The Social Subjects Within the Curriculum

Unlike much material available at the time, The Social Subjects Within the Curriculum (originally published in 1995) stands back from the issues of implementing the National Curriculum. Instead, it poses key questions about the ability of such a centralised system to provide an integrated social and economic education for future citizens. Taking the cross-curricular themes as identified in the NCC curriculum guidance as starting points, the various contributors analyse and criticise the approaches suggested, and in some cases, suggest alternatives or additions. Some of the questions posed are: What is this new curriculum attempting to achieve in the social education of 5-13-year-olds? How does it compare with previous programmes? How does it relate to the economic and social developments in which young people live? This book will be a valuable resource for students and researchers of education.

John Ahier, at the time of the first publication, was lecturer at Open University, UK. From 1974 to 1993, he was Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Education at Homerton College, Cambridge. Alistair Ross is Senior Professor in Politics and Education at School of Social Sciences and Professions, London Metropolitan University, UK. He has a PhD in Politics from the University of London, a DLitt from London Metropolitan, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Introduction Part 1: The Contemporary Context for the Social Subjects 1. Education for Citizenship and the Problem of Identity in Post-modern Political Culture 2. Narrations of 'Self' and 'World' through the Economic and Industrial Understanding Curriculum Part 2: The Construction of Social Curricula 3. The Rise and Fall of the Social Subjects in the Curriculum 4. The Whole Curriculum, the National Curriculum and Social Studies Part 3: Reactions to the Cross-curricular Themes 5. Cross-curricular Integration and the Construction of the Self in the Primary Curriculum 6. Citizenship in the Primary Curriculum 7. Hidden Controversies in Two Cross-curricular Themes 8. Indoctrination or Empowerment? The Case of Economic and Industrial Understanding 9. Health, Sex and Drugs Education: Rhetoric and Reality