Book excerpt: The document contains a collection of 13 articles on the problems and challenges facing social studies educators in the 1980s. The objective is to offer the classroom teacher direction for evaluating the rationale and content of social studies education. Chapter one defines the purpose and nature of social studies. Chapter two discusses the importance of citizenship education as a role of social studies, while social studies' contribution to the humanistic experience is examined in Chapter three. Chapters four through eight consider the range of knowledge and understanding in the social studies, including history, geography, cultural pluralism, urbanization, and a global perspective, as well as law-related education and career education. Chapters nine and ten focus on basic and societal skills such as reading, writing, and decision making, while chapter eleven discusses values education as a major objective of the social studies. Chapter twelve examines the roles societal forces play in social education and the importance of educators' recognizing and understanding these forces. The final chapter discusses social studies teachers in relation to an unpredictable future and emphasizes the need for ongoing teacher education. (CK)