A New Childhood Social Studies Curriculum for a New Generation of Citizenship

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cinthya Saavedra ◽  
Steven Camicia

AbstractTraditional concepts of civic education in the United States and the expanding horizons curriculum scope and sequence are challenged by globalization and transnationality because new understandings of citizenship are emerging. In our conceptual analysis, we reconceptualize social studies curriculum for childhood to meet these changes. First, we propose a theoretical framework synthesizing literature in the areas of multicultural, global, and democratic education. Second, we propose opening curriculum and research to the voices of students, especially transnational students. Such reconceptualizations have important implications for a social studies curriculum for childhood that is socially just and responsive to the changing sizes, types, and qualities of the communities with which students engage.

Daedalus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Hall Jamieson

This essay explores the value and state of civics education in the United States and identifies five challenges facing those seeking to improve its quality and accessibility: 1) ensuring that the quality of civics education is high is not a state or federal priority; 2) social studies textbooks do not facilitate the development of needed civic skills; 3) upper-income students are better served by our schools than are lower-income individuals; 4) cutbacks in funds available to schools make implementing changes in civics education difficult; and 5) reform efforts are complicated by the fact that civics education has become a pawn in a polarized debate among partisans.


1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 330-334
Author(s):  
Sheryl A. Orman ◽  
Debra J. Schneider

Studying the United Slates is a traditional part of the upper-elementary social studies curriculum. A common approach is for students to acquire facts about regions, states, capitals, natural resources, industries, agriculture, and tourist attractions and to work individually or in pairs to study one state in depth and to prepare a written or oral report. Despite these efforts, we continually hear that the people of the United States have a weak understanding of geography as well as of their responsibilities as citizens. A more effective approach to studying various aspects of the United States is needed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-46
Author(s):  
Katherina A. Payne ◽  
Jennifer Keys Adair ◽  
Kiyomi Sanchez Suzuki Colegrove ◽  
Sunmin Lee ◽  
Anna Falkner ◽  
...  

Traditional conceptions of civic education for young children in the United States tend to focus on student acquisition of patriotic knowledge, that is, identifying flags and leaders, and practicing basic civic skills like voting as decision-making. The Civic Action and Young Children study sought to look beyond this narrow vision of civic education by observing, documenting, and contextualizing how young children acted on behalf of and with other people in their everyday early childhood settings. In the following paper, we offer examples from three Head Start classrooms to demonstrate multiple ways that young children act civically in everyday ways. When classrooms and teachers afford young children more agency, children’s civic capabilities expand, and they are able to act on behalf of and with their community. Rather than teaching children about democracy and citizenship, we argue for an embodied, lived experience for young children.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nneka Logan

This article explores the origins of corporate public relations by examining the untold story of railroad development and expansion in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Understanding the circumstances surrounding Virginia’s pioneer railroads, which emerged at a tumultuous time within a state deeply divided over the related issues of the railroad and slavery, can enrich our comprehension of public relations history in corporate contexts. Fully functioning society theory (FFST) is used as a theoretical framework to guide the historical analysis of the rise of the railroad in Virginia in the 19th and 20th centuries. The article expands FFST’s application to historical inquiry and productively directs attention to the varied and complex nature of the emergence of corporate public relations without venerating or denigrating the field’s origins.


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