Social Studies Research and Practice: Volume 2 Issue 3

Dewey and Standardization: A Philosophical Look at the Implications for Social Studies

Wayne Journell

The work of John Dewey and his beliefs regarding student-centered learning are discussed in an effort to analyze the standardization of public education with a focus on social…

Fostering Preservice Teachers’ Transformative Learning in a Social Studies Methods Course: A Reflection on Transformative Pedagogy

Omiunota Nelly Ukpokodu

Using a qualitative research design, this study examined the impact of a course that utilized transformative pedagogy to foster preservice teachers’ transformative learning in a…

Takin’ It to the Streets: A Collaborative Self-Study into Social Studies Field Instruction

Jason K. Ritter, Dave Powell, Todd S. Hawley

This paper reports on the processes and outcomes of a collaborative self-study conducted by three beginning teacher educators who sought to examine the efficacy of their teaching…

Characteristics of STAR Secondary Social Studies Teachers: Relating Reality to Theory

Gloria A. Neubert, James B. Binko

Teacher recruitment and retention are recurring topics of investigation. To clarify this topic at our own university, we conducted a study of 10 graduates previously selected as…

Place-Based Learning in Teacher Education: A Windshield Survey

Reese H. Todd

Certification students in a post-baccalaureate teacher preparation program investigated the local educational environment in a social studies methods course with a brief community…

To Grow What You Know, Expand How You Show: Graduate Students Explore Multigenre

Dorothy Suskind

In an effort to impart and demonstrate the importance to my pre-service teachers of creating a curriculum that encourages inquiry, infuses technology, utilizes authentic means of…

Online High School World History: Does Interaction Make a Difference?

Laura Cutchin Herring, Lorraine Clevenger-Schmertzing

This study investigated the online interaction between students and teachers as well as student interaction preferences, student perceptions of learning and of online classes, and…

Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan: You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer

Ruth S. Busby

This lesson plan can be used with elementary students to integrate reading, social studies, and language arts. You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer is a humorous, yet accurate…

Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan— Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World

Lin Lin

This lesson plan uses Amelia to Zora as an anchor book for an extended unit to discuss women’s contributions to the modern world. The lesson plan provides an annotated…

Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan: A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie “Peanut” Johnson

Melinda Odom Staubs

This lesson uses, A Strong Right Arm, a book about Mamie Johnson and her experiences as an African-American girl who played baseball in the days when the major leagues were…

Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan: Boxes for Katje

Barbara Hatcher

Boxes for Katje is based on a true story of an American girl who sent a care package to a young Dutch girl. As a result of the package and an exchange of letters, Katje’s family…

Notable Books Lesson Plan: Be My Neighbor

Cynthia Szymanski Sunal, Dennis W. Sunal

Be My Neighbor is a Global Fund for Children book that focuses on the characteristics of a neighborhood and how certain traits are shared in communities around the world. Because…

Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan: Recess at 20 Below

Kathleen J. Tate

This lesson plan is based upon Cindy Lou Aillaud’s book Recess at 20 Below and serves as a catalyst for exploring how the climate and geography/ topography of the Alaskan region…

The Art of Relating Moral Education to Financial Education: An Equity Imperative

Thomas A. Lucey

To achieve a fully participatory society, all participants should receive equal opportunities for understanding the processes of acquiring, managing, and developing financial…

Ready-to-Teach Feature

Patrice Preston-Grimes

Fact or Fiction: Is Social Studies “History” in North Carolina’s Elementary Schools?

Tina L. Heafner, Amy J. Good, Katherine A. O’Connor, Jeff Passe, Tracy Rock, Sandra P. Byrd, Sandra B. Oldendorf, Eric Groce

Elementary students in North Carolina are not required to take social studies standardized tests. As a result, assumptions about social studies instruction have emerged. The…

Podcasting: A Beginner’s Guide to Technology’s Latest Trend

Liza Turner McAninch, Kathleen Owings Swan, Mark Hofer

This article provides a starting place for teachers wanting to dabble with the latest trend in technology—podcasting. The authors present a general overview of a tool that will…

Questions of Disbelief: Can We Transform the Situation? Or Is Rome Burning?

Lois McFadyen Christensen

Out of diminishing democratic ideals upon which this country was founded due to the blurring of the governmental branches by the current administration, one of the most worrisome…