Ideological Innocence and Dialogue: A Critical Perspective on Discourse in the Social Studies

Abstract

Discourse about social studies education has been stimulated by recent published reports and by public interest in school improvement; however, the quality of that discourse has remained essentially apolitical thus diminishing opportunities for substantive change. Critical theory, recognizing the ideological dimension of schooling, illuminates the contradictions and tensions among the idealized goals of social studies education and the socializing functions of social studies classrooms. This paper, through a critical analysis of current discourse about social studies curriculum-in-use, demonstrates the continuing failure of such literature to interrogate the structures and beliefs behind surface meanings and values of social studies education in an advanced industrial society.