Selecting and designing visual curriculum materials for inquiry-based instruction

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-334
Author(s):  
Cory Callahan ◽  
James B. Howell ◽  
Lamont E. Maddox
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Curriculum Materials ◽  
Multimodal Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Written Information ◽  
Digital Collection ◽  
Based Instruction

Purpose Visual documents (e.g. maps, editorial cartoons, historical photographs, portraits, documentary films, historically-based movies, etc.) are common curriculum resources within social studies classrooms; however, only recently scholars have begun to systematically research ways to more authentically and powerfully center instruction around visual documents. Here, the purpose of this paper is to synthesize relevant lines of inquiry into research-based, wise-practices for selecting and designing visual curriculum materials to help social studies students and teachers think about social phenomenon deeply and in more disciplinary-specific ways. Design/methodology/approach The authors share recent scholarship that has posited explanations for why visual data tend to afford learners especially powerful opportunities to think critically about the world around them. Throughout the discussion, the authors integrate applicable research-based principles that can guide the selection and design of visual curriculum materials. Findings Scholars have suggested that visual documents are rarely introduced in educational settings as a means to develop the thinking skills of decoding, interpreting and evaluating pictorial information. The authors argue that these skills are vital civic competencies because the creation and critique of non-written information often mediates modern public issues and social identities. Research limitations/implications Informed by strong, consistent research into multimodal learning, visual literacy and the cognitive sciences, the wise-practice scaffolding suggestions the authors provide may help professionals with an interest in social studies education to synthesize theory-based suggestions with practice-based implementations as it concerns visual documents. The authors hope the guidance shared here helps teachers, teacher educators and curriculum designers produce high-quality resources that will engage contemporary students and help them develop civic competence. Originality/value First, the authors posit a research-based template, or planning checklist, of wise-practice suggestions to help social studies teachers, teacher educators and curriculum designers select visual documents. The authors then share several digital collection archives that teachers can visit to locate powerful visuals and describe research-based suggestions for designing them for dynamic implementation. Finally, the authors argue for more deliberative space in the social studies curriculum and classroom time for teachers to explore the educative power of centering inquiry-based instruction around visual information.

Weave coding into K-5 curricula as new literacies

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Yi Jin ◽  
Shenghua Zha
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
New Literacies ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Educational Transformation ◽  
Web 2.0 Tools ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Definition Of

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to posit that coding should be considered as a critical part of new literacies. Teacher educators should first adopt the new literacies perspective, and then prepare pre-service teachers to teach both traditional literacy and new literacies skills, especially preparing them how to weave coding into K-5 literacy curricula to cultivate younger learners’ new ways of expressions and computational thinking skills. To facilitate this educational transformation, low-cost Web 2.0 tools and apps were introduced as one practical approach, along with some literacy lesson ideas to help teacher educators and pre-service teachers begin to integrate coding into the K-5 literacy curricula. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a viewpoint paper. Findings A table of low-cost Web 2.0 tools was presented with sample lesson ideas. Originality/value More than ever, coding breaks the traditional definition of literacy as paper-based reading and writing. It empowers students to read, write and create with multimodality on multiple platforms. Weaving coding into the literacy curricula offers the window to promote both computational thinking and new literacies skills. Teacher educators, among all other stakeholders, should begin the efforts to prepare pre-service teachers to weave coding into the literacy curricula and other content areas in the teacher educations programs now.

Why don’t we teach social studies? Preservice teachers’ social studies self-efficacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-257
Author(s):  
Heather Rogers Haverback
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Social Studies Education ◽  
Efficacy Beliefs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sense Of Efficacy ◽  
Mastery Experiences

Purpose The majority of states and school systems within the USA have implemented the Common Core State Standards, but with this implementation and focus on language arts and mathematics, many believe that social studies education has lagged. The purpose of this paper is to investigate preservice teachers’ social studies self-efficacy, experiences, and beliefs. Participants were preservice teachers in a required education course. During this course, preservice teachers were required to complete a 20-hour practicum within a school. Participants completed a teacher social studies self-efficacy scale, as well as a reflection questionnaire and course discussions. Results showed that preservice teachers reported that they did not have social studies experiences within the practicum. Implications of this study support preservice teachers having additional social studies education and C3 Framework mastery experiences. Design/methodology/approach With regard to the teacher’s sense of efficacy scale, descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations) were calculated. Following qualitative tradition (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Miles and Huberman, 1994), the author used a constant comparative method to code the reflection questionnaire and group discussions. This included calculating answers and coding themes across the sources. These data gleaned insight into the participants’ experiences within the course and practicum regarding the domain of social studies education. Findings To answer research question 1, means and standard deviations were calculated. Using the social studies teacher’s sense of efficacy scale, participants reported M=6.4, SD=1.25. Research question 2 concerned whether or not participants were given a mastery experience (practicum/tutoring) in social studies. Moreover, if they were not given such an experience, in what domain did they work? Results indicated that a few participants (19 percent) stated that they had an opportunity to tutor in social studies. Most reported that the majority of their tutoring is in reading (58 percent) or mathematics (24 percent). Research limitations/implications The findings from this study inform social studies research as it focuses on teacher social studies self-efficacy and mastery experiences within a practicum. First, preservice teachers in this study had relatively low self-efficacy beliefs in the domain of social studies. Second, the participants had very few mastery experiences in social studies. Finally, preservice teachers seem to feel that they will enjoy teaching social studies, and they did learn social studies within their schools. Practical implications Teacher educators are constrained in the time that they have to impart knowledge, pedagogy, and efficacy beliefs on preservice teachers. While evolving legislative mandates are at the forefront of many aspects of teaching, a teacher’s belief in his or her ability to teach may be what leads to perseverance in the classroom. Experiences within social studies classrooms and a use of the C3 Framework will help to highlight teachers’ and students’ growth within the domain of social studies. This study highlights the need for more mastery experiences in social studies as a way of strengthening new teachers’ content knowledge. Social implications The future of social studies education within the classroom seems to be a dire situation. The consequence of the marginalization of social studies within the classroom is twofold. First, students to do have direct social studies instruction. Second, preservice teachers do not have an opportunity to observe or teach within this domain. As stated earlier, legislation is guiding classroom instruction. However, if teachers and schools are informed, social studies education does not have to disappear from student’s classroom time. School systems and teachers who have not yet done so should begin to consider using the C3 Framework. Originality/value The need to understand preservice teachers’ social studies self-efficacy beliefs is of importance given the constraints that they will most likely be facing once they enter the classroom. In other words, if preservice teachers are expected to teach children social studies, teacher educators should understand their learning of and beliefs about teaching in this domain. This study focused on preservice teachers’ self-efficacy and social studies beliefs. This study highlights the need for more mastery experiences in social studies as a way of strengthening new teachers’ content knowledge. Today, there are limitations wherein preservice teachers do not have many experiences with social studies. Future approaches should focus on offering more mastery experiences to preservice teachers.

Protest and prayer: the Jewish and Catholic presence at Selma

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cory Callahan ◽  
Janie Hubbard
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
Teachers And Students

Purpose The recent motion picture Selma infused fresh interest – and controversy – into the political and emotional peak of America’s modern Civil Rights Movement. Ava DuVernay, the film’s director, faced criticism for her exclusion of the Jewish presence from the movie’s portrayal of the March 21, 1965 Voting Rights March. The recent attention presents a teachable moment and new energy for thinking deeply about this pivotal event in America’s past. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The authors provide valuable historical domain knowledge surrounding the 1965 Voting Rights March, present the requisite plans and curriculum resources for implementing wise-practice instructional strategies, and explore the rationale underpinning the inquiry-based activities. Findings The authors share innovative approaches, at the secondary and elementary levels, integrating historical domain knowledge with renewed interest in the 1965 Voting Rights March to create powerful teaching-and-learning experiences. The approaches are innovative because they contain dynamic curriculum materials and reflect wise-practice use of historical photographs within the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards. Practical implications The approaches shared here are centered around questioning, a key to student learning. The lessons feature the development of questions, both from teachers and students, as classes work collaboratively to interpret a potentially powerful historical photograph and use historical events to practice thinking deeply about important topics. Originality/value Social studies classrooms are ideal educational spaces to develop and practice the analytical skills and dispositions students need to meet the challenge of critiquing visual information that concerns complex public issues, such as the role of religion in society.

Supporting English learners in secondary social studies classrooms through collaboration

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-260
Author(s):  
Anthony Pellegrino ◽  
Clara Lee Brown
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
General Education ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Student Population ◽  
Informational Texts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Resource Teachers ◽  
Secondary Social Studies

PurposeThe number of English learners (ELs) has increased dramatically in the public schools across the nation. In 2000, 3.8 m students, or approximately 8% of the US public school student population, were identified as ELs. In 2016, the number reached 4.9 m or 9.6% of the general student population. In some states, the rise in the EL population has been even more pronounced. Their increased presence in content classes poses opportunities as well as great challenges for teachers. As these learners are learning fundamental language skills, they are also responsible for learning content and skills associated with various disciplines. In social studies, it includes developing a foundational understanding of US history, geography and government, while also developing the ability to comprehend, analyze and evaluate complex informational texts, which include contextualized language, low-incidence concepts and discrete facts.Design/methodology/approachOne way schools are adapting practice for ELs is through collaboration between general education and EL resource teachers. This article reports findings from interviews with a high school social studies teacher and an English as a second language (ESL) colleague.FindingsThe collaboration between these two teachers illustrated how specific strategies thoughtfully designed, yet sensibly implemented, can help teachers feel effective and empowered in their social studies classes. Their story also highlighted ways they have worked together in spite of the system confines.Originality/valueTogether, the authors hope their experiences inform teachers, teacher educators and school leaders about the importance of adapting practices for ELs in social studies and the power of collaboration to make those efforts successful.

Teaching and learning with morning meeting in elementary social studies methods courses

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Cornett ◽  
Alexa M. Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Methods Course ◽  
National Council ◽  
Methods Courses ◽  
Social Studies Methods ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Elementary Social Studies ◽  
Morning Meeting

PurposeUsing morning meeting, an evidence-based practice that is part of the responsive classroom (RC) approach, the authors (two teacher educators [TEs]) created opportunities for teacher candidates (TCs) to experience representations, decompositions and approximations of practice in multiple iterations of an elementary social studies methods course.Design/methodology/approachThe authors detail how TEs can expose TCs to social studies content (e.g. the National Council for the Social Studies themes) that can be incorporated into structured, daily classroom routines, such as morning meeting.FindingsThe authors include TE-created morning meeting facilitation guides with components such as a morning message, greeting, share, group activity and theme justification. Furthermore, the authors outline TCs' reflections on planning and implementing a morning meeting with a partner in addition to their own reflections on the TCs' feedback.Originality/valueThis work has implications related to TEs and TCs in elementary social studies methods courses as well as current and future students in elementary classrooms.

Meeting the demands of the C3 framework in elementary social studies methods

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Alan Neel ◽  
Amy Palmeri
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Social Studies Education ◽  
Methods Course ◽  
Social Studies Methods ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Elementary Social Studies ◽  
Social Studies Teacher ◽  
Social Studies Teacher Education

Purpose In both elementary schools and elementary teacher education programs, social studies is marginalized while standards require increasingly more ambitious reasoning, reading, and writing in social studies than has historically been documented in American elementary schools. The purpose of this paper is to explain the challenges that elementary social studies teacher educators face in preparing elementary school teachers to facilitate the kind of ambitious social studies envisioned in the NCSS’s C3 Framework and advocate an approach to successfully address these challenges. Design/methodology/approach This paper articulates a targeted and ambitious approach to elementary social studies teacher education. The authors describe five recommendations from the teacher education literature for supporting preservice teachers in learning disciplinary-oriented social studies teaching, recommendations that guided the redesign of the social studies methods course. The authors then highlight key aspects of the redesigned methods course and demonstrate how the authors engaged the challenges inherent in the work of elementary social studies teacher education. Findings Although this paper is not arranged in such a way as to substantiate empirical findings, the purpose of the paper is to demonstrate an approach to elementary social studies education aligned with extant literature on preparing teachers to engage in reform teaching practices, specifically those disciplinary oriented practices suggested in NCSS’s C3 Framework. As such, the paper should be read as a perspective on practice. Research limitations/implications The type of disciplinary-oriented approach described here is increasingly under investigation in secondary teacher education research and similar approaches are under investigation in elementary math and science education research. To the authors’ knowledge, the approach is novel in elementary social studies education. Furthermore, the authors believe it offers a direction for researchers interested in gaps in the literature related to practice based teacher education and disciplinary-oriented social studies teacher education. Practical implications The approach described here offers specific guidance and resources for teacher educators who are struggling with the challenges of the contemporary social studies education landscape and/or who wish to focus methods courses in disciplinary ways. Social implications Research in social studied education has demonstrated that when students are exposed to disciplinary practices in social studies, their literacy skills improve and they learn analytical skills that support their development as citizens (consumption of media, participation in public discourse, ability to discern arguments). Originality/value As noted above, the approach described here is novel in elementary social studies education. Combining a disciplinary approach with a practice-based frame in elementary social studies represents an opportunity for empirical research and offers new approaches to the practice of teacher education and early career professional development.

Teaching and talking about religion: strategies for teacher educators

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-179
Author(s):  
Kimberly R. Logan ◽  
James M.M. Hartwick
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Religious Literacy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Studies Teacher ◽  
Social Studies Teacher Education ◽  
Teaching About Religion

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to outline arguments for addressing religion in social studies teacher education, including strategies teacher educators might use on how and why pre-service teachers should incorporate teaching about religion in their classes. Topics addressed are: issues surrounding pre-service teachers’ religious identities; teaching pre-service teachers about legal issues associated with religion in public school classrooms (e.g. teaching about religion vs teaching for religion, First Amendment rights and constraints); teacher education’s role in developing religious knowledge and the influence of religion in the disciplines that comprise the social studies; and an overview of strategies and resources that teacher educators can use with their pre-service teachers. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides a literature review and arguments for addressing religion in social studies teacher education. A lesson plan and resources for teacher educators are also provided. Findings Teaching and talking about religion can no longer be marginalized or ignored within social studies teacher education. Whether it be the importance of pre-service teachers’ religious identities, legal issues related to public schooling or the influence of religion across the social studies disciplines – religion matters to social studies teacher education. As the current social, political and cultural realities attest, the influence of religion appears to be more and more significant in our interconnected and interdependent world. Originality/value Religious literacy is a key part of civic competence and if social studies is viewed as a way to help prepare a more informed citizenry – and a way to teach and promote dialogue across difference – then social studies teacher educators must find a way to include religion in their courses. By doing so, teacher educators encourage pre-service teachers to examine how religious identity may influence their teaching, and also help develop religious literacy and an understanding of how religion is integral to the various social studies disciplines. Ultimately, this important and often ignored work in teacher education may foster cultural understandings that will lead to a more informed and respectful society.

Examining teachers’ development and implementation of compelling questions

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Rebecca G.W. Mueller
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Verbal Report ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Content Type ◽  
College Career ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Question Development ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The College, Career, and Civic Life Framework and recently revised social studies standards in a number of states have placed renewed emphasis on inquiry-based instruction rooted in rigorous and relevant questions, which necessitates a better understanding of how teachers develop questions capable of meeting the expectations set forth in these documents. The purpose of this paper is to examine teachers’ question-development processes and the impact of question development and implementation on their understanding of compelling questions. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study examined how six high school civics teachers from a single Kentucky school district defined and developed compelling questions. Following recommendations for in-depth phenomenological interviews, this study implemented a three-interview sequence, each of which included a verbal report component. Additional data were generated through teacher-completed Question Development Tasks and Question Evaluation Tasks. Findings The findings suggest that participants’ attempts to craft questions that balanced relevance and complexity led them to engage in a deliberate, reflective question-development process. Teachers’ understandings of compelling questions were shaped by their question-development experience; however, teachers who implemented their compelling questions emerged with a more nuanced understanding of their construction and a deeper commitment to their use. Originality/value Although focused on a small group of teachers, this study provides valuable insight into teachers’ conceptions of inquiry, which may strengthen the supports teacher educators and administrators provide to those attempting to implement inquiry in their classrooms.

Mentoring beyond the politics of fear

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-47
Author(s):  
Kevin Russel Magill ◽  
Tracy D. Harper ◽  
Jess Smith ◽  
Aaron Huang
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Difficult Conversations ◽  
Politics Of Fear

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine multiple dimensions of reflexive and reciprocal mentorship as they work through the fear of teaching challenging and politically charged ideas. Design/methodology/approach This piece is a case study of the complex instances of reciprocal mentorship within a teacher education program. Objects of analysis included the informal educational experiences from the bi-monthly meetings and student-teaching experiences. Semi-structured interviews, field notes, interpersonal discussion and the authors’ own reflections were used as data sources. Findings The authors found that having difficult conversations in informal spaces provided social studies teacher candidates with the opportunity to get more comfortable with challenging conversations; that mentorship is helpful when shifting context between formal and informal spaces; and that once these teachers grew more comfortable, they moved from mentee to mentor with support and guidance from their own mentors. The authors conclude by providing several implications for pre-service teachers, teacher and teacher educators, as they help social studies practitioners work with and beyond the politics of fear. Research limitations/implications Limitations such as subjectivity, generalizability and implementation exist. Factors such as personality, program, cultural background, lived experience and other elements played a role in the findings. Therefore, the authors do not suggest these are monolithic claims about the nature of mentorship, teacher education or teaching, but rather the authors wish to share these findings and recommendations. Practical implications The authors argue that three major findings emerged from the data. First, informal spaces are valuable for initiating difficult conversations among mentors and mentees. Second, shifting between formal and informal spaces can be uncomfortable, but allow for mentoring opportunities during these challenging instances of becoming. Third, moving from mentee to mentor includes valuable reciprocal mentorship within a learning community. Originality/value This research project is grounded in the needs of the participants and researchers. To the authors’ knowledge, a project of this type with similar participants has not been done.

Reflecting on a social studies-mathematics day

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanca Araujo ◽  
Lida Uribe Florez ◽  
Adriana Goenaga Ruiz de Zuazu
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Barriers To Teaching ◽  
And Mathematics

Purpose Social studies may be taught in relevant and powerful ways regardless of the current barriers and challenges teachers encounter with this subject. While it would be best to give social studies the same importance and time as other subjects, schools today often do not teach social studies or it is taught within an integrated topic. The purpose of this paper is to address current issues regarding integrating social studies in elementary classrooms. The authors then provide one example of an attempt to integrate social studies and mathematics. Finally, the authors conclude with important points to consider while integrating social studies and mathematics using a critical multicultural lens. Design/methodology/approach The authors engaged in the social studies and mathematics day to support teacher candidates in their practicum experience. In this study, the authors followed the Action Research paradigm; constantly reflect on the practices while preparing elementary school teachers. The authors understand action research as “a continuous process of inquiry, reflection, and evaluation to understand and improve practice” (Goenaga Ruiz de Zuazu, 2016, p. 8). As teacher educators, the authors particularly focused on self-study research, as indicated by Pine (2009), which can be implemented to improve educators’ own teaching to facilitate personal-professional growth. Findings Reflecting on the authors’ experiences and the barriers to teaching social studies, the authors continuously return to discussing the importance of balancing both content areas. In the activities designed by teacher candidates, the authors found they put more emphasis on the mathematics portion, leaving the social studies portion till the end and only if time permitted. In not addressing this situation with them, the authors perpetuated the low status of social studies. The authors needed to permit more time for teacher candidates to allow students to reflect on social and critical issues and promote discussions throughout the lesson, giving social studies equal status to mathematics. Originality/value This paper contributes to the teacher education literature and how students planned and implemented a social studies and math day.

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