Secondary School Social Studies Research Articles

Reading and Writing in Co-Taught Secondary School Social Studies Classrooms: A Reality Check

In this reanalysis of narrative notes collected in a larger study of co-teaching, the reading and writing demands of high school social studies classes were explored. Eight pairs of teachers (one special education teacher, one social studies teacher) from five high schools in Western Pennsylvania and New York were observed co-teaching in social studies for 3–6 periods each. Observers were trained to document teacher and student behaviors in narrative notes; each five-minute segment was coded based on the literacy demands of the class. Results showed little reading and writing by students or teachers. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Sex Bias in Secondary School Social Studies Textbooks:A Case study in India

Textbooks are filled with names of famous men and authors. So a reexamination of the composition of the textbook writing staff has been necessary for the staff’s conception of male-female equality has a tremendous influence on the formation of gender role consciousness in children. It is difficult for girls to find names of women who were active in times of national crisis. So a mention of women freedom fighters is most essential. The findings of the present study point the need for reform and revision in to help shape the children’s views on the development of new ideas of gender roles suitable for future society.

Public Opinion, Constitutional Democracy, and the New Technology: Essential Components in the Secondary School Social Studies Curriculum

Public Opinion, Constitutional Democracy, and the New Technology: Essential Components in the Secondary School Social Studies Curriculum

Democracy and Social Studies Education at the Junior Secondary School Level in Botswana

This paper briefly examines the concept of democracy, its relationship to education and its African context. The meaning and value of democracy in African society is discussed and it is suggested that traditional political systems represented a particular kind of democracy. It then focuses on the extent to which the concept of democracy is covered in the junior secondary school social studies syllabus in Botswana. Finally the authors make some recommendations for curricular improvement in education for democracy at the junior secondary level in Botswana as part of the continuing attempt to produce the effective citizen for the new millennium.

An Appraisal of Frequency of Testing And Students' Performance In Junior Secondary School Social Studies Certificate Examination

This research attempts to appraise frequency of testing as it affects students' performances in Junior Secondary School (JSS) Social Studies examination. The results of the finding revealed a statistical significant difference (using the z-test) in the performances of the students based on such variables as frequently tested versus non-frequently tested students, urban versus rural schools, students with quick feedback on tests versus their counterparts without quick feedback. The researcher therefore recommends regular classroom tests, small class size and periods per teacher, quick feedback on tests and regular monitoring of progressive tests as the ways to improve learning outcomes. IFE PsychologIA Vol 9, No 2 September 2001, pp. 152-158

Curriculum control: Using discourse and structure to manage educational reform

After more than a year of debate, the Virginia State Board of Education adopted new curriculum 'standards' in June 1995 for elementary and secondary school social studies. The debate over the content and shape of these standards was acrimonious. At odds were twocommunities with fundamentally different conceptions of the nature of knowledge and the purposes of social studies: on one side were the state's conservative Republican Governor and his political appointees to the State Board of Education, and on the other was the professional social studies community, comprising college educators, curriculum supervisors and some classroom teachers. The Governor and his team won this debate by managing both the discourse and also the official structure in ways that largely excluded the professional community from substantive participation in the standards-development process. This episode serves as a case study in the politics of exclusion.

Views of Prospective Teachers Versus Practising Teachers about Science, Technology and Society Issues

Abstract The science‐technology‐society (STS) views/positions, beliefs/attitudes, and literacy of social studies and science prospective teachers and of practising secondary school social studies and science teachers have been assessed and their respective STS views, beliefs and literacy profiles established by the use of a shortened version of the Views of Science, Technology and Society (VOSTS) inventory instrument. Significant differences were found between the STS views, beliefs and literacy profiles of subgroups within prospective and practising teachers in the views/positions and the beliefs/attitudes categories. In contrast, no differences were found between the profiles of the subgroup populations in the literacy category. In recognising (a) the key role of teachers in any curricuhr reform; (b) the need of integration of the STS theme in contemporary and future education for all; and (c) the alterable nature of personal STS views, it is recommended that appropriate teacher training programmes shou...

Organizational Features and Classroom Thoughtfulness in Secondary School Social Studies Departments

This paper offers an empirical analysis of the association between organizational features and classroom thoughtfulness. The findings yield a mixed message. On the one hand, no association was found between classroom thoughtfulness and the organizational features of class size, total numbers of students, amount of planning time and number of courses for which teachers had to prepare. On the other hand, there seemed to be a positive association between levels of thoughtfulness and departmental common visions, curricular revision and instructional improvement programs to promote higher order thinking. While only an exploratory analysis, the evidence from this study suggests that what departments do within extant structures may contribute more to improving the level of classroom thoughtfulness in high school social studies than the mere presence or absence of specific organizational structures.

Global Education Is Essential to Secondary School Social Studies

Secondary school social studies programs can no longer separate the United States and the rest of the world in geography, history, and economics classes. Instead, educators must emphasize global awareness and interdependence.

Photographs as Historical Documents

Photographs as Historical Documents Get access Rodney F. Allen, Rodney F. Allen Rodney F. Allen is professor of social science education, Florida State University, Tallahasse. He taught history in Delaware schools before becoming an educator in Florida twenty-two years ago. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Randall G. Felton Randall G. Felton Randall G. Felton is secondary school curriculum coordinator, Leon County Public Schools, Tallahassee, Florida. He specializes in history curriculum innovationfor secondary school social studies. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar OAH Magazine of History, Volume 5, Issue 3, Winter 1991, Pages 7–12, https://doi.org/10.1093/maghis/5.3.7 Published: 01 January 1991

Anthropology for Wyoming Teachers

Though some anthropologists may argue otherwise, many would probably agree that anthropology belongs in our nation's schools, integrated into both school curriculum and teacher education. Because anthropology provides a broad cross-cultural perspective and a framework within which to study many other subjects, some would even argue that it should be the basic building block for elementary teacher education and a required subject for secondary school science and social studies teachers. Furthermore, as anthropologist Larry Breitborde (this issue) discovered while working with elementary teachers at Beloit College, "there is already a significant amount of anthropology in the curriculum, but at a covert level" By teaching anthropology to teachers, a perspective and a framework are offered within which teachers can better understand many seemingly diverse fragments of their curriculum, enabling them to approach their subjects in a more coherent and less ethnocentric fashion.

The Japan/United States Textbook Study Project: Perceptions in the Textbooks of Each Country about the History of the Other

THE Japan/United States Textbook Study Project, of which I myself was a member-participant, was funded generously by a grant from the Japan/US Friendship Commission, and it was in every sense a cooperative effort among the Japan Textook Research Center and the International Society for Educational Information in Tokyo and the National Council for the Social Studies in Washington, D.C. The overall purpose of this joint undertaking was to seek improvement in the quality of textbooks in both Japan and the United States. Specifically, however, the goal of our research was to seek improvements in the treatment each country gives the other in their respective textbooks and to do this by means of a review of certain selected, widely used history, geography and other social studies textbooks in lower and upper secondary school social studies courses in Japan and junior and senior high school courses in the United States. One statistic may be informative: 14 Japanese and 28 American social studies textbooks, Grades 7 through 12, were exchanged and reviewed by our project participants. The Japanese textbooks included civics, geography, history, world history and Japanese history books; the American textbooks included United States history, world history, geography and world culture books.

THE EVOLUTION OF A RESEARCH DESIGN: A CASE STUDY IN CONTENT READING

In recent years, educators and researchers have become increasingly interested in naturalistic or responsive research. This approach to inquiry seems to be uniquely suited to research in the complex educational setting found in classrooms. This paper discusses one aspect of the application of a responsive paradigm to research in reading in the content area ‐‐ the evolution of the research design. In this study of four secondary school social studies classes major modifications in design were made at several points. These modifications are described and the reasons for the changes are discussed. In summary, allowing the design to emerge as the study progressed resulted in the collection of data that provided a complete view of reading in these classes. In addition, on a personal level, the researchers found that engaging in this type of inquiry influenced their views about how to collect data and what data to collect while, at the same time, enlarging their perspective of reading occurring in content area classrooms.

Teaching for Historical Understanding in British Schools

THE PAST DECADE and a half has been marked by a concerted effort to revise the curriculum of both American and British schools. In America reform efforts began in the mid-1950s and received a major stimulus from the publication of Jerome Bruner's The Process of Education.1 Most areas of the curriculum were examined and major changes were made in the teaching of such subjects as mathematics, language arts, and the social studies. Included were efforts to develop inquiry or discovery approaches in the learning of history. Richard H. Brown and the Amherst Project sought to design a new American History curriculum; John W. Thompson and the World History Curriculum Project attempted to build new approaches to the teaching of World History; and Edwin Fenton at Carnegie-Mellon University sought to construct a four-year secondary school social studies cur-

The Treatment of Population in Secondary School Social Studies Textbooks

(1974). The Treatment of Population in Secondary School Social Studies Textbooks. The Journal of Environmental Education: Vol. 5, Social Studies and the Environment, pp. 37-41.

Teaching Social Studies in Secondary Schools: The Open Society and Its Allies

Teaching Social Studies in Secondary Schools: The Open Society and Its Allies

Book Review: Teaching the New Social Studies in Secondary Schools—An Inductive Approach

Book Review: Teaching the New Social Studies in Secondary Schools—An Inductive Approach

Teaching About Africa South of the Sahara in American Secondary Schools -- A Survey and a Challenge

The study of Africa south of the Sahara in American secondary schools has traditionally been most conspicuous by its absence. In fact, the secondary-school social studies curriculum, oriented as it has always been to the study of western civilization, has rarely allowed for the study of any nonwestern region or culture, least of all that of the “Dark Continent.” Now, however, this situation is changing, and changing rapidly. Considerable efforts are being made today to introduce the study of the Non-West into the curricula of many secondary schools. And, for a variety of reasons, an increasing number of schools are making special efforts to include Africa south of the Sahara in this study. These efforts, however, are proving a difficult, if not insurmountable, challenge for most teachers and curriculum builders. Few, indeed, are the social studies teachers and supervisors with the academic training or extended living experience in the lands below the Sahara required to provide the insights upon which a worthwhile study of this region can be structured. Most schools do not have ready access to the advice of Africaniste on this subject. Even worthwhile printed guidelines for designing a study of this region are sorely lacking; with the exception of Leonard Kenworthy's Studying Africa in Elementary and Secondary Schools (10), there is not a single book, pamphlet, handbook, or curriculum guide to which teachers may profitably turn for help.

Anthropology in the Pre-Collegiate Curriculum

College and university people often think of secondary curricula as watered-down college courses. Some express a related concern that studying a subject in high school somehow takes the edge off the thing, which the student should first encounter in college. According to this view, economics taught in high school would satiate rather than whet a student's interest in that discipline. There are certainly shortcomings in secondary school studies, but these are not among them. The real threat is that traditional secondary school social studies courses may blunt forever the student's interest in social data through sheer boredom produced by inept and inadequate exposure to the social sciences rather than too little or too much.

Teaching the New Social Studies in Secondary Schools: An Inductive Approach

Teaching the New Social Studies in Secondary Schools: An Inductive Approach