The storming of the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021 shocked the world and challenged democratic norms. Considerations on how to teach the events of January 6th remains an open question, not just for the United States but for other democratic nations, including Germany. This comparative case study explored the similarities and differences in how US…

This essay places David Graeber's consistent focus on imagination and possibilities into conversation with social studies education. In a sociopolitical climate characterized by neoliberalism, militarized borders, and political censorship of social studies teaching and learning in P-12 schools, it is crucial that social studies teachers and…

Historically, social studies teaching (and teacher education) discourses have focused on the cognitive registers, both in how teachers teach--their inquiries, objectives, and aims--and in how social studies teaching lives are imagined to be lived (and felt). This study departs from these discourses to focus on the affective registers, aiming to…

This research presents the testimonios of Mexicana youth. Through a qualitative research design, this centered on the central question: How does testimonio in the social studies classroom serve as a decolonizing practice and how does this impact Mexicana students? and secondary question: How do Mexicana make meaning and reclaim identity using…

We often hear that a key purpose of schooling is to prepare students for informed and active citizenship. But what does this look like in practice? How do teachers pursue this goal amid other pressing priorities, including student mastery of both academic content and social-emotional competencies? "Students Taking Action Together," based…

Purpose: The article explores how the tension between embracing and scrutinising democracy can be productively overcome through social science teaching about democracy that focuses on trust as a subject content. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical materials were collected through focus group interviews before and after an inquiry-based teaching…

This study explores social studies teachers' self-reported instruction about teaching the 2020 election in U.S. secondary schools. We analyzed survey responses from 1,723 secondary social studies teachers from 12 states (3 left-leaning, 3 right-leaning, 6 battleground) collected in the weeks after the election, examining self-reported pedagogies,…

Political history lends itself to traditional patterns of teaching and learning in social studies such as students memorizing facts presented in lectures or textbooks. This article presents a recurring activity structure for teaching U.S. political history--Consensus Circle Presidential Rating (CCPR)--which requires students to read across…

For the past 2 decades, the field of social studies education has seen an increase in research on the use of discussions as an essential instructional technique. This book examines the importance of using quality dialogue as a tool to help students understand complex issues in social studies. This edited volume provides a collection of well-known,…

Purpose: In this Report we analyse the place of civic education in the Greek Education system. The integration of civic education into education since 1982 represents a major step forward in the upgrading of general education. However the curricula are mainly characterised by teacher-centred approaches, with a strong emphasis on the achievement of…

Social studies education provides unique opportunities for students to learn about the democratic process and, more importantly, how to engage in civic life to become active citizens. It is through meaningful social studies education that students are deliberately helped to understand the world, and are provided space to discuss, deliberate, and…

This article situates spoken word poetry as a discussion-based practice for the social studies classroom. Similar to traditional forms of discussion like debate and deliberation, spoken word poetry engages students in multiple perspectives, allows students to make critical arguments about the world, and creates a space for student voices to have…

This article examines three examples of inquiry-based curricular loops, each of which focuses on a particular social studies concept. The article begins with a civics teacher (Andrew Danner) who uses a series of structured inquiries highlighting the concept of power as it relates to the three branches of government and the role of citizens in a…

This study investigates the hopes of a group of Finnish of ninth-graders and how hopeful they are. This study also explores how to teach in a way that promotes hope. The theoretical framework of this study combines two different theories of hope, C. R. Snyder's psychological hope theory and Paulo Freire's philosophy of hope. This study holds that…

State educational standards prescribing curricular and instructional objectives reveal much about the nation's lack of consensual understanding of patriotism. For example, many state standards finally encourage a non-committal arms-length approach to the study of American ideals in government and tradition. Yet, if students are to understand the…