A social studies curriculum is designed to help students understand their world, society, and place within it. Various approaches guide how this curriculum is structured and delivered. The question asks to identify the approach that is fundamentally based on the pedagogical maxims of 'Known to unknown', 'Near to far', and 'Easy to difficult'.

Understanding Educational Maxims

Educational maxims are guiding principles or rules that help educators structure their teaching to be most effective for students. Let's briefly understand the maxims mentioned:

• Known to Unknown: This principle suggests that teaching should begin with what the student already knows and then gradually introduce new, unknown concepts by relating them to the familiar. This builds upon existing knowledge and makes learning new information less daunting.
• Near to Far: This maxim advocates starting with concepts and experiences that are immediate and relevant to the student's personal environment (e.g., family, neighborhood) and then gradually expanding to broader, more distant contexts (e.g., community, state, nation, world). This helps in connecting abstract ideas to concrete experiences.
• Easy to Difficult: This principle emphasizes that learning should progress from simpler, foundational concepts to more complex and challenging ones. It ensures that students grasp basic ideas before moving on to advanced topics, preventing overwhelm and fostering a sense of accomplishment.

Integrated Approach in Social Studies

The Integrated Approach to social studies curriculum is specifically designed to weave together various disciplines like history, geography, civics, economics, and sociology into a cohesive and meaningful learning experience. This approach naturally aligns with the stated maxims:

• Known to Unknown: In an Integrated Approach, topics are often introduced by connecting them to the student's personal experiences or prior knowledge. For example, understanding governance might start with family rules (known) before moving to local government (unknown).
• Near to Far: This approach typically begins with studies of the local community, its environment, and its people (near). As students develop, the scope broadens to include state, national, and global issues and cultures (far). This progression makes abstract concepts more relatable.
• Easy to Difficult: An Integrated Approach structures learning so that fundamental social studies concepts are introduced in simpler forms at early stages, gradually building up to more complex and abstract ideas as students mature. For instance, basic concepts of community cooperation (easy) might precede detailed studies of international relations (difficult).

By integrating different subjects and presenting them in a holistic manner, the Integrated Approach makes learning more relevant, engaging, and aligned with the natural cognitive development of students, thus embodying the maxims 'Known to unknown', 'Near to far', and 'Easy to difficult'.

Analysis of Other Curriculum Approaches

While other approaches have their merits, they do not primarily embody the given maxims as their foundational principles in the same comprehensive way as the Integrated Approach:

• Issue Centred Approach: This approach focuses on current social issues and problems, encouraging students to analyze and propose solutions. While it can involve elements of known to unknown (by relating issues to students' lives), its primary organizing principle is the social issue itself, not the gradual progression implied by the maxims.
• Discipline Centred Approach: In this approach, social studies are taught as distinct subjects like history, geography, and political science. Each discipline follows its own internal logic and progression. While 'easy to difficult' might apply within a single discipline, the approach doesn't inherently prioritize 'near to far' or 'known to unknown' across the broad spectrum of social studies in the holistic way the Integrated Approach does.
• Inter-Disciplinary Approach: Similar to the integrated approach, it involves drawing insights from multiple disciplines. However, the term "inter-disciplinary" often implies collaboration between distinct disciplines on a specific topic, rather than a seamless, foundational curriculum design based on starting points like 'near to far' or 'known to unknown'. The Integrated Approach specifically emphasizes a holistic, unified view from the outset, often starting from the child's immediate environment and expanding outwards.

Curriculum Approach Summary

The table below summarizes how different social studies curriculum approaches align with the educational maxims:

Therefore, the approach to social studies curriculum that is most consistently and fundamentally based upon the maxims 'Known to unknown', 'Near to far', and 'Easy to difficult' is the Integrated Approach.