A Comparative Analysis of Social Studies Curriculum (2005, 2018, 2024) in Terms of Social Sciences Specific Skills

Social Studies course plays a significant role in equipping students with social sciences specific skills in the social sciences. These skills encompass a wide range of abilities that individuals frequently use in their daily lives, such as spatial literacy, map reading, and entrepreneurship and curriculum guidelines play a guiding role in fostering these skills. The aim of this study is to comparatively examine the social science specific skills included in the Social Studies Curriculums (2005, 2018, and 2024). A qualitative research method was adopted in the study. The data was collected through document analysis and analysed descriptively. The research findings show that there are differences between the curriculums in terms of the naming, scope, and emphasis of some skills. It was determined that the skill of perceiving change and continuity is included in all grade levels in all three curriculums. In contrast, it was observed that map skills and table, graph, figure, and/or diagram skills are the least represented skills in the curriculums. When examining the learning outcomes, it was found that the geographic inquiry skill, explicitly included for the first time in the 2024 social studies curriculum, was implicitly present in the 2005 and 2018 social studies curriculum. In conclusion, while there are skills that show continuity across the programs, it can be said that there have been changes in the visibility and emphasis of certain skills.