Transformation to the social studies: A course change in the elementary school curriculum, 1900-1939

Social studies has existed as an element of the elementary school curriculum with a largely unknown past. However, the formative years of American elementary school social studies were significant, beginning near the turn of the twentieth century and extending through the 1930s.;At the end of the nineteenth century, the elementary school curriculum related to social course offerings was limited primarily to intermediate grade geography; school history was included less frequently. A study of the history of elementary school social offerings revealed that influences in American society as a whole and from conditions within education contributed to increased consideration of the school's social curriculum. Changing philosophies, new pedagogy, and advocacy of specific participants exerted an extended impact on the transition to social studies in the curriculum.;Rhetoric during these early years reflected an initial concern with content. The view of social studies was expanded to include additional subjects and topics related to social responsibility. Later, instructional techniques which permitted active pupil participation and the use of supplementary materials were advocated frequently. However, examination of the historical record from 1900 to 1939 revealed a gap between the persuasive rhetoric and practical changes in elementary school classrooms in the United States. Movement from minimal instruction in social subjects to more extended social offerings occurred. Classroom methods which encouraged pupil participation were widely advocated and somewhat practiced but were not dominant. Similarly, use of supplementary materials in school instruction occurred inconsistently. Social studies sometimes was taught in an integrated manner, more often in primary grade classes than in intermediate ones. However, this organizational practice was not dominant; geography and history, when offered, commonly were taught as separate subjects.;By the end of the 1930s, elementary school social studies had changed markedly from the curriculum offerings of the late 1800s through various incremental changes. Despite evidence of transformation in elementary school social studies practice, advocacy of the new "social studies" continued to outdistance practical implementation throughout the first forty years of the century. The social studies remained a form in continued search of consistent substance.