As every elementary science teacher knows, children sometimes ask questions that can not easily be answered by science. The "messiness" of these questions may stem from the fact that scientific understanding is often incomplete and ever changing, a situation that can lead students (and the public) to be confused about the information…

Bringing together an inspirational group of educators, this book provides key insights into what it means to implement social justice ideals with young children. Each chapter highlights a teacher's experience with a specific aspect of social justice and ethnic studies, including related research, projects and lesson plans, and implications for…

"Teaching about Frederick Douglass" will stimulate conversation among liberal arts and education professionals as well as inform public school teachers about the life and times of Frederick Douglass. Tension exists at many institutions of higher education between liberal arts faculties who do not completely understand the function of education…

In "History and Imagination," elementary school social studies teachers will learn how to help their students break down the walls of their schools, more personally engage with history, and define democratic citizenship. By collaborating together in meaningful investigations into the past and reenacting history, students will become…

This comprehensive, reader-friendly text demonstrates how personal connections can be incorporated into social studies education while meeting standards of the National Council for the Social Studies. Praised for its wealth of strategies that go beyond social studies content teaching--including classroom strategies, pedagogical techniques,…

Theorizing about teacher education and democracy is a challenging task in the year 2009. According to this author, the antidemocratic forces of the social efficiency movement have intensified with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, and recent activities of the Obama Department of Education have ratcheted up social efficiency's premise…

During the 1980s, two of the authors of this article were inspired to link good citizenship to solid classroom practices. These practices were articulated as the "Democratic Classroom Interaction Model," which grew directly from the authors' classroom experiences. The purpose of this model was to identify and illustrate how teachers could organize…

Researchers have been studying children's knowledge, thinking, and attitudes about government for several decades. However, the studies focusing on elementary students, and especially primary students, have little or nothing to say about children's ideas about democracy or democratic government. That is because children at these ages have not yet…

This article describes several websites that can be used to encourage students to vote. These include "The Democracy Project: Inside the Voting Booth" sponsored by PBS. This site addresses three elementary topics: how one vote has made a difference in U.S. history, how the right to vote has gradually been expanded to include minorities (African…

Exposure to ideas helps young children articulate their own beliefs and sharpens their connections. Teachers can provide opportunities for children to advance their knowledge about democratic conditions through sustained discourse, or, as described in this article, purposeful class discussions followed by hands-on activities. The author describes…

There is no part of the education given in the schools of a democracy like this one that is of more importance to society and State than that which has to do with social and civic relations. The purpose of the lessons contained in this bulletin is to enable teachers of children in the elementary grades in city schools to make a good practical…

Today's fixation on math and literacy testing makes it tough for social studies teachers to deliver a challenging curriculum. But you can overcome those constraints and prepare students to actively participate in a democratic society with the ideas from this new volume in our "Priorities in Practice" series. Firsthand accounts from talented and…