Stewart Waters and William B. Russell III
Cultural geography is a unique, diverse, contested, and at times, confusing branch of study in the geography curriculum. Much like many other sub-branches of the social sciences…
Abstract
Cultural geography is a unique, diverse, contested, and at times, confusing branch of study in the geography curriculum. Much like many other sub-branches of the social sciences, there has been significant controversy and struggle over the place of cultural geography in the curriculum. This article encourages social studies teachers to consider new approaches to teaching cultural geography concepts, while also utilizing a variety of instructional methods to engage students in a meaningful and enriching exploration of cultures all over the world. A rationale is discussed for incorporating the use of monuments and memorials as an instructional tool to teach cultural geography. In addition, this article provides teachers with a classroom tested activity on how monuments and memorials can be used as instruments to study cultural geography and how this topic can be implemented into a secondary geography or history classroom.
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Irenea Walker and William B. Russell
This research study focuses on fifth-grade African American students who attend an all-Black charter school whose administration and teachers are committed to providing Black…
Abstract
Purpose
This research study focuses on fifth-grade African American students who attend an all-Black charter school whose administration and teachers are committed to providing Black history instruction throughout the year. To fulfill the school's mission, the teachers integrate additional resources into the curriculum that includes lessons and activities about Black history. Therefore, the study sought to answer the following question: How does learning Black history throughout the school year impact African American fifth-grade students' self-esteem and positive self-image? The authors examined student work, conducted observations and listened as the participants engaged in critical discussions about race and racism.
Design/methodology/approach
Way to Go (WTG) is a K-12 public charter school located in an urban mid-size city in Florida, with a 100% Black student population; all WTG students receive scholarships and free lunch. The 15 participants in this study self-identified as African American fifth-grade students. The authors conducted a qualitative research study that included 13 observations, an analysis of five student work samples and a focus group interview with seven students. They used interpretative phenomenology to gather African American fifth-grade students' experiences and their interpretations of these experiences (Moustakas, 1994) while acquiring information about Black history.
Findings
The themes that emerged are it's time to go, unsung heroes and Black history is exciting. In the first theme, they learned why Blacks migrated from the South to northern cities and understood why it was time for them to go. Next, they explored the history of unsung Blacks who inspired them to think about a variety of careers to pursue. Finally, they were excited to learn Black history because they understood the importance of learning this history in order to grapple with current events, and they recognized that knowledge of this history would improve their self-worth and life choices.
Originality/value
WTG charter school exemplifies what schools should attain for regarding the teaching of Black history. Since elementary school provides the foundation for learning, it is the best time to teach African American students about self-esteem and what it means to be proud of their Blackness. The fifth-graders in this study exemplified how African American students take pride in their history and have a positive sense of self-worth when taught Black history. Black history lessons and activities such as the ones utilized in WTG school will benefit African American students and contribute to their success as students.
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Brian Furgione, Kelsey Evans, Irenea Walker and William B. Russell III
Over the last 40 years, K-12 education has seen a continuous and significant increase in the amount of mandated standardized testing. This rise in standardized testing has led…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the last 40 years, K-12 education has seen a continuous and significant increase in the amount of mandated standardized testing. This rise in standardized testing has led many in the field to question the extent to which these tests are affecting students, teachers and schools. The purpose of this paper is to explore the results of a social studies standardized test, specifically, the Florida Civics End-of-Course assessment.
Design/methodology/approach
Researchers used population data for seventh grade students and aggregated countywide proficiency rates from 2013–2016 for comparative statistical measures. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were utilized to identify emerging trends using mean proficiency percentages when accounting for race, gender and socioeconomic status.
Findings
Initial findings indicated disparity within each subgroup (R2=0.511 (2013–2014), 0.500 (2014–2015) and 0.456 (2015–2016)). Following an analysis of the results, the conclusion and implications discuss the influence of standardized testing in social studies education.
Originality/value
This is a large-scale project that has never been done.
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THE RADIO TECHNICAL COMMISSION FOR AERONAUTICS have recently considered “Upgrading the Air Traffic Control System”. Primarily, it was a progress review of the “third generation”…
Abstract
THE RADIO TECHNICAL COMMISSION FOR AERONAUTICS have recently considered “Upgrading the Air Traffic Control System”. Primarily, it was a progress review of the “third generation” as it has evolved since the 1969 report of the Air Traffic Control advisory committee; originally the Alexander Committee.
A collection of essays by a social economist seeking to balanceeconomics as a science of means with the values deemed necessary toman′s finding the good life and society enduring…
Abstract
A collection of essays by a social economist seeking to balance economics as a science of means with the values deemed necessary to man′s finding the good life and society enduring as a civilized instrumentality. Looks for authority to great men of the past and to today′s moral philosopher: man is an ethical animal. The 13 essays are: 1. Evolutionary Economics: The End of It All? which challenges the view that Darwinism destroyed belief in a universe of purpose and design; 2. Schmoller′s Political Economy: Its Psychic, Moral and Legal Foundations, which centres on the belief that time‐honoured ethical values prevail in an economy formed by ties of common sentiment, ideas, customs and laws; 3. Adam Smith by Gustav von Schmoller – Schmoller rejects Smith′s natural law and sees him as simply spreading the message of Calvinism; 4. Pierre‐Joseph Proudhon, Socialist – Karl Marx, Communist: A Comparison; 5. Marxism and the Instauration of Man, which raises the question for Marx: is the flowering of the new man in Communist society the ultimate end to the dialectical movement of history?; 6. Ethical Progress and Economic Growth in Western Civilization; 7. Ethical Principles in American Society: An Appraisal; 8. The Ugent Need for a Consensus on Moral Values, which focuses on the real dangers inherent in there being no consensus on moral values; 9. Human Resources and the Good Society – man is not to be treated as an economic resource; man′s moral and material wellbeing is the goal; 10. The Social Economist on the Modern Dilemma: Ethical Dwarfs and Nuclear Giants, which argues that it is imperative to distinguish good from evil and to act accordingly: existentialism, situation ethics and evolutionary ethics savour of nihilism; 11. Ethical Principles: The Economist′s Quandary, which is the difficulty of balancing the claims of disinterested science and of the urge to better the human condition; 12. The Role of Government in the Advancement of Cultural Values, which discusses censorship and the funding of art against the background of the US Helms Amendment; 13. Man at the Crossroads draws earlier themes together; the author makes the case for rejecting determinism and the “operant conditioning” of the Skinner school in favour of the moral progress of autonomous man through adherence to traditional ethical values.
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Presents the scientific methodology from the enlarged cybernetical perspective that recognizes the anisotropy of time, the probabilistic character of natural laws, and the entry…
Abstract
Presents the scientific methodology from the enlarged cybernetical perspective that recognizes the anisotropy of time, the probabilistic character of natural laws, and the entry that the incomplete determinism in Nature opens to the occurrence of innovation, growth, organization, teleology communication, control, contest and freedom. The new tier to the methodological edifice that cybernetics provides stands on the earlier tiers, which go back to the Ionians (c. 500 BC). However, the new insights reveal flaws in the earlier tiers, and their removal strengthens the entire edifice. The new concepts of teleological activity and contest allow the clear demarcation of the military sciences as those whose subject matter is teleological activity involving contest. The paramount question “what ought to be done”, outside the empirical realm, is embraced by the scientific methodology. It also embraces the cognitive sciences that ask how the human mind is able to discover, and how the sequence of discoveries might converge to a true description of reality.
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Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…
Abstract
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.
Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).
The Corporation of the City of London are about to appoint a Public Analyst, and by advertisement have invited applications for the post. It is obviously desirable that the person…
Abstract
The Corporation of the City of London are about to appoint a Public Analyst, and by advertisement have invited applications for the post. It is obviously desirable that the person appointed to this office should not only possess the usual professional qualifications, but that he should be a scientific man of high standing and of good repute, whose name would afford a guarantee of thoroughness and reliability in regard to the work entrusted to him, and whose opinion would carry weight and command respect. Far from being of a nature to attract a man of this stamp, the terms and conditions attaching to the office as set forth in the advertisement above referred to are such that no self‐respecting member of the analytical profession, and most certainly no leading member of it, could possibly accept them. It is simply pitiable that the Corporation of the City of London should offer terms, and make conditions in connection with them, which no scientific analyst could agree to without disgracing himself and degrading his profession. The offer of such terms, in fact, amounts to a gross insult to the whole body of members of that profession, and is excusable only—if excusable at all—on the score of utter ignorance as to the character of the work required to be done, and as to the nature of the qualifications and attainments of the scientific experts who are called upon to do it. In the analytical profession, as in every other profession, there are men who, under the pressure of necessity, are compelled to accept almost any remuneration that they can get, and several of these poorer, and therefore weaker, brethren will, of course, become candidates for the City appointment.
Jeffrey Byford and William Russell
In the 1950s, social studies education came under attack from both citizens and the government for the failure to promote citizenship. Events both at home and abroad eventually…
Abstract
In the 1950s, social studies education came under attack from both citizens and the government for the failure to promote citizenship. Events both at home and abroad eventually led to a collective reexamination of the overall purpose and goals of social studies. As a result, over fifty curriculum projects were developed to promote individual social sciences and advances in curriculum design. The purpose of this article is to examine some of the major projects developed during the new social studies movement. As well, this article provides readers with an explanation of the various causes that led to curriculum changes. Due to the large number or projects, the authors have selected eight of the major projects to discuss and highlight.