Youth are an ever-present component of conversations about culture, interconnectedness, and its effects, especially characterized as readily consuming all that globalization has to offer them. However, opportunities to acknowledge and legitimize the civic experiences youth have and the contributions they make to society have been overlooked in our…

Teachers of history (like all teachers) have a tool kit that holds all their methods and techniques and that allows them to construct a proper history lesson. This article proposes putting a tool into this kit that is generally missing from its contents. This tool supposedly belongs to the tool kit of a different subject teacher: the teacher of…

Students often report that social studies is their most boring and least favorite subject. As a child, Woodrow Wilson was bored by history, later describing his early studies as "one damn fact after another." Of course, Wilson went on to become an eminent historian, but only after he learned to reach beyond the "closed catechism" of "questions…

In the age of standardized testing, science and social studies are not given the same priority as mathematics and reading in the curriculum of United States schools. High stakes testing is viewed as having heavily biased schools toward teaching tested subjects and away from less frequently tested subjects. This paper is premised on the notion that…

This article presents an overview of major factors contributing to the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Descriptions of teaching resources and ideas for lesson plans are provided.

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (now known as technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge, or TPACK) has become a widely referenced conceptual framework within teacher education. It provides a common language to discuss the integration of technology into instruction (Koehler & Mishra, 2008) and builds upon the concepts of pedagogical…

The "Multiple Intelligences, Curriculum and Assessment Project" at University College Cork was a collaborative project carried out between 1995 and 1999. The key research question focused on whether Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences could be applied to, and enhance, aspects of curriculum and assessment at primary and…

This paper describes strategies used by the authors to assist preservice social studies teachers with understanding and applying models and practices for effectively integrating technology into their future classrooms--thus, strengthening the link between technology and pedagogy (or technological pedagogical content knowledge). Efforts with…

Discusses the group investigation teaching model, which combines inquiry and cooperative learning. Identifies the steps of group investigation as (1) establishing a focus, identifying subtopics, and forming groups; (2) planning the investigation; (3) carrying out the investigation; (4) preparing to share; (5) sharing; and (6) evaluation. Offers an…

Discusses the four aspects of Max Weber's argument against including advocacy in the political science classroom. Believes that Weber's critique is a useful starting point for considering the issue in relation to contemporary education. Describes two models, critical thinking and civic education, that present advocacy in the political science…

Describes a teaching model in which the teacher supplements the social studies text with children's literature to make historic events and people more meaningful to students. Suggests that teachers consider students' knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels when selecting activities. Includes diagrams…

Provides an introduction to the Serious-Fun model. Describes how it can be applied to social studies at the middle school level. Addresses some barriers that could undermine the model's application and ways for making social studies more interesting and relevant to students. Lists different activities according to Bloom's taxonomy. (CMK)

Discusses how four different teachers utilize active instruction in their social studies classrooms. Addresses how the textbooks should be used. Covers materials and objectives, the reactions of community members to new methods, and the benefits of active instruction over an increased workload. Discusses how to begin and provides a bibliography of…

Focuses on the use of classroom discussions as a teaching strategy and addresses the barriers to good classroom discussions. Explores the work of two teachers who successfully integrated discussion into their classrooms using two different techniques: (1) a seminar; and (2) a deliberation. Discusses the differences between seminars and…

Addresses the importance of teaching young people about foreign policy issues. Discusses state sovereignty and interpersonal and international conflict. Describes a reflective teaching approach in which a problem is identified, defined, and explored by probing questions. Suggests identifying value assumptions and alternatives, predicting…