In this article, I consider what Noddings' ideas about the critical lessons schools should teach might suggest for social education and critical thinking at the middle school level. Giving particular consideration to Noddings' calls to engage young people in self-understanding and allow students to pursue their interests, this article explores how…

In this article, I explore the relationship between teachers' preparation for the middle grades and their students' learning opportunities. I draw on data from a longitudinal case study to compare how a specialized middle grades preparation and a secondary social studies preparation relate to middle grades students' learning…

Recent efforts to define qualities of effective teaching practice have done little to capture the role of play, imagination, and creativity in classroom teaching. Drawing on theories of play and data from a two-year case study that included classroom observations, interviews, artifact collection, and surveys, the author examines the ways in which…

This research examines the preparation of middle grades social studies teachers by investigating opportunities for learning in 2 social studies methods courses in distinctive teacher education pathways: a specialized middle grades program and a secondary social studies program. The findings suggest that, although both methods course instructors…

In this comparative, longitudinal case study, the author investigates the two different pathways that have been most strongly advocated for certifying middle school social studies teachers: the specialized middle school and subject-specific secondary pathways. Drawing on classroom observations, interviews, documents, teacher and student work…

Drawing on sociological and cognitive psychological perspectives on teacher learning, this comparative case study investigates the myriad influences that shape teachers' learning in two divergent teacher education pathways. Specifically, this article explores a case of the two most common pathways into middle school teaching--the elementary and…

The author presents findings from the first phase of a longitudinal, comparative case study that investigates what teachers learn about intellectually demanding social studies teaching at the middle school level from two distinctive teacher education pathways: a specialized middle school teacher education program and a secondary social studies…

The majority of middle school teachers are prepared in either generalist elementary programs or subject-specific secondary programs, yet researchers and teacher educators have little understanding of the ways in which these divergent pathways prepare teachers for working at the middle school level. In this study, preservice teachers from an…