Meaning and definition of Social Sciences

INTRODUCTION TO TEACHING SOCIAL SCIENCES

 MEANING, DEFINITION, NATURE AND SCOPE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

 Social Science

Social Science is a generic term covering the scientific study of man. It is a discipline or branch of science that deals with the socio-cultural aspects of human behaviour. The social sciences generally include cultural anthropology, economics, political science, sociology, criminology, and social psychology.

What are the seven social sciences? 

 Anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, sociology, and psychology are the seven social sciences. 

Definition of Social Science:

Social science is defined as any scholastic discipline or scientific field that investigates human society.

According to James High “Social Sciences as those bodies of learning and study which recognizes the simultaneous and mutual action of physical and no-physical stimuli which produce social relation”.

According to Charles Beard “Social Sciences are a body of knowledge and thought pertaining to human affairs as distinguished from sticks, stones, stars and physical objects”.

Bining & Bining defines Social Science as “the subject that relate to the origin, organization, and development of human society, especially to man in his association with other men”.

Social Studies:

Social Studies is a field of study which deals with man, his relation with other men and his environment; its content is drawn from several social sciences. It is a course of study including anthropology, history, geography, economics, political science, sociology, law, civics, etc.

Definition of Social Studies:

According to Michaelis, “the Social Studies are concerned with man and his interaction with his social and physical environment; they deal with human relationships; the central function of the social studies is identical with the central purpose of education – the development of democratic citizenship”.

National Council for the Social Studies defined Social Studies as “the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence".

Nature of Social Science:

The real nature of this discipline can be well understood by analyzing the above definitions.

1. A unique combination of various disciplines.

2. A study of human relationships.

3. A study of man’s development through ages.

4. A realistic course of study.

5. It forms an important part of the core-curriculum.

6. It includes commitment to action.

7. Aims at preparing the learner for wholesome social living.

Scope of Social Studies:

The scope of Social Studies is very vast and wide as wide as the world itself and as lengthy as the history of man. According to Michaelis “the breadth of social studies programme should provide for a variety of experiences so that the child’s learning will be well rounded and well balanced”.

The main points are as follows:

1. Vast and wide as the world. It is as wide as the world and s long as the world. It is the study of human relationships in areas such as:

a.       People of one’s own nationality and people across the world.

b.       People and various kinds of institutions.

c.       People and Earth.

d.       People and Time.

e.       People and resources.

2. A functional study of Natural and Physical sciences and Fine Arts.

          Social Science - Natural Science – Physical Science are inter related

          Development, change, etc. in one field effect the others

3. A study of current affairs.

4. A study leading to International Understanding.

5. Practical study of various resources.

Similarities between Social studies and Social Sciences:

        Social Science and Social Studies are not only related generically. They also share common body of content.

        Both are related to society and have same aims and objectives.

        Both emphasis on inculcating good qualities like truthfulness, sincerity, etc. of human being.

        Both helps to understand the various aspects of the society and utilize them.

        Both are must be accurate and reliable- only then can be useful.

Difference between Social Studies and Social Science:

1.     The focus and emphasis of both are different:- When a student studies geography as a social science, he has to focus his attention on the methods of geography, tools and concepts, etc.  Wile studying geography as a social studies, he should focus attention on using ideas and concepts from geography, to understand man,  how his efforts to control his environment have led to a better life, how various geographical factors influence his life, etc.

2.     Social Sciences represent an adult approach, while the social studies represent a child-approach: Social sciences are to be taught at the high school and college level. Social Studies are simplified portions of social sciences to be taught at primary level.

3.     Social sciences are the theory part of human affairs; social studies are the practice part of human affairs: Social sciences are large bodies of organized and authentic knowledge representing human affairs. While social studies gives an insight into various aspects of man and society.

4.     The social sciences are far larger than the social studies: The purpose of the social sciences is to find out new truth about human relationships; the purpose of the social studies is to guide adolescents in their learning of selected portions of what has been discovered in social sciences.

5.     In social sciences, social utility is the primary object; in social studies instructional utility is the primary object.

6.     Social sciences are the part of cultural of knowledge having direct bearing on man’s activities in any field, Social studies offers learning situation and insight into all knowledge.

Evolution of social science as a subject

History

The history of the social sciences has origin in the common stock of Western philosophy and shares various precursors, but began most intentionally in the early 19th century with the positivist philosophy of science. Since the mid-20th century, the term "social science" has come to refer more generally, not just to sociology, but to all those disciplines which analyse society and culture; from anthropology to linguistics to media studies.

The idea that society may be studied in a standardized and objective manner, with scholarly rules and methodology, is comparatively recent. While there is evidence of early sociology in medieval Islam, and while philosophers such as Confucius had long since theorised on topics such as social roles, the scientific analysis of "Man" is peculiar to the intellectual break away from the Age of Enlightenment and toward the discourses of Modernity. Social sciences came forth from the moral philosophy of the time and was influenced by the Age of Revolutions, such as the Industrial revolution and the French revolution. The beginnings of the social sciences in the 18th century are reflected in the grand encyclopedia of Diderot, with articles from Rousseau and other pioneers.

As a subject

Social science can be described as all of the following:

·         Branch of science – systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

·         Major category of academic disciplines – an academic discipline is focused study in one academic field or profession. A discipline incorporates expertise, people, projects, communities, challenges, studies, inquiry, and research areas that are strongly associated with academic areas of study or areas of professional practice. For example, the branches of science are commonly referred to as the scientific disciplines. For instance, gravitation is strongly associated with the discipline of physics, and is considered to be part of that disciplinary knowledge.

Need and significance of teaching Social Science in the present context

§  “There are two sides to a coin – social sciences help us understand both and to make a choice.”

§  “Pure Sciences teach us about how technology is developed and used. Social sciences help us understand the impact of technology.”

The aim of society and that of its education system are intertwined. While the aim of education is explicitly stated in policy documents, legal instruments and curriculum frameworks, it is tacitly woven in the selection, arrangement of content, its frequency and the transaction modes. Social science content not only defines and validates societal aims it also has the capacity to provoke learners to critically examine them on the anvil of universal values of social justice and environmental sustainability.

The NCERT National Focus Group on ‘Teaching of Social Sciences’ puts it thus – “The Social Sciences carry a normative responsibility to create and widen the popular base of human values, namely freedom, trust, mutual respect, and respect for diversity. Given this, social science teaching should aim at investing in children a critical moral and mental energy to make them alert to the social forces that threaten these values. Through the discussion of concerns such as threats to the environment, caste/class inequality, state repression, through an interdisciplinary approach.”

Social Sciences provide a framework to look at content emerging from other subjects – to see how that content is used in society, for whose benefit. Even the so called pure sciences are embedded in a certain social culture and are influenced by it. More often than not the technology based on application of science is selectively used for the benefit of the dominant groups who control it by aiding research and development or by influencing policies including those related with education. The impact all these have on defining the character of a society can be understood by the use of tools rooted in social sciences.

‘The popular perception of social sciences is that it is a non-utility subject’. The low status accorded to social sciences in formal education is the reason behind this. The importance given in the school timetable to pure sciences, math, (and increasingly English in India) as against social sciences and regional languages is one obvious indicator of this. Teachers who deal with these subjects are often given a special status vis-a-vis those teaching social sciences. Students interested and excelling in social sciences are not considered bright. It is assumed that high scoring students will naturally opt for streams leading to engineering, medicine, and not humanities. The choices are also influenced by gender and caste/class dimensions. Upper-caste, better-off boys are groomed to choose branches related to pure sciences and girls, SC/ST, economically weaker sections are driven to opt for social sciences. Overall, low self-esteem, disinterest, casualness dominate the educational culture.

The reasons are many. In school they are directly related to the fragmented, incomprehensive content load and lack of critical pedagogy. Content is selected and arranged not on the natural demands of the subject but with certain hegemonic compulsions. Instances of exploitation of social sciences to push a certain political agenda at the cost of justice and peace are unfortunately many. Skirting issues of gender, caste, glorification of violence and hatred for other communities under the name of nationalism, eulogizing and politicizing historical figures out of time and cultural context .

In general, our educational ethos is steeped in behaviorist traditions. Discussing real issues that children experience in everyday life is seen as unnecessarily exposing young minds to ‘delicate’, ‘controversial’ issues. It is argued that this will affect their innocent minds and that they’ll imitate ‘wrong’ things. The fact that there is an intuitive sense of wise decision-making in all of us, that the decisions we take are a complex mix of multitudes of factors is not taken into account. What goes under the name of social science teaching are mere slogans, platitudes. Efforts at objectively and scientifically approaching a subject-matter are actively discouraged when cries of ‘hurting sentiments’ are raised. Thus the dangerous culture of saying the right things while doing what is convenient comes into play.

In the world of growing commodification and marketization, social sciences has no takers. This is both a cause and an effect. Keeping social sciences over- burdened with meaningless information load, devoid of the pleasure of critical engagement and enthusiasm to create new knowledge makes the subject disinteresting or ‘unwanted’. On the other hand, by shunning spaces for critical engagement, the natural spirit of questioning things in the young is dampened. Thus, gradually, adverse effects of the use of technology that benefits few, that tramples on human rights and destroys the environment under the name of development remain unquestioned. The casualty here is the very essence of science based on empiricism and questioning.

This takes us to the beginning of this piece. The answers to the challenges outlined here lie in the ethos, the aim of education. The nature of social science teaching or for that matter teaching of all subjects will change when we have the opportunity to re-examine the purpose of education. Is education just about acquiring high percentages, degrees, doing jobs devoid of the pleasure of creation, which involve actions that are anti-poor, destructive to the environment? Is this what is progress? Will this give us a happy society? The urgency of seeking answers to these questions is immense and within the frame of formal education the on us of examining these issues is at the core of social sciences.

SIGNIFICANCE

In recent years STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) sciences have received the majority of investment and support from government, universities, etc., while these subjects are no doubt important, the importance of social sciences should not be ignored. In fact, in areas such as social and primary care, the justice system, and business, to name just a few, social science is extremely important, and necessary. It is therefore very important that this educational imbalance be addressed and more support provided to the social sciences.

While for many people the words “social sciences” may conjure up images of social workers or teachers, this is a gross misunderstanding of the range of roles available within this discipline, as well as the impact that it has on the wider world. In general, social sciences focus on the study of society and the relationship among individuals within society. Social science covers a wide spectrum of subjects, including economics, political science, sociology, history, archaeology, anthropology, and law. In comparison to STEM sciences, social science is able to provide insight into how science and innovation work – in effect it is the science of science. In particular, social scientists are equipped with the analytical and communication skills that are important throughout many industries and organizations.

What do social scientists do?

Social scientists are involved with solving many of the world’s biggest issues, such as violent crime, alternative energy, and cyber security. They have had profound effects on every part of society.

Strengthening social sciences for the future

It is clear that no subject area can stand alone, walled off from the outside, and that social science can play an important role in all fields.

·         It helps explain the world in which we live.      

·         It helps students figure out their role in society as well as their place in history. A sense of history gives students good background knowledge as they study other subjects, such as literature.

·         Citizenship: Social studies students learn they are part of a larger societal organization that must have structure in order to operate for the good of all the people in the group.

·         Making a living: Economics teaches students the basics of handling their own finances and helps them set career goals aligned with their personalities.

Social Studies as a core subject and its relation to other core subjects – language, general science and mathematics

You live with the unintended consequences of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act every day. The law has created flawed incentives for states and school districts to narrow their curricula to English and math. This fundamentally misguided practice leaves out core disciplines that are essential to a well-rounded curriculum, including social studies.

To be sure, reading and mathematics are essential subjects. Students wouldn’t be able to learn about history and civics if they couldn’t read primary source documents and other texts. In addition to reading skills, they need a solid grounding in statistics and math concepts to grasp important principles in economics, geography, and the other social and behavioral sciences. But we absolutely cannot focus exclusively on reading and mathematics to the exclusion of other important disciplines, including social studies, as well as science, the arts, physical education, and others necessary for a well-rounded education. To marginalize social studies for the sake of reading and math is not only misguided, it is educational neglect.

Educators and policymakers need to recognize that social studies is a core subject, critical to sustaining an informed democracy and a globally competitive workforce.

Today more than ever, the social studies are not a luxury, but a necessity. To be on track today for college and careers, students need to show that they can analyze and solve complex problems, communicate clearly, synthesize information, apply knowledge, and generalize learning to other settings. The social studies play a critical role in creating civically competent young people who make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good and who contribute to an increasingly diverse, but interdependent world.

The Department of Education is supporting the work of states to create better assessment systems, aligned to the Common Core for English language arts and math for 2014–2015. But we also need higher standards and better tests for social studies.  Social studies teachers to work together to encourage states and local school boards to develop high social studies standards based on themes and skills and to create authentic growth measures of student learning. In some states where the curriculum has been narrowed, teachers may even want to work with educational leaders to include social studies in their accountability system making a bold statement about the importance of social studies as a core subject.

The greatest thinkers in nearly every society have concluded that a well-educated person needs to learn much more than math, science, and how to read in their native tongue. As James Leach, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities recently put it, a society that fails to study history, refuses to learn from literature, and denies the lessons of philosophy “imprisons [its] thoughts in the here and now.” Social studies teachers have the key to set the prisoners free.

 SOCIAL STUDIES VS SOCIAL SCIENCES

Difference between Social Science and Social Studies

Though Social science and social studies sound like two similar concepts, they are in actuality, two different fields of study. 

What is Social Science?

Social Science is a subject area that studies the society and the relationships among individuals within a society. Social Science is categorized into many branches such as Geography (study of the earth and its features, inhabitants, and phenomena), Anthropology (study of humans), History (study of past), Economics (study of  production, distribution and consumption of goods and services), political science(study of theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior.) etc. The beginning of Social Sciences dates back to the 18^th century.  Social Science can be defined as a scientific study field since almost all the sub-disciplines use scientific methods to investigate facts.

What is Social Studies?

Social studies can be introduced as the study of both social sciences and humanities. According to U.S American National Council for the Social Studies, “Social studies, is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence.”  However, social studies is most often used as a name of the course taught at schools. Social studies is a relatively new term and came  into use in the 20^th Century.

 

What is the difference between Social Science and Social studies?

The main difference between social science and social studies exist in their purpose; in social science, you study the society and social life of human groups while in social studies, you study both social science and humanities in order to promote effective citizenry. Another difference is that Social science is divided into many branches while social studies is divided into two main categories of humanities and social sciences. Though social studies is a subject that is taught from primary school onward, social science is only available as a degree level course. In addition, social studies is a relatively new term while social science dates back to the 18^th century.

Comparison	Social Science	Social studies
Purpose	Studying the society and its individuals	promoting civic competence
History	Dates back to Age of Enlightenment	Dates back to 20th Century
Branches	Many branches	Social science and Humanities