ABSTRACT
Social studies education has had a relatively brief and contentious history as a school subject. Kevin D. Vinson and Ross E. Wayne argue the paradox of social studies education is that it is marked by both the appearance of diversity and the appearance of uniformity. The tensions between an emphasis on transmission of the cultural heritage of the dominant society and the development of critical thought have produced a mixed history for social studies education — predominantly conservative in its purposes, but also at times incorporating progressive and even radical purposes. Spectator democracy is promoted in social studies classes through the traditional instructional patterns as well as in the conceptions of democracy that dominate much of the content of social studies courses. The linkages among political agendas, classroom pedagogy, and research on teaching have been blurred and an "ideology of neutrality" has been internalized in the consciousness of both social studies researchers and teacher educators as well as classroom teachers.
