The purpose of this study is to distinguish the qualitative differences between problem-solving and decision-making models in social studies. In social studies, problem-solving and decision-making models are recognized as representative instruction models that inherit Dewey s philosophy of education. Since the two models have strong similarities in concepts, educational goals, and teaching methods in the tradition of reflective inquiry, it is not easy to distinguish clearly on the theoretical level. As a result, they tend to be distinguished by specific procedures or steps suggested by representative scholars. Qualitative differences emerge in the social context of the two models. Dewey s perspective, the theoretical foundation of problem-solving model, is in line with the discussion of ‘social efficiency’ in the early years of social studies, and the concept of reflective thinking is connected with the ideal of democracy. Engle s ideas, which sparked the decision-making model, are rooted in ‘social criticism’ that has emerged since the mid-twentieth century, and have revealed the methodological possibilities of post-modernism. Based on this social context, problem-solving learning can be characterized as ‘multifaceted understanding of problems’ for democratic societies, and decision-making learning as ‘posing problems’ for social improvement. The new nature of problem-solving and decision-making in this paper suggests that both models can be understood as the tradition of reflective inquiry, while it is expected to be a good guide for instructors and learners to clearly recognize the direction of reflective inquiry at the instructional level.