Clark, Penney, and Roland Case. “Defining the Purposes of Citizenship Education.” (2013)

Citizenship has been recognized as the rationale for social studies since its inception in the early 20^th century. Nonetheless, citizenship education is not clearly defined and there is not universal agreement on what it should encompass. In this chapter, the authors outline four rationales for citizenship education that are interrelated. Each, at some point, has defined the history of social studies education. However, it is important for social studies teachers to understand what purpose, or mix of purposes, guides their teaching. Decisions about what to teach in social studies are often informed by the teacher’s idea of what type of person they wish to promote. Throughout history these aforementioned four rationales have often been at odds and competing, with the first two rationales focusing on social purposes and last two on individual purposes. The four rationales are social initiation, social reform, personal development, and intellectual development. Even the delivery of each rationale varies according to who is teaching it, their own personal biases and whether the teacher uses aspects of each rationale. The authors place the four rationales on a spectrum with social acceptance/social change at one end and child centered/subject centered at the other. They then discuss how each rationale fits into either of the two categories. The authors conclude by stating whichever rationale, or mixture of rationales, teachers choose they must set goals and have a clear focus or direction in order for students to be inspired and assisted.