The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) position statement on Curriculum Guidelines for Social Studies Teaching and Learning provides a conceptual outline for contemporary social studies curriculum, calling for social studies learning that is meaningful, integrated, value-based, challenging, and active. This is largely consistent with a Deweyan approach to social studies, though the statement's lack of theoretical grounding makes it vulnerable to misappropriation. By filtering the statement's framework through Dewey's pragmatism, such vulnerabilities can be articulated, while offering a deeper exploration of both the possibilities and challenges for implementation.