A Failed Social Studies Education

First as a high school student and later as a high school teacher, I became intimate with the twin questions “Why do I need to learn this?” and “Will I ever need this in life?” I have been surprised how mathematics has proven to be more useful than I thought back then. But, my favorite subject — and the subject I later taught (and had to justify to my students) — is social studies. Not so useful. Until now.

Some of the more dedicated social studies teacher trainers I encountered argued that instruction in American Government, Economics, History and the home-skill for social studies, critical thinking, is no small deal. It is, in fact, the backbone of a democracy, educated voters being the core of responsive, ethical government. As a budding social studies teacher, this presented some challenges in answering questions about “why do we need to learn this stuff?” The answer was: collectively learning this stuff keeps our government going. Eyes rolled. No wonder I often reverted to the shutdown answer: “Because this stuff will be on the test.”

Teachers rarely get meaningful feedback about the ultimate results of their teaching. Rarely does the 34 year-old woman who used Geometry to design her back deck write a “thank you, that stuff really was helpful” note to her 9th grade teacher. Social studies teachers — those purveyors of odd facts and fuzzy skills like “critical thinking” are virtually adrift in uncertainty about the effectiveness of their teaching. Until now.

The events of 2020 and 2021 (so far) cap off a run of four or five years that mark the failure of past social studies instruction, including mine. Critical Thinking is the antidote to conspiracy theory poison, yet we are poisoned. The critical thinking didn’t take. Exhaustive education about peaceful transition and separation of powers should help prevent an executive branch attack on the legislative branch. World History, if conveyed effectively, should guard against tyrannical leaders attempting to operate above the law. Civil War History should prepare us to prevent us from slipping so dangerously close to it again. Should, should, should…

As social studies teachers, one of our main objectives is to make sure no one takes democracy for granted. Over the past five years, have we taken democracy for granted? Have we assured ourselves that democracy would prevail and that voters would choose wisely? Did we forget that democracy takes work? As teachers of critical thinking, one of our goals is to make sure that opinions are supported by facts. Over 70% of the people in a major political party — tens of millions of people — believe an election was stolen, despite their being virtually no facts to support this. It’s worse than that — they believe based not on a lack of facts but on accounts and anecdotes that masquerade as facts. Too many people do not know what a fact is. This is the poinson that swirls around the most basic and indispensable component of our democracy, the vote.

I am sure that not all of us social studies teachers failed. What we taught may ultimately lead us out of this mess. An Inauguration Day filled with hope and calls for unity are a good start. And people can change. Even those who stormed the Capitol Building could change. One thing for sure: no social studies teacher should ever hesitate to answer “why is this stuff important?” ever again.

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