ABSTRACT

The social studies education goals can be seen in the pronouncements of learned societies, accrediting agencies, theories of educational philosophers, academic analyses by social studies educators, and decrees from government agencies. The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), 2010 describes social studies education's primary purpose as "to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world. Social studies education has matured into an "applied" discipline in university colleges of education. Steve Thornton's short list of expansive aims is more than knowledge; it is about students' identity, their virtues and values. There are multiple accounts of the exalted aims and like Thornton's short list they all use some rendition of terms to express virtues, ideals, or values. Because virtues and values are dispositional, social studies education requires more than the transmission of knowledge to achieve its aims.