Educación en estudios sociales y reforma de la educación basada en estándares en Norte América: Estandarización del currículo, pruebas de alta exigencia y resistencia.

Abstract

Social studies have a contentious history as a school subject and this article begins with an overview of the historically competing viewpoints on the nature and purposes of social studies education in the North American context. Next, we provide a critical examination of recent educational reforms in the USA (No Child Left Behind and Common Core State Standards), which use high-stakes testing as a tool for standardizing the social studies curriculum and teaching methods. The final section of the article examines both the significant levels of resistance to high-stakes testing and curriculum standardization by students, teachers, and the public and the question of whether social studies education will promote citizenship that is adaptive to the status quo or the reconstruction society in more equitable and socially just ways.

Keywords

• purposes of social studies education
• citizenship education
• curriculum standards
• education reform
• high-stakes testing
• teacher resistance