Secondary Social Studies Research Articles

Influence of Globalization on the Social Studies Textbooks at the School Level

This study explores the influences of globalization on secondary social studies textbooks. It uses a qualitative case study method to explore how global topics like multiculturalism, environmental sustainability, and human rights are included in textbooks, teaching materials, and methods. The researchers collected data through interviews with two teachers and by analyzing documents to understand how global ideas are shown in textbooks. The findings indicate that globalization has improved the curriculum by promoting global citizenship and increasing awareness of different cultures. However, there are challenges, such as the risk of losing local culture and content. Balancing global themes with local contexts is essential to help students understand their diverse environment. The study also examines key topics in textbooks, showing how Social Studies help students understand social issues and build national identity. It emphasizes the importance of active participation in communities and how modern teaching methods can make Social Studies more engaging. Lastly, the research highlights how globalization encourages students to think critically about global challenges and their local effects.

The Relationship between Premium Collection and Investment of Insurance Companies: A Case Study of Prabhu Insurance Company

This study explores the influences of globalization on secondary social studies textbooks. It uses a qualitative case study method to explore how global topics like multiculturalism, environmental sustainability, and human rights are included in textbooks, teaching materials, and methods. The researchers collected data through interviews with two teachers and by analyzing documents to understand how global ideas are shown in textbooks. The findings indicate that globalization has improved the curriculum by promoting global citizenship and increasing awareness of different cultures. However, there are challenges, such as the risk of losing local culture and content. Balancing global themes with local contexts is essential to help students understand their diverse environment. The study also examines key topics in textbooks, showing how Social Studies help students understand social issues and build national identity. It emphasizes the importance of active participation in communities and how modern teaching methods can make Social Studies more engaging. Lastly, the research highlights how globalization encourages students to think critically about global challenges and their local effects.

Story of revision social studies units in the midst of racial isolation

Black teachers encounter various microaggressions in and around schools that make the profession taxing (King, 2016). While hurdling relational challenges, Dr. Bell funneled his energy and revised two units for fourth and fifth grade students in the learning community. One unit, Events Leading Up to the American Revolution received limited edits due to the restraint of planning time and COVID19 quarantine mandates before implementation. The second unit, Activism, received a major overhaul as it was originally cut short during the Spring 2020 semester. This article reflects Dr. Bell’s account of the year spent revising both Social Studies units that students engaged in. He includes the events that led to the decision to focus on Social Studies content and the reactions of students and their involvement as they learned content and participated in class discussions. His students enjoyed the interactive lessons, although a majority of the planning was done by him without much collaboration from his team members. As a result, this experience has inspired him to find an opportunity to develop a secondary social studies course.

Why Do I Have to Learn this Stuff? Using AI to Assist Secondary Teachers in Teaching Future-Ready Practical Life Skills with any Social Studies Lesson

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in secondary social studies education is revolutionizing the way students prepare for their future. By embedding 'Future Ready Practical Life Skills' into the curriculum, educators can effectively address the question, "Why do I have to learn this?" and equip students with the necessary competencies for success in college, careers, and active civic life in an AI-dominant future. This article explores how AI nurtures critical thinking, digital literacy, adaptability, ethical reasoning, and civic engagement -- skills that are crucial not only for navigating advanced technologies but also for dealing with daily life situations. By creating a dynamic and personalized learning experience, AI-driven social studies education fosters vital competencies for students to confidently face challenges and make informed decisions in their personal and civic lives. This paradigm shift in teaching and learning sets students up for success in an AI-shaped future while empowering them to navigate the complexities of daily life.

“My thinking has changed but beliefs have not”: Motivated reasoning in learning to teach abortion

ABSTRACT In the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, social studies education has remained startlingly silent on the topic of abortion. In this design-based research study, we present a qualitative analysis of how preservice secondary social studies teachers made sense of evidence and how they learned about abortion in a mixed-reality teaching simulation built around pedagogies of practice on facilitating controversial issue discussions. Drawing on political psychology and motivated reasoning, we analyzed participants’ engagement with amicus briefs in Dobbs v. Jackson and their thinking about evidence and the issue itself. We found participants generally made sense of the documents in ways consistent with principles of motivated reasoning and the primacy of emotions in evidence evaluation. We analyze shifts in participants’ thinking and conceptual understanding about abortion as a result of their participation, including distinctions and connections drawn between thinking, believing, and learning. Our analysis suggests that even those with intransigent opinions can learn about abortion, that evidence and evidence evaluation are more complicated and nuanced than the literature often suggests, and that emotion plays an integral role in evaluation and argumentation. We conclude by arguing that abortion cannot remain in the proverbial shadows in social studies.

Bootstraps, redlines and wage-theft: using Monopoly to critically examine American wealth inequality

Bootstraps, redlines and wage-theft: using Monopoly to critically examine American wealth inequality

Making the virtual historical using primary sources

PurposeThis paper seeks to demonstrate the pedagogical potential of incorporating virtual reality (VR) and primary sources in social studies education. It seeks to highlight how VR can enhance student engagement, foster critical thinking and provide immersive contextualization for historical events. Despite acknowledging challenges, this paper advocates for the purposeful adoption of VR technology in the classroom to enrich the teaching and learning of history.Design/methodology/approachThis paper explores the integration of virtual reality and primary sources in social studies education by providing a detailed lesson plan that could be used as a model for this type of teaching, as well as other resources and opportunities to do so. It highlights the potential of VR to enhance engagement, historical thinking and historical empathy.FindingsIntegrating virtual reality and primary sources can support student engagement, critical thinking and historical empathy. There are also challenges that can be mitigated through careful planning.Practical implicationsThis paper provides teachers with a pedagogical model and resources for integrating VR and primary sources, along with challenges and methods for mitigating those, in their secondary social studies classroom.Originality/valueThis paper offers a unique model for combining virtual reality and primary sources for secondary social studies educators. It provides an example lesson plan exemplifying its application and emphasizing VR’s potential to support teaching and learning.

It’s What You Know: A Needs Assessment of MAT students’ Social Studies Content Knowledge

Although MAT pedagogy-only programs provide opportunities for career changers and college graduates with an expedited pathway into a teaching career while working and attending graduate school, there are concerns regarding whether these teachers possess strong subject matter knowledge. The purpose of this study is to examine MAT pedagogy-only middle and secondary social studies teachers’ confidence levels in their content knowledge of general and specialized content-area topics in social studies. Our major findings show that their confidence levels are based upon their academic studies, experiential knowledge, and grade levels that they teach. Based on these findings, we recommend that education preparation providers offer content-area supports in the form of professional development and content-area tutoring to support MAT pedagogy-only students’ content knowledge for middle and secondary social studies instruction.

If Students Don’t Feel it, They Won’t Learn it: Early Career Secondary Social Studies Educators Plan for Emotional Engagement

This qualitative case study examines early career social studies educators’ knowledge of the role of emotion in teaching and learning. More specifically, we examine how our efforts to expand social studies educators’ understanding of emotion, shifted their perception of the role of emotion in learning social studies content and how they can use this knowledge to plan instruction. Prior to beginning their “emotion education,” all participants described the role of emotion in teaching and learning as important for relationship-building and as something to be carefully managed. They focused their efforts in the classroom on creating a welcoming environment for their students and managing their students’ emotions. Though they described their classrooms as emotional spaces, none had explicitly considered the role of emotion in learning content .As they learned about the role of emotion in cognitive processes like memory and problem-solving, participants began to recognize the need to rethink their pedagogical choices. However, none of the participants embraced or accepted an expanded view of emotions as social and political forces. Reluctant to consider how emotions shape our identities, our communities and our politics, these social studies educators did not meaningfully engage in a critical examination of how social studies curriculum can contribute to “schooling” students’ emotions. Findings from this initial study suggest it is important to engage social studies educators in critical awareness of their own emotions and critical examination of what emotions “do” in the world and how the social studies content we teach can contribute to the “schooling” of our students’ emotions.

How and Why Teachers Taught About the 2020 U.S. Election: An Analysis of Survey Responses From Twelve States

This study explores social studies teachers’ self-reported instruction about teaching the 2020 election in U.S. secondary schools. We analyzed survey responses from 1,723 secondary social studies teachers from 12 states (3 left-leaning, 3 right-leaning, 6 battleground) collected in the weeks after the election, examining self-reported pedagogies, topics taught, and overall frequency of teaching about the election. Respondents reported teaching about the election more frequently if they taught courses in civics or government and/or if they had greater control over their curricula. Analyses indicated that teachers’ demographic characteristics, teaching contexts, and ideologies about civic education were related to the election-related topics they taught and the instructional practices they employed. Our findings have important implications for educators, administrators, policymakers, and others interested in strengthening civic learning.

Civic education and the pedagogy of sports films

PurposeThis study explores the value of sports films for engaging youth in issues related to patriotism, justice, equity and liberty. The authors analyze how two sports films, 42 and Battle of the Sexes, have pedagogical potential and value in secondary social studies methods classes, as well as what criteria educators might use when selecting films (and television series) for classroom use.Design/methodology/approachUsing content analysis, the authors respond to the following questions: (1) What critical themes related to civic education surface in the sports films 42 and Battle of the Sexes? and (2) What framework might guide the use of selecting sports films and sports film clips for educators' civic educational use?FindingsFive themes surfaced in the films 42 and Battle of the Sexes: economics as a force for social change; racism and anti-Blackness, athletes as more than athletes, resisting oppression, and sexism and homophobia. Instruction related to these themes has the potential to engage students in critical, awareness-based approaches to civic education.Originality/valueSports films show promise for engaging youth due to their interests in the medium of film and in sports, both as participants and spectators. Across the world, athletes face questions and issues related to patriotism, justice, equity and liberty on courts, fields, tracks and rinks, These questions and issues are deeply embedded in civic education. This study is among the first of its kind to explore the pedagogical potential of sports films.

Powerful knowledge in the social studies classroom and beyond

ABSTRACT This article examines how teachers and students connect disciplinary knowledge to contexts outside the classroom in naturally occurring teaching in 80 Nordic lower secondary social studies lessons using a standardized observation manual. We found evidence that teachers often connected disciplinary knowledge to students’ experiences and wider societal issues. However, our findings highlight interesting differences in the extent to which teachers unpack such connections to situations outside of school. Departing from the discussion on powerful knowledge within subject-specific education, we discuss the educational potential and limitations of recontextualising and establishing interactions between horizontal and vertical discourse in social studies teaching. Our findings provide empirical insights that are relevant for the ongoing discussion on powerful knowledge as well as for teachers’ professional development.

Exploring the Use of Digitally Archived Folk Music to Teach Southern United States History

Southern United States folk music is rich in not only sound, but in voices of the past. Folk songs were created by working class individuals who described aspects of their life in connection with societal issues and events. Folk songs, now digitally archived, can serve as primary historical sources that can be used to enhance the secondary social studies U.S. history curriculum. The vast offerings of folk songs can allow students to listen, read, and analyze the lyrics to gain a deeper understanding of the U.S. South, shed the hillbilly stereotype that Southerners have been historically subjected to, understand why and how Southerners spoke out against injustices through song, and analyze the lyrics that portray the history of southern folklife. Based on the National Council for the Social Studies’ Themes of Social Studies and integrating folk songs from such online sites as the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institute, curriculum implications are presented for students to reflect on the Southerners’ settings, perspectives of events and issues, and methods of protest. Modern technology’s preservation of folk songs that would otherwise be absent from history not only has the power to educate, but also to keep southern folk music alive.

AI의 교육적 활용에 대한 중등 사회과 교사의 인식 및 연수 수요 분석

Objectives This study aims to investigate the attitudes and beliefs of secondary social studies teachers towards AI-based education and to assess their demand for training in this area.
 Methods To this end, a survey was administered to 1,164 middle and high school social studies teachers (civics, history, geography, and ethics). The survey consists of two parts: learning about AI (learning elements of AI and capabilities of AI) and learning with AI (difficulties of teaching with AI and demand for teacher training in AI-based education). First, the reliability coefficient of the questionary items was calculated, followed by descriptive statistical analysis. To verify the statistical significance of dfferences by teachers’ specialty, a one-way analysis of variance was performed, and the effect size was calculated to confirm the practical significance. For descriptive answers, the word frequency was calculated and visualized in a word cloud to identify prominent issues.
 Results 1) It was discovered that social studies teachers consider AI's social impact, machine learning, and data as crucial learning components. Particularly, teachers believed that students should be aware of artificial intelligence's technical limitations and ethical implications. 2) Assuming the class situation, the teachers indicated that the greatest anticipated challenge would be the lack of ‘exemplary practices for social studies classes using AI’. 3) Despite the fact that few teachers have prior experience with coding or AI training, 71.2% of all respondents agreed that teacher training program in AI-based education is necessary.
 Conclusions This study is anticipated to serve as a foundation for the development of AI-based training programs and the introduction of AI in education.

Exploring social studies teachers' use of action research to enhance cultural responsiveness

PurposeCulturally responsive teaching is widely recognized as beneficial to students, especially those from historically marginalized communities. The social studies literature includes many studies of what culturally responsive teaching looks like in practice and how it can be taught to pre-service teachers. However, little is known about how in-service social studies teachers advance their knowledge and skills in this area. Studies of professional development (PD) suggest action research is a powerful format for teacher learning, but few closely examine the specific mechanisms through which action research fosters culturally responsive teaching.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative case study of three secondary social studies teachers draws on the following data: two in-depth interviews with each teacher, audio recordings of action research meetings, project artifacts and field notes. Data were analyzed through multiple rounds of inductive and deductive coding using a codebook developed by a diverse group of researchers. The teacher participants reviewed and confirmed the findings.FindingsAll three teachers expanded their use of culturally responsive social studies instruction through systematic inquiry into their own interactions with students. The action research process fostered this growth through the following specific mechanisms: reflecting and reading independently, using data to strengthen relationships and leveraging a structure for addressing race and power in the curriculum.Originality/valueThis study illustrates how teacher action research can foster culturally responsive teaching by allowing educators to self-direct their own critical reflection and data gathering on inequities in their schools. It can also provide a structure for elevating histories that have traditionally been marginalized in standardized curricula.

History and Approaches to Heritage Studies, Pedagogy and Practice in Heritage Studies

History and Approaches to Heritage Studies, Pedagogy and Practice in Heritage Studies

Gatekeepers and Guardians of Black Intellectual Thought: Black Male Teacher-Coaches Combating an Anti-Black Epistemic Order

Background/Context: Historical narratives and contemporary research continue to produce scholarship on teacher-coaches through a White racial frame that both reifies a Western European origin story and centers the experiences of White males. However, the American history of teacher-coaches is not the Black history of teacher-coaches. The Black male teacher-coach tradition is anchored in the utilization of Black intellectual thought to implement revisionist ontology projects that simultaneously claim Black personhood and contest curricular genocide while being consumed within an anti-Black milieu. In this study, the tradition of Black male teacher-coaches’ critical civic engagement within secondary schools is taken from the margins and centered. Purpose/Objective/Research Questions/Focus of Study: This study examines how Black male teacher-coaches utilize Black intellectual thought within secondary social studies and literature courses to combat a White-controlled epistemic order of knowledge. Within their courses, the participants purposefully challenge institutional forms of bad faith by utilizing Black intellectual thought to unsettle the coloniality of truth to challenge the existing anti-Black scholastic order of knowledge. Using the theoretical lenses of subjective understanding and bad faith, this study is guided by the following primary research question: How do Black men in predominantly non-Black schools utilize Black intellectual thought to enact their work as teacher-coaches? Research Design: The findings from this study emerge from an instrumental multiple case study that included four Black male teacher-coaches serving as secondary social studies or literature educators in schools that were not predominantly Black. Employing an interpretive approach within this methodology created space to redress the following two broader external interests: (1) de-essentializing the specificity of the Black male teacher-coach tradition from a Eurocentric dominant narrative, and (2) explicating the salience of Black intellectual thought in the counter-hegemonic practices of these Black men relative to anti-intellectual tropes about teacher-coaches in general. Findings/Results: Findings indicate how participants continue the legacy of the long Civil Rights Movement by utilizing Black intellectual thought to enact a project of revisionist ontology to combat an anti-Black epistemic order of knowledge. The study explicates the following thematic findings: (1) carving out space for Black intellectual thought, (2) centering Black intellectual thought, and (3) making Black intellectual thought relevant. Conclusions/Recommendations: Findings from this study illustrate how Black teachers in general, and Black male teacher-coaches in particular, serve as the gatekeepers and guardians of Black intellectual thought within predominantly non-Black secondary schools. Participants who were secondary social studies and literature teachers resisted a White-controlled epistemic order that marginalizes Black intellectual thought. These findings have direct implications for secondary preservice teachers with the desire to courageously enact fugitive pedagogical practices to include diverse, antiracist curricular materials.

A Complex Mix of Confidence, Uncertainty, and Struggle: Korean Secondary Social Studies Teachers’ Perspectives and Practice on Multiculturalism

This study examines perspectives and practices regarding multiculturalism among 20 secondary social studies teachers in South Korea. Utilizing semi-structured interviews and critical discourse analysis, the study seeks to capture how teachers’ understandings of multiculturalism (Damunhwa in Korean) and its practice are influenced by curriculum changes, interactions with Damunhwa students, school duties, and personal experiences. The study finds that teachers know curriculum changes clearly, have little understanding of Damunhwa students, and experience discrepancies between high intellectual recognition of multiculturalism and their own ingrained biases.

Lessons Learned from Building Lessons: “Teach It” and the Development of Digital Primary-Source Classroom Activities

Lessons Learned from Building Lessons: “Teach It” and the Development of Digital Primary-Source Classroom Activities

"Usefulness of Edublog as e-Learning Tool to Enhance Teaching and Learning Process in Secondary Social Studies of Zone II Division of Zambales"

"Usefulness of Edublog as e-Learning Tool to Enhance Teaching and Learning Process in Secondary Social Studies of Zone II Division of Zambales"