Social studies is best described as an applied field that integrates which…

Concept — Social studies is an applied, integrative field. It draws content from history, geography, civics and economics and reorganises that content around the demands of living in society, so that a learner builds three strands together: knowledge (concepts and information), skills (enquiry, interpretation and decision-making) and values (democratic, constitutional and social attitudes). Its declared aim is civic competence, that is, the capacity to act sensibly in real social situations.

Application — A decision taken in an actual social situation calls on all three strands at once: knowledge supplies the concepts and facts of the situation, skills supply the method of weighing evidence and alternatives, and values supply the criteria for judging what ought to be done. The integration the question asks about is therefore knowledge, skills and values brought together in real-life social contexts.

How this differs from the other descriptions offered:

• Discrete academic subjects taught without practical linkage is a subject-centred arrangement: disciplinary boundaries are kept intact, so a learner never has to combine them at the moment of decision.

• Abstract theories studied independently of social realities is a theory-centred arrangement: explanatory models are examined on their own terms, away from the situations in which decisions arise.

• Isolated factual information from different social science disciplines is an information-centred arrangement: material from several disciplines is placed side by side without being organised around a social purpose, and skills and values are left out.

Hence social studies is best described as an applied field that integrates knowledge, skills and values in real-life social contexts, which is what makes it a preparation for civic decision-making rather than a collection of subject content.