History teachers are faced with numerous literacy-related decisions about the types of texts they use and how students are taught to learn with texts. Teachers' decisions about texts and instruction reflect their knowledge of historical inquiry processes and attitudes about the purpose of history instruction, specifically whether instruction on…

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…

This article explores the relationship between students' ethnic identities and their ascriptions of historical significance to moments in Canada's past. Twenty-six grade 12 students living in an ethnically diverse urban centre in British Columbia, Canada participated. Phenomenographic research methods were followed, with a range of data informing…

Education has long been heralded as the key to sustaining a healthy democratic state (Dewey, 1916/1996; Jefferson & Peterson, 1984; Parker, 2003). As such, teacher educators have a responsibility to prepare teachers committed to the aims and practices of democracy. Central to this goal is helping teachers understand the relationship between…

The question of how students might concurrently engage in historical empathy as both a cognitive and affective construct remains as a sticking point in the understanding of historical thinking. This study employed three instructional units to place students in situations in which they were likely to engage in historical empathy using both the…

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…

The authors trace the development and implementation of Virginia's History and Social Science standards-based accountability system from 1995 to 2009. They frame the study within an examination of the political ideologies that influence policy realization and unpack the relationship between ideological and epistemological beliefs about the nature…

The purpose of this study was to explore the nationwide historic trend of elementary social studies marginalization compared to math, science, and language arts. Incorporating 17 years of data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) Schools and Staffing Survey, the authors conducted comparative analyses to investigate…

Recently, rationale development has received renewed attention as a core theme of social studies teacher education. To date, however, this interest has yet to spark a significant body of research. This study addresses the gap between recommendations and research regarding rationale development in teacher education programs and the rationale-based…

This study explores the implementation of a Holocaust curriculum, designed for Latvian schools through the method of curriculum deliberation, five years after its enactment. By exploring the complexity of implementation, the study provides a generative knowledge base for curriculum proposals, symposia, and other initiatives that seek to disrupt…

This case study examined how Singapore adolescents from different socio-economic, academic, and racial backgrounds positioned themselves as citizens within a highly-regulated, centralized educational context. Through interviews, classroom observations, and the author investigated students' conceptions of citizenship and their perspectives of the…

Through an analysis of activities called for in social studies texts at three grade levels, the author critically examines the links between children's improvisational performance and social studies curricula. He asks: What is unique about the process of embodying a historical or contemporary character as part of the learning process (such as a…

Public history museums play a critical role in validating a nation's history. The museum's institutional strategies of object display are used to define a particular representation of past events. Museum displays of war are of particular interest not only because they provide evidence of past wars, but also because they serve to advance national…

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…

Civic educators strive to develop the kinds of citizens who can identify and address the significant challenges of life in society. A case can be made that we have failed in this fundamental task. In spite of our efforts, contemporary societies seem ill-equipped to cope with the enormous social and environmental issues of our age. The problem is…