Back to the Future: The Expanding Communities Curriculum in Geography Education

Abstract

This article traces the history of the expanding communities approach, the leading organizational structure for elementary social studies education since the 1930s. Since its introduction into the curriculum, educators have argued about the approach's effectiveness and suitability. Critics claim it lacks intellectual rigor and is redundant in that it repeats what children already know. Defenders argue that its relevancy to children's lives helps them better understand their world. Yet typically neither critics nor defenders demonstrate an understanding of the approach's deep roots in U.S. education. Long before its adoption as the dominant approach in elementary social studies, educators used it in history, civics, literature, and geography lessons. This article focuses on the approach's successful implementation in nineteenth-century geography curricula and shows that it is possible to teach rigorous geographical content and processes while using this method. The author recommends recommends that contemporary educators consider examples of how the approach was successfully used in the past.