Feminist practices can provide firm theoretical grounding for the kind of social studies that scholars promote, especially in relation to efforts to include women in the curriculum. However, in P-12 social studies education, neither women nor feminism receive much attention. The study described in this article was a discourse analysis of 16…

In this article, the authors investigate the extent to which 9 elementary social studies methods textbooks present the purpose of teaching and learning social studies. Using Stanley's three perspectives of teaching social studies for knowledge transmission, method of intelligence, and social transformation; we analyze how these texts prepare…

In this mixed-methods study, we use a postcolonial framework to investigate how state standards represent Indigenous histories and cultures. The research questions that guided this study include: (a) What is the frequency of Indigenous content (histories, cultures, current issues) covered in state-level U.S. history standards for K-12? (b) What is…

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…

This essay invites social studies educators to consider critical theoretical insights related to affect, emotions, and feelings from what has been termed "the affective turn" in social sciences and humanities scholarship. Developments in theorizing affect and recent research in social studies education are related to affective elements…

This comparative case study examines the manner in which 2 middle-level social studies teachers established connections between the past and the present within their curriculums. The teachers who participated in this project worked in different school districts: one teaching a 7th-grade U.S. History curriculum and the other teaching a 6th-grade…

This article reports on a study that repositioned elementary students in new roles as active, critical participants in historical inquiry--roles that required a more mature epistemic stance. It reports 5th-grade students' responses to instructional methods intended to help them understand the nature of historical knowledge, appreciate the…

Because a pluralistic democracy is inherently conflictual, public deliberation of issues holds the potential to expand the thinking of participants by revealing new insights, perspectives, information, or logics into the participants' consideration. These are ethical questions that ask citizens to decide whether policies, actions, and…

This article reports findings from a 3-year study on preservice middle and secondary social studies teachers' common content knowledge of politics and current events. Surveys showed that both groups were generally uninformed about these issues, and on almost all measures, the middle-grades preservice teachers performed worse than those in the…

The author explores significant points of intersection between foundational tenets of the social studies and the lessons learned by students in the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at one Midwestern high school. He suggests new ways social studies researchers and teachers might conceptualize the ideas and themes promoted in GSAs and apply them directly…

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…

The author seeks to revitalize the interests of social educators in the value of using critical, postmodern discourses for rich comprehension of and productive scholarly research in our field. These discourses (a) challenge existing understanding within social education and the knowledge and knower they help produce; and (b) imagine more complex,…

This study focuses on a seminal moment in the history of the College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA)--the founding of its voice, "Theory & Research in Social Education" ("TRSE"). This historical study uses archival documents to construct a narrative of the journal's origins. This publication was born during a…

The author looks at subject-field disputes about what to teach in the field of social studies in the U.S. He identifies the selection of subject matter to teach as a first source of conflict about the field's nature given the scope of history, geography, and other social sciences. The author argues that disagreements about what and how to…

This study indicates that the state-mandated high-stakes social studies assessments in four states do not require students to demonstrate that they have met the cognitive demands articulated in the state-mandated learning standards. Further, the assessments do not allow students to demonstrate the critical thinking skills required by the…