In this article, the author describes one way to teach about religion in elementary school social studies using the C3 Framework IDM model. The compelling question that guides the lesson focuses specifically on whether Judaism is a race, religion, or ethnicity. Each compelling and supporting question in the lesson is connected to one or more…

Teaching about religion in public schools is a complicated and nuanced topic. Though religious illiteracy has been named as a widespread concern throughout the United States, little research has been conducted that critically analyzes what teachers are asked to cover. Preservice teachers often confess they do not understand what they are and are…

Consistent with national and international trends, K-12 classrooms in the United States reflect the shift towards increased levels of diversity. Elementary classrooms continue to flourish with students who possess an abundance of cultural and personal experiences. The United States is becoming not only more culturally and linguistically diverse,…

All individuals expect to be informed about and respectful of human rights for the sake of international peace. This study aims to evaluate students' views and suggestions on Religious Culture and Ethics courses regarding human rights education in Turkey. A qualitative method was followed by adopting a case study inquiry. The participants were 7th…

The purpose of this study was to examine how 22 elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs) planned and taught lessons on world religions to 7th-grade students. Pre- and post-lesson interview transcripts, lesson observations, as well as PST lesson plans and reflection journals served as data sources. Prior to teaching, the PSTs lacked adequate…

A growing interest in the communication to students of the mission and identity of a higher education institution prompted this study about the presence of Catholic, Jesuit values in the introductory religious studies course at a faith-based university. To conduct this study a survey instrument was developed, piloted, further refined, and then…

This qualitative descriptive study examined the attitudes, awareness, and actions of elementary teacher prep faculty at NCATE accredited universities on issues of preparing elementary school teachers for teaching "about" religion within the curriculum. The purpose of this study was to learn more about what colleges of education are currently…

The mere mention of the terms religion and public education in the same sentence has both educators and parents gasping aloud. Moreover, although most state adopted sixth-grade textbooks contain a fair amount of content on the world's religions, but it is also true that many social studies teachers choose to omit that content. Black (2003, 4)…

The "ISSS Annual Conference Proceedings" is a peer-reviewed professional publication published once a year following the annual conference. The following papers are included in the 2013 proceedings: (1) Teaching About Asia in a Social Science Education Program (Cyndi Mottola Poole and Joshua L. Kenna); (2) Teaching Students about…