The Greco-Roman heritage of the American founding: Social studies instruction in selected Philadelphia public high schools

This study examined the teaching of the Greco-Roman heritage of the American founding in selected senior high schools in the Philadelphia school district. The study had a three-fold purpose: to describe political concepts from ancient Greece and Rome which 20th-century American scholars identify as significant influence on the political founding of the United States in the 18th century; to describe the materials in the Philadelphia school district's social studies curriculum pertaining to Greco-Roman political concepts; and to describe how social studies teachers in selected Philadelphia public senior high schools relate those Greco-Roman concepts to America's founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, the Federal Constitution and the U.S. Bill of Rights, in their teaching of the social studies curriculum for grades 9, 11, and 12.;The study found that regular world history and regular political science classes provided considerable to emphatic pedagogical attention to the Greco-Roman heritage of the American founding. The teacher-respondents used textbooks whose aggregate usefulness ratings range from poor to average to very good. The teacher-respondents were generally 20-plus-years veterans who have Master's Degrees Plus 30 Credits; who have concentrated in history and/or political science; who have studied Latin and/or Greek; and who are personally interested in Greco-Roman antiquities. None of the surveyed schools has in place elective courses in American democracy's classical origins, and a majority of the teacher-respondents opposes the establishment of such elective courses presumably because the social studies curriculum allows for sufficient scope for the teaching of the Greco-Roman heritage of the American founding.;Filling a research gap in the educational literature on the teaching of American democracy's classical origins, the study upheld the Greco-Roman heritage of the American founding.;The study suggests the need for further research in other school districts focusing on social studies instruction, learning outcomes, curricular patterns, teacher profiles and their ramifications for social studies teacher-training programs; textbooks and their ramifications for school district textbook selection committees; and conceptual content and its ramifications for social studies curricula and textbook authors and publishers.