Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

The organization andfinancing of research 78 I
with the development of the social sciences. They constitute the third arm of the
service - the academic disciplines and the related professions being the other
two.
Social science in general education
5. The case for increasing social science as part of general education may be
made by extending what was said about clientele. The faster the change-rate
and the more complex the environment the greater the need of the individual to
understand himself and his society. The greater the need, therefore, of society to
have a large part of its population possessed of greater understanding of this
kind. The growing tendency merits encouragement to include broad based
social science courses in the curricula of the first undergraduate years and of
extending thein to the later years of secondary education.5
6. Such courses should:
a. be conceptual foundation courses introducing a multidisciplinary approach
from the beginning and making use of general systems concepts. Pursuit in
greater depth of a selected area can follow later.
b. aim to establish a preliminary mathematical and statistical competence,
again of the most generalized kind.
c. include direct exposure to the process of social investigation through partici-
pation in field observation, data collection and case work, or group work of
some kind which permits ‘experiential learning’.
While generally raising the level of social science understanding in the educated
population of the future, effective courses of this kind would encourage not only
more, but more of the most able, students to undertake intensive later prepara-
tion to qualify for one of the social professions or to undertake research. An
oversupply of top talent is required in view of the complexity of the problems
and the unmapped nature of so much of the terrain.
7. Another critical aspect of social science is its role in continuing education.
This is becoming as important as initial education with the growing need to
offset obsolescence. The policy implications of the social sciences can be more
readily grasped when some experience of life has been obtained and of decision-
taking r0les.~*5
Some effects of social professions
8. With regard to preparation for the social professions’the key deficiency has
been the extent to which training in the principles and procedures of various
forms of social practice has been divorced from basic training in the social
sciences. Both have suffered as a result. Many attempts are now being made
to effect a more far-reaching integration of theory and practice. So far as they
succeed many areas of work wil be up-graded from sub- to full professions and
many more social scientists wil gain professional experience. This wil permit
a greater interchangeability between research, teaching and practitioner roles,
with the greater flexibility in career patterning this wil allow. There is widespread
recognition that absence of this flexibility constitutes one of the main barriers
to a more rapid advance of the social sciences.