Examining the Significance of Social Studies in the Development of Citizens in a Democracy
Keywords:
citizens, citizenship, education, social studiesAbstract
Social studies is referred to in some countries as social education and in other countries, it is taught as citizenship education (Ross, 2006). According to Hahn (1999), not all countries have policies requiring students to have an instruction that prepares them to be citizens. Until recent debates on citizenship education, some countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands did not have any programs in their education systems that were deliberately aimed at teaching political education or preparation of citizens (Hahn, 1999). The author further extols that in contrast, countries such as Denmark, Germany, and the USA have educational policies that are aimed at developing informed, participating citizens. In Great Britain, citizenship education is a contentious issue and is still at its embryonic stages as it was officially introduced in 2000 and became mandatory at secondary school level in September 2002 (Crick, 2007; Figueroa, 2004). This paper, however, attempts to examine the role of social studies in developing effective citizens and the current differing policies and practices on developing citizens among a few selected countries not only in Africa but beyond.
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