Traditional history and the social studies in secondary education: A historical perspective, 1892-1916

The purpose of this study was to examine the beginnings of historical studies in the modern American secondary school up to and including the formulation of the social studies, presenting a conspectus of each in the hope of identifying the rationale for the shift from history to the social studies in secondary education. The historical research methodology utilized involved an extensive literature review of secondary history-social studies materials between the late 1880's and 1916.;The principle operating suppositions for this examination were: (a) A shift in the secondary history curriculum to the social studies was prompted by, and a result of, a change in the perceived value of history for secondary schools; (b) The traditional history curriculum as promulgated by the Committee of Seven was successfully disseminated throughout the nation; (c) Critics and reformers of education took exception to most, if not all, the elements or recommendations of the traditional history curriculum and sought either to revise its provisions or reject outright the curriculum to favor a more "socially efficient" program; (d) A specially formulated curriculum was developed and offered to schoolmen for implementation, not as an alternative to the traditional history curriculum, but as the "new education.".;From the data the following four primary conclusions were drawn: (a) Social education insurgents argued for a fundamental shift in the focus of history instruction from an intellectually based curriculum to a socially based program centered on the perceived needs, interests, and problems of the child within a community. Here the root of the shift between traditional history and the social studies lay in the disparate philosophical conceptions of the individual; (b) The basic principles of traditional history appeared to have been a universal phenomena in American secondary schools; (c) Critics essentially ignored the actual proposals of the Committee of Seven, criticizing instead, what they perceived to be the situation of history in the schools; (d) As formulated, the social efficiency prototype (social studies) was not compatible with traditional history.