Theory–Praxis Gap: Social Studies Teaching and Critically Transformational Dialogue

Background/Context Social studies scholars have suggested that dialogue is vital to helping students develop the skills and disposition for becoming engaged civic participants. More critical interpretations of dialogical education would suggest that dialogue can also help students develop critically conscious understandings of the world to help them see, share, and overcome the oppressive power relationships that often order civic life. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Our study examined critical social studies teacher engagements in dialogical teaching, looking at what we term the dialogi-cal theory–praxis gap. We claim teachers tend to engage in skills-based or critical dialogue (as compared with dialogue for more transformational intent), and we were curious about how and why some go further—engaging in what we call transformational critical dialogue as part of their civic teaching praxis. Our two research questions were: (1) How do self-identifying critical social studies teachers use dialogue as part of their critical instructional praxis? (2) What types of critical dialogue do self-identifying critical social studies teachers have with students? Research Design We conducted a multisite critical case study of two self-identifying critical social studies teachers to explore how dialogue existed as an aspect of their praxis. Conclusions/Recommendations Our study revealed that both focal teachers used critical historical inquiry as a way to help students develop the foundational knowledge for discussing social studies concepts and to interpret their placement along spatial and temporal axes of existence. Both teachers grounded their dialogical praxis within the sociocultural knowledge that students brought with them to their classrooms. In all contexts, dialogue was unquestionably learner centered, and teachers used critical dialogue to help students engage in society for real-world social justice purposes. We found that participants differed first in their approach to curriculum as it related to the way they understood the purpose of dialogical instruction. Second, critical dialogue as an educational practice/praxis was situated based on real and perceptual instances of power that a teacher experienced. Third, teacher ideology unquestionably informed how dialogue transpired in the classroom. Recommendations Developing dialogical pedagogical content knowledge with new teacher candidates is foundational to their willingness to engage with students in critically transformational dialogue. Teacher educators can encourage teachers to understand and incorporate the sociocultural knowledge of students and ensure that epistemic justice occurs in their dia-logical exchanges. Teachers of privilege may need to shed or reject the problematic and internalized identities that situate their acting to fully engage in material praxis. Reframing the purpose of schooling and dialogue might be grounded more fully in efforts to improve society by incorporating more critically humanizing education and possibilities for social action.

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How Social Studies Teachers Choose News Resources for Current Events Instruction

Harvard Educational Review ◽

10.17763/1943-5045-91.1.5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 91 (1) ◽

pp. 5-37

Author(s):

CHRISTOPHER H. CLARK ◽

MARDI SCHMEICHEL ◽

H. JAMES GARRETT

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

Social Studies ◽

News Media ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Social Studies Teachers ◽

News Sources ◽

Current Events ◽

Citizenship Skills

Integrating current events and news media in the curriculum is essential to social studies teachers’ efforts to promote critical citizenship skills. In this mixed-methods study, Christopher H. Clark, Mardi Schmeichel, and H. James Garrett draw from a survey of more than one thousand social studies teachers to examine factors that influence the frequency of teachers’ current events instruction and their choices of news resources for use in their classes. They found that respondents’ ideologies influenced the number and type of sources they preferred and that teachers listed student-focused reasons like reading accessibility more than news-focused criteria like in-depth reporting as reasons for their choices. These findings have significant consequences for researchers and teacher educators who must find ways to help teachers discard assumptions that news sources are neutral or without perspective. The authors maintain that if teachers are to help students develop the ability to interpret news media within a complicated political and informational landscape, they must be better prepared to think critically about the news sources they incorporate into their lessons.

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

Social Studies Research and Practice ◽

10.1108/ssrp-07-2017-0034 ◽

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.

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Citizenship in Our Place: Exploring New Zealand Young People's Everyday, Place-Based Perspectives on Participation in Society

10.26686/wgtn.16985371 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Bronwyn Elisabeth Wood

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Young People ◽

Social Studies ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Social Action ◽

Social Issues ◽

Social Studies Teachers ◽

Lifelong Learners ◽

Standing Up ◽

Taking Action

<p>Developing more active citizens has been a feature of policies in many nations in recent years. Educational curricula in particular have been viewed as an important way to deliver this goal. The revised New Zealand Curriculum (2007) is an example of this, with a vision to develop young people who will be confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners (p. 8) who will themselves “participate and take action as critical, informed, and responsible citizens” (p. 17). In this thesis, I explore how New Zealand young people are currently participating as citizens by examining their conceptions and practices of social action alongside those of their teachers. My approach draws attention to spatial and relational aspects of young people’s everyday, place-based perspectives on participation in society. The conceptual and theoretical framework underpinning this research is developed through Bourdieu’s analytical concepts of habitus, field and capital, and Mills’ (1959) “sociological imagination”. Participants in this research included 122 social studies students (n=122) aged between 14 and 18 years old, and their teachers (n=27) from four diverse secondary schools in New Zealand. Data collection included café-style focus groups with young people, as well as visual data generated by participation in Photovoice research. More traditional focus groups were also undertaken with social studies teachers at each of the four schools. Taking an everyday, place-based approach to youth participation opened up new and relatively unexplored landscapes of participation. Young people provided many examples of how they were “taking action” through formal opportunities (provided by their teachers, schools and communities), as well as informal ways, such as standing up against a bully, or reducing water usage. Through their identification of social issues that needed addressing, it was possible to see their citizenship imaginations at play. Social studies teachers played a significant role in shaping young people’s awareness of social issues as well as providing them with opportunities to take action on these issues. The findings revealed the enduring importance of young people’s everyday experiences of inclusion/exclusion within places, as well as the contribution of the participatory capital of their teachers, families and communities, in shaping their citizenship perceptions, imaginations and actions.</p>

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Design of Community-Based Transdisciplinary Learning for Social Studies Teachers in the Diverse School Contexts, Northern of Thailand

Journal of Education and Learning ◽

10.5539/jel.v10n3p17 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 17

Author(s):

Charin Mangkhang

Keyword(s):

Social Studies ◽

Social Action ◽

Professional Competence ◽

Action Learning ◽

Northern Region ◽

Social Studies Teachers ◽

Integrated Learning ◽

Community Based ◽

School Contexts ◽

Teacher Professional

The objectives of this study are: 1) to study problems and the needs in community-based transdisciplinary learning for social studies teachers in the diverse school contexts, Northern of Thailand 2) to develop and find the efficiency of handbook of community-based transdisciplinary learning for social studies teachers in the diverse school contexts, Northern of Thailand and 3) to examine the implementation results of the handbook. This research is based on the research foundation of a mixed method in education research. The population involved in this study included 1) educational connoisseurship of area-based who are selected by means of purposive sampling, from not less than 5 persons and 2) social studies teachers in the Northern-region provinces of Thailand who are selected by means of accidental sampling, from not less than 334 persons. The research instruments are: 1) a questionnaire on problems and the needs in community-based transdisciplinary learning 2) an appropriateness assessment form on the handbook and 3) an evaluation form of teacher professional competence in community-based transdisciplinary learning. The qualitative data are analyzed and shown on content analysis and descriptive analysis. The quantitative statistics employed for data analysis are mean and standard deviation through statistical program. The research findings revealed as follows; 1) Problems and the needs: teacher professional competence needs to be improved in community-based transdisciplinary learning through 7 skills, namely; Integrated learning Management, Technology Integrated Learning, Integrating Ethics Learning, Community Resource Management, Transdisciplinary Innovation Integrated Learning, Creative Educational Measurement Design, and Competency of Networking skill. 2) The result of handbook development: “SOCIAL Action Learning Model”, includes 6 steps, should be implemented in community-based transdisciplinary learning for social studies teachers. Due to the evaluation of the handbook, the result is at the highest level of appropriation (x = 4.58, S.D. = 0.57) 3) The result of handbook using: the handbook of community-based transdisciplinary learning for social studies teachers found the evaluation result at a high level (x = 3.96, S.D. = 0.89)

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Exploring new teachers conceptualizations of critical simulations in world history, American history, and economics learning experiences

Citizenship Social and Economics Education ◽

10.1177/2047173420948392 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 153-174

Author(s):

Kevin Russel Magill ◽

Neil Shanks

Keyword(s):

Social Studies ◽

Teacher Candidates ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Effective Means ◽

Early Career ◽

Social Studies Teachers ◽

Pedagogical Content ◽

Service Programs ◽

The Social ◽

The Status

In this study we examine early career social studies teachers’ use and understanding of critical simulations. We began work with participants as teacher candidates in their pre-service programs and formally studied them as they began their in-service teaching. We were particularly interested in teacher efforts to use simulation to facilitate a more critical disciplinary consciousness. Data indicate that participant teachers utilized simulations to: enhance students’ ability to critically engage with social studies content, facilitate more democratic dialogue, and critique normalized systems of power. We do not suggest that simulations in and of themselves are “critical,” rather, we argue they can be an effective means of providing a safe environment for considering the complexities of certain issues in social studies. Furthermore, we argue critical social studies teachers and teacher educators can be purposeful in their use of simulation to avoid enshrining the status quo. Finally simulations can help critical teachers illuminate oppression and facilitate a more humanizing vision within the social studies if they possess critical consciousness, strong pedagogical content knowledge and a command of the method.

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Inquiries that matter: How social studies teachers employ historical inquiry practices to support social justice civic goals

10.31274/etd-180810-4933 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Lynn Gallagher

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Social Studies ◽

Social Studies Teachers ◽

Historical Inquiry ◽

Inquiry Practices

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How secondary social studies teachers define literacy and implement literacy teaching strategies: A qualitative research study

History Education Research Journal ◽

10.18546/herj.15.2.05 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joshua L. Kenna ◽

William B. Russell III ◽

Bonnie Bittman

Keyword(s):

Social Studies ◽

Teaching Strategies ◽

Reading Strategies ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Content Area ◽

Social Studies Teachers ◽

Theoretical Understanding ◽

Literacy Teaching ◽

Secondary Social Studies ◽

Pedagogical Choices

Educational standards have changed rapidly and drastically in the past several years, including an increased focus on literacy within the social studies. Using data from a four-month qualitative study, this article examines how seven secondary social studies teachers talked about and defined literacy, and how those perspectives informed their pedagogical choices. The enquiry is a response to two areas: first, the many and varied definitions of literacy found in the literature (for example, content area literacy, multiliteracies and media literacy); and second, the added attention given to disciplinary literacy in the widely adopted Common Core State Standards. We found these teachers had four common elements when talking about and defining literacy: (1) reading comprehension; (2) writing fluidity; (3) skills; and (4) vocabulary. Additionally, we discovered that teachers discussed using four kinds of literacy teaching strategies: (1) content area reading strategies; (2) disciplinary reading strategies; (3) writing strategies; and (4) dialogue strategies. However, we determined that the teachers' theoretical understanding of literacy had only minor influence on their pedagogical choices. Instead, we found overarching assessments such as an end-of-course, advanced placement or state-wide reading exam had greater influence on the pedagogical choices the teachers made. The findings suggest that the effort to expand literacy instruction into the disciplines is still a work in progress, which falls in the hands of teacher educators and professional development providers.

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Examining Mandated Testing, Teachers’ Milieu, and Teachers’ Knowledge and Beliefs: Gaining a Fuller Understanding of the Web of Influence on Teachers’ Classroom Practices

Teachers College Record ◽

10.1177/016146811611800209 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 118 (2) ◽

pp. 1-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jacob W. Neumann

Keyword(s):

Social Studies ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Holistic Approach ◽

Sixth Grade ◽

Unintended Consequences ◽

Social Studies Teachers ◽

Strong Impact ◽

Knowledge And Beliefs ◽

Accountability Testing ◽

Mandated Testing

Background Much research has been done on the factors that influence teachers’ work. Yet the nature and scope of those factors, and their impact on teachers, remain unclear. Indeed, different literature bases on teachers’ work present different and often contradictory conclusions. For example, some researchers claim that mandated accountability testing exerts the greatest impact on teachers’ work. Yet other researchers claim that teachers’ knowledge and beliefs have an equally strong impact on their work, as does mandated testing. These contradictory findings in the research seem to happen at least in part because most research into teachers’ work only looks at one or two influences on that work and ignores how multiple factors work together to influence teachers’ work. Purpose Recognizing this background, this study examines three factors that influence teachers’ work: mandated accountability testing, teachers’ knowledge and beliefs, and teachers’ milieu. The article examines each factor, both individually and collectively, for their combined influence on teachers’ work. Setting This study was conducted at a public middle school in south Texas. Population Four social studies teachers participated in this study: 2 eighth-grade U.S. history teachers, 1 seventh-grade Texas history teacher, and 1 sixth-grade world cultures teacher. Research Design The study encompasses 5 years of weekly interactions with social studies teachers at the school. I logged approximately 450 hours of nonparticipant observations, made field notes and audio recordings of regular classroom activities, conducted 13 semistructured interviews and had numerous informal conversations with the teachers, and attended teachers’ department meetings. Open coding was used to closely analyze research texts. Findings The analysis finds that these three factors do not influence teachers’ work in isolation. Instead, they combine to form a complex “web of influence” on teachers’ work. The article crafts a narrative of these teachers’ experiences with these different factors and illustrates how the factors combine to impact their work. Conclusion This article holds implications for school leaders, policy makers, and teacher educators. In short, it offers evidence about the unintended consequences of not taking a holistic approach to school leadership, educational policy, and teacher education.

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