Project-based learning (PBL) is a relatively recent innovation in teaching methodology that uses real-world learning activities to engage student interest and motivation. PBL equips students with skills necessary for the current job market: communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. This paper provides an overview of PBL,…

In recent decades, history and education scholars in the Western world have argued for a constructivist approach to disciplinary thinking in the teaching and learning of History, known as "historical thinking". Yet, there has been little classroom-based empirical research exploring how teachers engage with historical thinking theory,…

Research indicates that social studies classrooms, as they currently exist, are a site of suffering for Black students. This is largely because social studies curricula limit Black experiences to oppression and liberation. In this article, we propose implementing and centering Black joy in social studies classrooms to help social studies education…

The main goal in this study was to explore the impact of a professional learning community (PLC) on social studies (SS) teachers' professional development (PD) and student academic achievement. With this in mind, the study was carried out using a design-based research approach with an overarching ADDIE design model. The participants of the study…

World history curriculum in the United States is Eurocentric. By downplaying contributions from non-Western societies, state standards of world history in the modern era create a narrative of the West as a driver of progress and Europe as the primary protagonist of global events. Research further shows social studies teachers rely on such state…

Social studies educators who applaud discourse-based approaches may benefit by adding research on argumentation to their conceptual toolkit. We make the case here for its value, in particular emphasizing that argumentation skill needs to develop, suggesting an apprenticeship model of this development and highlighting evidence supporting it.

This article presents a qualitative practitioner research study designed to understand how a morally complex Israel curriculum impacts the nature of secondary school students' relationships with Israel. The research was conducted with 31 students enrolled in an elective about Israeli society at a Jewish high school in Canada. At both the start and…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian violence in the United States has risen significantly. Many Asian American students have been disproportionately harassed in schools and fear resuming in-person learning. Thus, educators must resist returning to the old normal. Instead, they can reimagine the pandemic as a portal to justice for Asian…

In this manuscript, the authors discuss a seven-day research project that occurred within the Birmingham metropolitan area where fourth graders researched the role that public issues played in the creation of two suburban school systems in their city. We coded student work samples to look for themes. Emergent themes from student work samples are…

Situating NYC's Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history curriculum initiative as part of the nationwide movement for K-12 ethnic studies, this article aims to explore perspectives and experiences of six Asian American and migrant elementary teachers regarding the new AAPI history curriculum initiative in NYC. Teachers' stories,…

History teaching and learning make intellectual demands on both teachers and students, requiring them to travel back in time and engage with complex issues and distant lifestyles. History education research advocates the use of approaches that portray History as an intellectually engaging subject but the application of cognitive research to…

The Grosvenor Center for Geographic Education and National Center for Research in Geography Education propose a new framework for geography called Powerful Geography, which revolutionizes the traditional notion of standards in geography education. Combining Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum's principles of human capabilities, Michael Young's theory…

The absence of social studies curriculum is a problem because it undermines the essential purposes of schooling: to prepare participatory, contributing members of a democratic society. In this article, we argue that integrating the literacy and social studies curricula is one meaningful way to support such civic-minded social studies instruction…

Given the cultural diversity and pluralistic nature of the United States, an important part of citizenship education is helping children learn how to engage respectfully and dialogically with people whose beliefs and ways of life may differ significantly from their own. Such engagement is necessary for peaceful co-existence, as well as in the…

This essay is a critical analysis of elements of the Social Studies Toolkit and related materials developed by the New York State Education Department. It addresses misunderstandings of historical theory and method and the presentation of historical knowledge and information by department staff and affiliates, the consequences of which puts…