Common sense thinking on international professional development suggests that the rewards for teachers are automatic. One of the most frequently advertised gains teachers are expected to see from participation includes the likelihood that they will have a transformative experience, whereby aspects of their personal or professional attributes are…

Teaching about controversial issues is a powerful tool in the repertoire of civic educators. Despite widespread agreement concerning the social, academic, and civic benefits to be gained from discussing controversial public issues within the classroom, empirical research reveals that doing so is a rare occurrence. While the literature explains…

Communicative self-efficacy serves as an important link between discussing controversial issues and civic engagement because confidence in one's discourse skills is important to managing conflicting perspectives and developing solutions to community-based problems. Freely available to schools, "Word Generation" is a cross-content…

This study demonstrates the potential for teacher research to lead to critical inquiry and change in social studies classrooms. It presents four portraits of experienced social studies teachers engaged in critical teacher research. These teachers posed critical questions about the means and purposes of schooling, while engaging their students in…

This article describes a service-learning intervention, the CivicConnections Program, as implemented by 96 teachers in 32 site-based teams in 21 states during 2004-2005. Each of the 32 teams was responsible for multiple service-based, social studies classrooms serving a total of more than 2500 students in grades 3-12. The individual…

Two criteria for social studies programs are presented: (1) deal directly with the concept of justice, and (2) provide for the direct practice of citizenship. Four texts are examined for meeting the criteria. Finally, a hypothetical grades 1-12 program is described that meets the criteria. (ND)

A social studies curriculum for adolescent mental patients which studies the microcosm and social issues of the mental hospital is described. (DE)

Description of the development, trial, and evaluation of an interdisciplinary family life curriculum program consisting of four courses for high school students. The impact of the courses on student knowledge, inquiry skills, attitudes, and preferences was assessed. (Author/ND)

The call for support of beginning teachers has ebbed and flowed over the years with the tide of educational reform. Recently, the call has taken on a more urgent and distinct tenor, focusing on specialized support for secondary teachers. This paper reviews social studies education literature in view of making the case for specialized support…