In this qualitative research project, I investigated curricular decision making and the relationship among teacher philosophies, textbook materials, and classroom practice. Participants included 5 experienced 5th-grade teachers who used a comprehensive social studies textbook package, "History Alive! America's Past". Information was…

Recent education literature and research has focused on identifying effective core teaching practices to inform and help shape teacher education and professional development. Although a rich literature on the teaching and learning of history has continued to develop over the past decade, core practice research has largely overlooked…

The ability to make connections is an important aspect of teaching history and a vital skill in our increasingly globalized world. This study examines how preservice and practicing teachers organize and connect world historical events and concepts for themselves and for instructional purposes. Findings are based on interviews with 2 card-sorting…

Immoral excesses of American foreign policy are so severe and so deep-rooted that American patriotism is now a moral burden. This love, which pulls toward amnesia, wishful thinking and inattention to urgent foreign interests, should be replaced by commitment to a global social movement that seeks to hem in the American empire. Teachers can advance…

This is an instrumental case study of 1 novice and 1 experienced secondary social studies teachers' concurrent assessment practices within tightly structured, standardized-tested curricula and flexible elective curricula. It is anchored by 2 questions: (1) How did the teachers' assessment stances and practices manifest across the 2…

In this practitioner research study, the author, a White social studies teacher, examined the intersection between his students' race/ethnicity and their experiences learning history. Using critical race theory as a lens, the author employed mixed methods, analyzing teacher journaling, classroom artifacts, and student reflections, as well as…

This article reports on a phenomenological study of 18 Greek-Cypriot teachers' perceptions and emotions in relation to the teaching of controversial issues during elementary-level history instruction. Findings indicate that although participating teachers see the general value of this approach at the elementary school level, they become less…

This article examines the problems of lower secondary education in Spain (ESO, or compulsory secondary education), in view of the implementation of several education reforms, focusing on their effect on the crisis in secondary teachers' professional identity. Using research data, we analyse their experience of the crisis and the problems involved…

In this article the author examines (a) preservice teachers' reactions to graphic novels featuring social studies material, and (b) the potential for using graphic novels in secondary social studies classrooms. An analysis of preservice teachers' written book reports, classroom discussions, and individual interviews revealed the range of reactions…

Service-learning is promoted widely by professional organizations (NCSS, 2001), but often with little reflection on the nature of meaningful student participation and the impact of teacher leadership styles. The authors studied mixed-age "small school" advisory groups involved in service-learning at one elementary school; observational, interview,…

Teachers' beliefs influence their behaviors in classrooms and their organization of classes, each of which can greatly impact student learning. This study focuses on four categories of teachers' beliefs--beliefs about subject, about learners and learning, about teaching, and about self-efficacy--and their potential to shape civic education. More…

This qualitative case study examines one secondary social studies teacher's enactment of her critical constructivist beliefs in teaching for democratic citizenship education. Results are organized around the knowledge, skills, and dispositions addressed, and their consistency with critical constructivism. The teacher's practices were consistent…

This self-study reports on the professional learning and development of a beginning social studies teacher educator via an examination of the evolving relationship between the author's beliefs and practices during his first three years preparing social studies teachers. Throughout this time data were systematically collected in the form of written…

The author presents findings from the first phase of a longitudinal, comparative case study that investigates what teachers learn about intellectually demanding social studies teaching at the middle school level from two distinctive teacher education pathways: a specialized middle school teacher education program and a secondary social studies…

This study demonstrates the potential for teacher research to lead to critical inquiry and change in social studies classrooms. It presents four portraits of experienced social studies teachers engaged in critical teacher research. These teachers posed critical questions about the means and purposes of schooling, while engaging their students in…