Journal of Social Studies Research最新文献

Using interpretative case study methods, the researchers examined the beliefs and practices of 10 preservice social studies teachers with self-described preferences to teach for justice. While all of the participants in this study identified as committed to justice, there was a division between teachers whose beliefs were tolerance-oriented (focused primarily on individual prejudice) and teachers whose beliefs were equity-oriented (focused primarily on systemic oppression). Across the cases, we generally found that the teachers were grouped into three types: teachers not making progress toward critical social studies, teachers implementing critical social studies irregularly, and teachers implementing critical social studies regularly. Teachers who had strong equity-oriented beliefs were more likely to implement critical social studies regularly in their classrooms during student teaching.

This article presents an analysis of one docent's discussion of Michigan history to a group of third-grade children as part of a week-long state-sponsored history program. By analyzing the docent's presentation about Indigenous and Fur Trade history at the Michigan History Museum, the authors argue that the docent forwarded a violent, settler colonial worldview. Using a dual-lens of Indigenous Studies and critical literacies, the authors detail how these narratives asserted a white supremacist national and state history. The authors offer a critical historical method rooted in the Lands and Waters that constitute Michigan, and propose potential sites of historiographical disruption, contestation, and critical thinking. In turn, they highlight the possibilities for museums as rich spaces for children to examine their relationships to community, nationhood, and social justice through stories told from multiple perspectives.

Civic engagement requires individuals to have both knowledge of democratic principles and the skills for enacting change. Acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary for a productive civic life can be difficult for students if they are not provided conceptual scaffolds and opportunities to practice citizenship. We implemented and studied an activity using Westheimer and Kahne's (2004) citizenship typology during a summer civics institute to help students grapple with their understandings of “good” citizenship. We found (1) students appropriated the language of Westheimer and Kahne's citizenship typology by using it to describe their expanding understandings of citizenship; and (2) students used the citizenship typology to name and make sense of their civic identity. We discuss these findings and reflect on our use of Westheimer and Kahne's citizenship typology as a cognitive scaffold.

This study examined the approaches used by two preservice elementary school teachers as they designed and taught antiracist social studies lessons about civil rights history during a community-based field experience. Using a theoretical framework of racial pedagogical content knowledge (RPCK), we identified three domains of RPCK needed to enact antiracist elementary social studies teaching and analyzed how these domains surfaced during lessons and interviews. Our cross-case analysis revealed that both preservice teachers struggled to balance presenting civil rights events as historically significant while also calling their legacy into question. However, the preservice teacher who fostered dialogic and student-centered discussions was ultimately more successful with antiracist teaching. We provide implications for supporting elementary school teachers in developing social studies lessons that embody antiracism and teach the long civil rights movement.

This dual methods study explored one social studies teacher education program as it attempted to incorporate a cycle of practice-based teacher education into a methods course for the purpose of democratizing the teacher education experience. In addition to detailing the pedagogical decisions of the course instructor, researchers followed two social studies teacher candidates into their student teaching experience. Findings suggested that promoting social studies practice through a pedagogy of enactment is not enough. Rather, mentor teachers, course instructors, and teacher candidates need to be aligned pedagogically as to the purposes and practices of social studies education.

In this study, preservice teachers viewed clips from three documentary films that presented multiple experiences of contemporary immigrants and refugees. Our focus in the study was how preservice teachers analyzed the three films. Specifically, we examined how elementary, middle grades, and secondary preservice teachers analyzed, both from a cognitive and affective stance, clips of documentary films about the difficult topic of contemporary immigration.