The notion and practice of critical thinking (CT) has moved from its speculative formation by John Dewey to a standard element in teacher education curricula and standards. In the process, CT has narrowed its focus to the analysis and articulation of logical thought, and lost transformative value. In this paper, we examine the conception and…

The curriculum marketplace Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) claims that 85% of educators in the United States use the site. Despite substantial evidence that TPT offers low quality materials, little research has explored the impact of TPT on curriculum-making. We analyze 76 TPT seller sites from assignments submitted by teacher candidates in an…

Teaching controversial issues poses challenges for teacher candidates, stemming from apprehensions about potential backlash and gaps in content and pedagogical knowledge. The prevailing emphasis on tested subjects such as mathematics and reading/writing in elementary school education often sidelines social studies and science, limiting…

In response to national and state trends promoting inquiry-based social studies over the last decade, social studies teacher educators at the University of Kentucky revamped their pre-service program to create alignment around the key inquiry concepts of questions, tasks, and sources. Part of the program revision involved the creation of a new…

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…

This study attempted to understand the curricula in conveying the state's own understanding to individuals, according to the reconceptualization approach. As content, the social studies curricula (SSC), with the assumption that political influence would be seen most in these curricula, were examined. This study aims understanding the social…

This action research study honors teacher-as-researcher and utilizes qualitative methods of data collection alongside emergent design to study arts-integrated teaching and learning at a mid-sized Midwestern university in a social studies methods course. The thinking and learning of both pre-service teachers and the teacher educator/researcher are…

While recognized as a foundational practice, social studies educators struggle with enacting inquiry-based instruction. With critical inquiries that examine sociopolitical and other injustices, developing aligned compelling questions represents a challenge, particularly for elementary teachers. Informed by four lenses of criticality from social…

The University of Southern California (USC) Democracy Project responds to the inadequacies of traditional civics education, particularly its failure to engage marginalized students in meaningful democratic participation. Grounded in the theories of John Dewey and Paulo Freire, the project uses an action civics model to connect students with…

This article summarizes the results of interviews concerning intersections found among social studies and history education, climate education, and Indigenous studies. We explore what may be involved in curricular and pedagogical reform that better features these intersections, and what considerations arise in approaching reform in schools,…

Purpose: The article reports on and analyses the creation, development and implementation of a service-learning project involving primary and secondary school pupils and students of education (bachelor's and master's level), carried out in a real educational setting over the course of two academic years. Approach: The project was conducted within…

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,…

The current study explored the effect of a developed Geography curriculum framework towards promoting pre-service teachers' creative thinking (CT) across its 4 components namely: fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration through instructional media production. A research and development (R&D) model were employed which consisted of 3…

This manuscript presents findings and implications from a multiple case study of how teacher candidates in secondary and middle childhood programs learn specialized knowledge, skills, and expertise from disciplinary experts in content courses and enact practices of disciplinary literacy in field placements. An expert-novice framework was employed…

Drawing on teacher written responses, this research explores the emotional and affective experiences of teaching environmental issues, focusing particularly on the function and expression of hope along the unclear path toward appropriate action around the complex pedagogical and curricular implications of engaging climate crisis in education.