Highlighting a hero is a common response to including the history of marginalized people in the curriculum. Harvey Milk is becoming that hero as social studies curriculum responds to calls for including LGBTQ people. By studying Milk, what might young people learn about LGBTQ people, issues, and movements? What opportunities and limitations exist…

This study sought to determine to what extent seasoned educators' perceived confidence, competence, and resultant content-specific self-efficacy could be altered as a result of three different workshops geared toward the use of technology in social studies classrooms. Through analyses of pre- and post-test surveys, results indicated that…

The authors report the findings of a survey study in which they investigated high school social studies teachers' current practices, challenges, and needs in relation to instruction of English language learners (ELLs). Thirty-three high school social studies teachers in six English as a second language (ESL)-centered schools in central Virginia…

More than 40 years have passed since Shirley Engle's article "Decision-Making: The Heart of Social Studies Instruction" was published. It was, in today's vernacular, an instant hit. It somehow reached into the hearts and minds of social studies teachers and gave them a sense of what made their field different from other areas of instruction. It…

This is a reply to Mark C. Schug and Richard D. Western's article "The Homeless Social Studies Teacher: How Muzak Progressivism Has Harmed Social Studies Education." The Schug and Western article breaks down into three distinct sections: (1) a quasi-satirical analogy of teaching to tax accounting; (2) a description of the problems of progressive…

Archaeology is a highly interdisciplinary field. Its main goal is to construct culture histories, but it uses many scientific methods in the process. Ethical dilemmas inherent in archaeology make it a good vehicle for teaching ethics and character in the classroom (Moe 2000). The interdisciplinary nature of the field makes it possible to weave…

History teachers on the secondary level are often so boxed in by heavy schedules and standard curricula that they have little time or incentive to use outside resources. In the light of these concerns, the Education Department at the Hershey Museum initiated The Progressive Industry and Its Legacy project. This article describes the project, which…

In recent years, critics of the social studies have complained that instead of studying history, elementary and high school students take other social science courses, sex and health education, or driver training. Seeking to explain the origin of that supposed shift, many authors concentrate on the period from 1892 to 1937, arguing that it was…