Change and Continuity Perception Skills in Social Studies Curriculum in Turkey and America within the Scope of Teaching Historical Time

Change and continuity perception skills are among the fundamental skills of historical thinking. It is important to address these skills in terms of the content covered in social studies courses and explore comprehensively with sub-dimensions beyond historical description. The aim of this study is to compare the change and continuity perception skills addressed in social studies curriculum in Turkey and the United States of American within the scope of historical time teaching. A document analysis method was used in the study and the sample consisted of Social Studies Standards of Education Department of the State of Michigan and the Social Studies Curriculum of National Education Ministry of the Republic of Turkey. In analyzing the data, descriptive statistics and content analysis were employed. The results showed that the change and continuity perception skills in both programs are particularly focused on history subjects in 6th and 7th grades. Acquisitions addressing change and continuity perceptions skills were more diverse in the Social Studies Standards of the Michigan State and were addressed in courses including history, geography, individual and society, economics, culture, technology and agriculture. The perception of change and continuity in the social studies curriculum of the Republic of Turkey is addressed with a narrow perspective in topics including history, individual and society, culture and technology. However, when standards and acqusitions of both education programs were analyzed, it was found that the chronological aspect of change and continuity in general and the perception of future are not addressed much and that the change and continuity experienced in a certain field are not associated with different fields enough.