Social Studies Methods Course Research Articles

Containing Pedagogical Complexity Through the Assignment of Photography: Two Case Presentations

This article investigates the use of photography as a narrative approach to learning in the context of postsecondary education. Two cases are presented: a social studies methods course in a teacher education program in the South of the United States; and a senior undergraduate seminar on global violence at a university in southern Ontario, Canada. With each case presentation we explore how the assignment of photography both instantiates and cultivates the student's ability to tolerate, represent, and interpret encounters with pedagogical complexity. A term of learning that apprehends the pedagogical encounter as made from the tensions between knowing and uncertainty, pedagogical complexity is discussed with regard to the psychoanalytic concept of containment. Using a case presentation approach, the authors explore the possibilities and limits of the assignment of photography in relation to the pedagogical work of containment. Engaging a cross‐case analysis of the research data, the authors conclude by discussing the potential for photographic practices to contain the dynamics of pedagogical complexity.

Museum Visits in Social Studies: The Role of a Methods Course

Museum visits provide opportunities for students to learn content in engaging and interactive ways. In social studies, museums may be spaces where students can increase their historical and civic understanding through exposure to artifacts and narratives unavailable in classrooms. Yet, research suggests teachers are insufficiently prepared to integrate museum visits into classroom curriculum effectively. In this project, the instructors of the two secondary social studies methods course sections organized a visit to a natural history museum. The instructors modeled pre- and post-visit lesson activities during class and provided a guide for pre-service teachers to complete during their museum visit. While pre-service teachers reported they better understood the importance of connecting museum visits to classroom curriculum, they also raised questions about how methods course faculty might introduce pre-service teachers to museum visits. This article discusses what was learned during the project, as well as approaches social studies methods course instructors might reflect upon when considering museum visits as a component of social studies teacher education.

Moving Toward a Humanistic Social Studies and History Curricula

Current reflective practices in the social studies are examined in light of how these strategies can add value and meaning to social studies curriculums. Many of these reflective practices were introduced within teacher education programs’ social studies methods courses, to expose pre-service teachers to innovative teaching practices that could be used in the classroom. An ineffective textbook-centered curriculum has dominated education in the United States for over a century. The researchers in this article argue for a new, reflective approach to teaching history and social studies curricula. New pedagogical models are needed to revive an ailing social studies program in the public school system. This article includes a selective examination of some traditional and non-traditional methods for promoting student learning and growth through reflective practices. Those considered in this article include dialogue journals, textbooks, culturally responsive texts (CRT), the Persona Doll Project, mask-making, primary source documents, and co-teaching. Each reflective practice strategy has its merits and could be easily implemented to improve pedagogical practice.

Fostering preservice teachers' sense of historical agency through the use of nonfiction graphic novels

This article discusses a case study that explored the potential of nonfiction graphic novels to develop pre-service teachers' understanding of agency in a social studies methods course. White pre-service teachers were aske`d to read one graphic novel and then add frames, re-narrate frames, and reflect on their decisions. The positionalities of researchers, who are White males, and participants were part of our analysis. The researchers found that pre-service teachers made revisions to the graphic novels to change the historical actors' decisions: within the constraints of the historical situation's circumstances; to better fit their own ethical framework; and to critique the author's interpretation of the historical event and the amount of agency assigned to certain historical actors. We also reported findings related to shifts in understanding related to positionality. The pre-service teachers' revisions demonstrated their understanding of historical actors' ability to make choices; however, for most pre-service teachers those decisions were limited by, and insignificant in comparison to, the constraints of societal structures. Most pre-service teachers viewed these structures as operating outside of the realm of ethics that they used to articulate and identify agency, and thus, these structures were not responsive to changes in individual or collective agency. Implications are provided for social studies teacher educators.

Preparing Middle Grades Educators to Teach about World Cultures: An Interdisciplinary Approach

With the realities of standards-based accountability, it is imperative to model and demonstrate for students how subject areas and teaching methods transcend across traditional boundaries. In an effort to prepare future social studies educators to teach for global awareness and to meaningfully integrate critical literacy skills into their instruction, we initiated a collaborative model in our university's middle grades teacher education program with language arts and social studies methods courses. The development of cultural competency not only provides preservice teachers with the knowledge of diverse populations but also enables them to have an increased ability to affirm the cultures of others.

Gaming and the Commodities Market: An Economic-Based Game for Developing Reasoning Skills

The authors describe an economics-based game they have developed to instruct student teachers in the value of games and gaming for developing reasoning and decision-making skills in economics in K-12 students (5–18-year-olds). The game is designed to progress through each grade level so that by high school students have a thorough appreciation and understanding of how the world economy is interconnected. Gaming is a feature that both authors are using as part of their curriculum within their social studies methods courses. In particular, the authors are encouraging the use of more sophisticated modes of instruction for elementary teachers in order to redeem the value of the social studies within the elementary curriculum.

Toolboxes for Teaching in the Middle Grades: Opportunities to Learn in Two Preparation Pathways

This research examines the preparation of middle grades social studies teachers by investigating opportunities for learning in 2 social studies methods courses in distinctive teacher education pathways: a specialized middle grades program and a secondary social studies program. The findings suggest that, although both methods course instructors described their central course goal as one of providing a “toolbox” of strategies for their preservice teachers to use in classrooms, the course curricula, assignments, class texts, and class activities in these 2 social studies methods courses provided quite different opportunities for teachers to acquire the tools for these toolboxes. The comparison we describe points to the importance of teacher education programs attending to how curricular emphases, instructional practices, program purposes, and program contexts come together to form a set of learning opportunities for preservice teachers.

Examining Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy in a Preservice Social Studies Education Course

In a preexperimental study of preservice practitioners’ professional dispositions, we examined the relationship between an innovative culturally responsive teaching model in a social studies methods course and teacher candidates’ culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy. Findings indicate preservice teachers exposed to an in-depth culturally responsive teaching epistemology were more confident in their abilities to employ culturally relevant teaching practices. Participants noted increased willingness to work in diverse communities. Preservice teachers were more efficacious in their abilities to teach multicultural social studies content. Our study suggests that a comprehensive culturally responsive, social studies methods course inspired efficacious attitudes toward teaching diverse learners and content.

Promoting Critical Thinking and Inquiry through Maps in Elementary Classrooms

This article encourages elementary teachers to offer opportunities for their students to critically analyze maps as part of powerful geography instruction in order to help them become well-informed and civic-minded citizens. The article reviews challenges to powerful geography instruction, including traditional geography textbooks and pedagogy and the additional efforts needed to encourage students to examine maps critically and identify distortions and biases. Teachers may introduce critical map reading by having students create and analyze their own maps of familiar places and create a safe classroom environment for questioning maps. The article suggests teachers encourage critical thinking with maps by using a variety of projections, such as conformal, equal area, and “upside down” maps which portray different perspectives, distortions, and biases, ask students to compare land areas on different maps, and determine the value of different maps. Finally, the article describes the effectiveness of several strategies the author uses with preservice elementary teachers in a social studies methods course to help them consider the cartographer's influence on maps, the distortions and biases in maps, and the strengths and weaknesses of various maps they might use in elementary classrooms.

Worth the Hassles: The Impact of Social Action Projects on Teachers' Beliefs and Practices

This goal of this mixed-methods study was to examine teachers' beliefs about citizenship and citizenship education in a social studies methods course that emphasized social action. Nineteen graduate students participated in the study and completed two pre- and posttest surveys that measured three citizenship worldviews and self-reported civic knowledge. Qualitative data sources included document collection and individual interviews. Results showed increased scores on indices of justice-oriented citizenship and civic knowledge, and that the implementation of a social action project changed beliefs and practices. The participants overcame initial concerns and constraints and recognized the value of a social action project in terms of student learning and their own teaching practices.

Reflections of Pre-Service Elementary Teachers after Learning about an African Culture through Mask-making

Arts-integrated social studies projects can provide meaningful learning about another culture; yet, they are rare in the current assessment-focused climate. Similarly, students are under-exposed to projects that involve spatial reasoning; nonetheless, this skill is important in everyday life and the workplace. This article describes a mixed-methods study of 65 (59 female, 6 male) pre-service elementary teachers in a social studies methods course reflecting on their participation in an African mask-making project with first and second graders that incorporated both arts integration and spatial reasoning. Pre-service teachers identified discussion with others, example masks and images, and taking time as the most helpful mask-making strategies. Most preservice teachers thought they would (42%) or possibly would (32%) implement mask making with their future elementary students because of deep, meaningful learning and active engagement they experienced and observed during the project. The authors concluded that pre-service teachers need multiple experiences with long-term arts-integrated projects that support the development of spatial skills to be confident enough to undertake them in their future classrooms and suggest that such projects be part of social studies methods courses.

Learning through Doing: Preservice Teacher Training in Historical Inquiry through Oral History Projects

Due to the marginalization of social studies in the elementary school, many students are being slighted in social studies instruction resulting in deficits in content knowledge. Although rarely addressed, another unintended consequence of the marginalization of elementary social studies is the lack of preservice teachers’ exposure to exemplary instructional strategies. As a teacher educator concerned with adequately preparing preservice teachers, it was necessary to provide opportunities for them to experience exemplary social studies teaching, particularly historical inquiry, that was missing from the field settings. Collecting oral histories provides an active and personal learning experience that integrates other disciplines, an important component in today's high stakes testing environment focusing mainly on reading and math. This paper describes the rationale for choosing oral history as an instructional methodology for preservice teachers as well as the many variations of oral history projects implemented in an undergraduate social studies methods course. In addition, there are many examples of the projects that were created and a step-by-step guide describing the implementation of an oral history project.

Review, Reflect, and React: A Culturally Responsive Model for Pre-service Secondary Social Studies Teachers

The purpose of this qualitative study was to design and implement a model of cultural-responsiveness within a social studies teacher education program. Specifically, we sought to understand how pre-service grades 6-12 social studies practitioners construct culturally responsive teaching (CRT) in their lesson planning. In addition, we examined the professional barriers that prevented teacher-candidates from actualizing culturally responsive pedagogy. Incorporating a conceptual model of Review, Reflect, and React, 20 teacher candidates in a social studies methods course engaged CRT theory and practice. Thematic analysis of lesson plans and clinical reflections indicated successful proponents of CRT critically analyzed their curriculum, explored the diverse needs of their students, and engaged learners in culturally appropriate social studies pedagogy. Findings also showed that unsuccessful CRT was characterized by a lack of content knowledge, resistance from the cooperating teacher, and a reliance on the textbook materials.

Election Participation: An Integral Service-based Component for Social Studies Methods

Most educators recognize that social studies methods courses emphasize connecting knowledge to life, through experiential learning and actions based on individual and civic values. The authors developed a required participation lesson for secondary methods students to assure that future teachers had personally experienced and evaluated a civic service learning activity. A goal was to motivate these pre-service teachers to include such experiences in their future teaching with middle or high school students. The pre-service teachers established their own way of being actively involved in the election process in a manner that complimented their interests and complex schedules. This paper describes the assignment and its related discussions. Evidence of personal experiences and reactions from students’ reflection papers is presented describing newly gained perspectives about how exhaustive and significant the election process is. Pre-service teachers’ written reflections indicated they considered this experience critical for future social studies teachers.

The social studies methods course: what do teacher candidates know and want to know about teaching social studies?

During the past decade, there has been more than an adequate amount of research addressing issues regarding social studies methods courses. However, the apparent void is that there is no clear understanding of what pedagogical content knowledge or understanding of pedagogical approaches teacher candidates bring with them to social studies methods courses or what they expect from their time in social studies methods courses. The purpose of this study is to determine the mentality of the typical social studies methods course student, as he or she enters a social studies methods course. Employing analytic induction (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Erikson, 1986; Patton, 2002) and content analysis (Patton, 2002) to analyze and interpret the data, 9 categories for what the students know and 8 for what the students wanted to know were constructed.

What Kind of Teachers Will Teach our Children? The Worldmindedness of Undergraduate Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Teacher Candidates at Five Florida Public Universities

Our research examined degrees of worldmindedness of 644 undergraduate elementary and secondary social studies teacher candidates entering the requisite social studies methods courses in their junior or senior year at five of Florida's largest public universities. Worldmindedness in this study is defined as a worldview in which one sees oneself connected to the larger world community grounded in Personal Responsibility, Cultural Pluralism, Efficacy, Globalcentrism, and Interconnectedness. We hypothesised selected demographic predictor variables as potential correlates of higher scores in worldmindedness. Findings demonstrated that variables significantly related to higher scores were: proficiency in two or more languages, progressive political orientation, taking more content courses with a global orientation, high grade point average, birthplace outside the United States, and female gender. Secondary candidates scored higher than elementary candidates. We conclude with recommendations for educational experiences in teacher education programs that may develop a deeper worldmindedness in teacher candidates with the potential of producing a sophisticated teaching force comparable to the best in the world.

Threading Stitches to Approach Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, and Difference

As LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex) issues become increasingly integrated into multicultural education discourses, we as educators need to examine the implications of our pedagogies for teaching about gender and sexual identities. This article explores my teaching of non-conforming gender identities in a social studies methods course via young adult literature, particularly Glen Huser's (2003) Stitches. I use examples from my higher education classroom to assert that pushing students and ourselves to assume responsibility for our readings of texts and the world can effectively challenge harmful beliefs toward human difference. Due to the performative and, thus, unpredictable nature of anti-oppressive education, I argue that this responsibility includes undertaking ongoing, critical investigations of our teaching practices so that we do not inadvertently reinforce harmful beliefs and practices, thereby causing further injury to LGBTQI-identified people and communities.

Connecting University and Student Teaching Experiences Through the Jackdaw Kit Project

The author shares the challenges faced in her social studies methods class due to the constraints of NCLB. By incorporating the jackdaw kit project within her social studies methods course, her candidates were able to connect what they were talking about in methods and apply it to their students teaching situations where there was little time for social studies instruction. The article details first-hand experiences and describes the contents of the jackdaw kits.

Teaching Powerful Social Studies Ideas Through Literature Circles

The author describes the use of literature circles in a social studies methods course for elementary preservice teachers and analyzes their effectiveness in teaching powerful social studies ideas. Literature circles encourage students to take more of a leadership role in the classroom, expect their active involvement, and challenge them to think more deeply about social studies content within texts. Students can compare different perspectives on the same historical event, such as the encounter between Columbus and the Taino, and reasons for including and omitting important ideas. Students can also note similarities and differences among cultures and current and historical events through literature circle discussions. However, teachers must carefully select texts which focus on powerful social studies ideas, emphasize the goal of thoughtful discussions when introducing literature circles, and be ready to raise significant issues ignored in the literature circle discussions during follow-up class discussions.

Teaching Elementary Social Studies Methods Looking Back to Move Forward

With increased curricular and classroom demands, teaching social studies content and skills can be challenging, especially in elementary schools. Although educators are encouraged to promote critical thinking, collaboration and problem solving, classroom time is increasingly spent preparing students to pass state-mandated tests that emphasize factual recall. This article highlights the importance of self-study through the praxis of one teacher educator. To address the shifting instructional and professional demands, she modified and updated an elementary social studies methods course over a five-year period. Through analysis of documents, observations, and students’ feedback, the methods course and student learning outcomes changed significantly over time. This article addresses the need for social studies teacher educators to re-evaluate their own praxis, as some existing teacher education program models and course programs do not address today’s changing teaching and learning climates. Deliberate self-study, coupled with professional collaborations across school and university boundaries, can be key steps to improve learning outcomes for all.