Teaching for citizenship: Instructional practices and open classroom climate

ABSTRACT Open classroom climate for discussion (OCC) is consistently associated with positive civic outcomes for students, but research on the determinants of OCC primarily focuses on individual- and school-level indicators or uses qualitative or non-representative samples. This study considers how teacher instructional practices influence the presence of OCC at the classroom level by using a sample of U.S. social studies classrooms to conduct a multi-level analysis. Results suggest that some instructional practices are associated with greater student perceptions of OCC. Classroom discussion of current events is most strongly related to OCC, and other student-centered teaching practices including debate, simulation, and inquiry-based instruction are associated with specific components of an open classroom climate. These findings have important instructional and policy implications for schools and for teacher preparation programs.