The Evolution of the Concept of Citizenship in the Curriculum for Elementary School Social Studies

A broad term, citizenship can guarantee an individual's rights and responsibilities in the society. The growth and dynamism of a society depends on citizens who feel responsible to participate in social and political affairs and have the necessary knowledge and insight to do so. Various school subjects make a significant contribution in this area. The present research has studied the evolutionary path of the concept of citizenship in the elementary school curriculum for social studies. A descriptive method involving content analysis of the subject material – elementary school textbooks for social studies from the 1980s up to the 2018-2019 school year – has been used. A checklist for the components of citizen education – three areas consisting of knowledge, skill and citizen attitude) as well as the quantitative method (Shannon's entropy) – have been used as the unit of analysis for the pages (texts, questions, exercises and pictures). Specialists have confirmed the validity of the checklist, and the research findings based on the load of data obtained from the three components of knowledge, skill and attitude indicate that while the concept of citizenship has the smallest coefficient of importance (0.318) through the years 1981 to 2002, while during the years 1981 to 2013 and in 2015 it rose to 0.326, and enjoyed its highest coefficient of importance and attention in 2013 (for third and fourth grades) and 2015 (for the fifth grade), 0.345. The rise in attention toward the concept of citizenship in the curriculum for social studies is a good omen implying the attention it enjoys as a significant part of the curriculum.