Some schools do a great job with integrating world history.

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[00:20:00] Alright, I've got a true or false question for you this time. A world history lesson in 1925 was more likely to cover Europe's kings and queens than the histories of China or Africa. True or false? The answer would be true. A typical 1920s world history curriculum in the United States mostly emphasized European history, and students might learn about English kings, the French Revolution, but probably very little about Asian empires or African kingdoms. And this imbalance in content has been a longstanding issue. It's not a hundred percent perfect even today. But the good news is that modern curricula are much more inclusive of non-Western history than before.

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[00:21:06] You could probably have some ideas based on what I've been talking about and sharing with you so far. But just thinking about it, it is very clear. Social studies education has seen some significant improvements. So here are some bright spots. Number one, broader content and inclusion. So this is really great.

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[00:21:49] For example, modern US history units will cover not just the presidents and the major wars, but also about the Harlem Renaissance, women's suffrage, and civil rights activism. Another thing that has improved are the teaching methods. The way we teach has shifted from rote memorization for history and geography and where all the states are and what the states are in the capitals, to a more focus on critical thinking and inquiry.

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[00:22:43] This makes social studies much more engaging and meaningful. And thanks to technology on all those wonderful apps that are created out there and sharing different resources, students can even work like historians and examine real documents and artifacts rather than just reading summaries. This type of learning simply just was not existent or feasible, or even thought of in 1925.

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[00:23:33] You could use an interactive map to track Magellan's voyage, so we're not limited to what's in a textbook that's given to us.

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[00:24:09] Another thing that has changed for the better is the focus on skills for citizenship. So the core mission of social studies has definitely lasted. You want to teach social studies to prepare young people to be informed and active citizens, but I think we've gotten a lot better at articulating that and making sure those skills are embedded in standards.

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[00:24:54] whereas a hundred years ago, civil civic education might have been drilling the facts of the Constitution. Like what are the different aspects of each amendment? Now we might, you know, talk about the constitution and what's inside, but we also ask things like, how does this affect your life today? So that's a really great improvement into making social studies relevant and engaging.

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[00:25:43] been developed and also been revised continually to improve what we teach at each grade. It's not perfect. I know that there's some states out there that haven't updated their social studies curriculum in a while, maybe 20 years, 15 years, but there are some things that might spark debate, but they do ensure that we are not leaving out any key ideas and that we're aiming for higher order thinking for students, not just memorizing different dates. Kind of going into the next and last section is what still needs to change because despite the many improvements and the resources available for us, there are still some challenges and enduring issues in social studies. So,

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[00:27:15] A lot of elementary schools today, social studies gets a very small amount of time compared to literacy and math, and teachers might even be told to integrate social studies into language arts rather than just teaching it separately. While integration is definitely not bad, I definitely think it's really great, really great tool to use,

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[00:27:55] So this lack of dedicated time for social studies, I think is a little bit of a step backwards in some ways, and a century ago, teaching civics and history was definitely a fundamental part of school, and it still should be that way. So I think it's important to advocate for restoring social studies to a more prominent place in the curriculum.

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[00:28:42] I mentioned a little bit earlier about how some current materials might skim the surface of historical issues without engaging students in a deeper look or deeper exploration. And while it might, you know, be because they're just simply too young to really go in depth, it even happens at the secondary level.

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[00:29:29] So it's an ongoing thing that I think we need to look at and improve in the future. All right. Another thing that I think needs to be improved is teacher prep and support. Especially at the elementary level, teachers may not feel confident at teaching social studies. Usually teacher prep programs and professional development may not have emphasized social studies.

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[00:30:15] There is a statistic that a significant number of history teachers in secondary schools, neither majored nor certified in history. And in elementary, most teachers are generalists, sometimes are more comfortable at teaching reading and math. So without that strong background knowledge or training, in effective social studies methods, teachers just might strictly stick to the textbook or whatever they're given

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[00:31:07] But the good news is that there are communities out there online. There's conferences you can join, webinars, online groups, listening to podcasts such as this, or my blog, reading all that information, finding really great articles related to social studies. So there's more to do, but there is a way to prioritize social studies in teacher prep and teacher education.

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[00:31:55] These are sensitive and complex topics. They're just also really important to address as part of social studies because they can shape the world students are inheriting and going to have for themselves in the future. But the problem is some curriculum can lag behind. You have many current textbooks that haven't fully integrated the story of the 21st century. And it can be also tough and a lot of money to update those materials frequently due to the cost or even just the bureaucracy.

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[00:32:48] And the last one I wanted to mention is just engaging students who think history is quote boring because let's face it, one thing that has not changed in a hundred years is that a certain percentage of students will say history or social studies is boring. Or they might ask, why do I need to learn this?

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[00:33:36] But student engagement, it's a thing. So just thinking about like having a different approach to that same challenge, to making students care about learning from the past and about society and how they can help shape our future. So just to summarize that up, we've come such a long way from the 1920s. There is always room for growth and social studies is about people.

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[00:34:27] just a very textbook driven, wrote memorization instruction to things that, you know, involve multiple sources and real world connections and critical thinking and diverse perspectives. And you can see just in this episode, some things have changed pretty dramatically. While some core goals are remaining constant, you're fostering informed citizenship,

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[00:35:14] We can borrow some of the best things from the past, such as the storytelling aspect that made kids of a hundred years ago love the tales of explorers and pioneers and blend them in with the best of the present, such as technology and inquiry to deepen understanding and learning. Remember, every time you have your students discuss a historical issue or examine a map

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[00:36:01] we can help our students not only learn history, but make history in the future as thoughtful, empathetic citizens. So I hope you enjoyed this episode on a hundred years of social studies. Maybe next time you open a nice modern textbook or get a history video up on your screen, you might think of that 1925 teacher with a chalkboard and think about how far we've come.

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[00:36:54] Thank you also for a hundred episodes of the Social Studies Teacher podcast. Here's to a hundred more. Let's keep this conversation going with your students and your colleagues because I think it's important that reflecting on the past is the best way to inform the future. Thanks for listening, and I will talk to you next week