Using historical thinking for analyzing the teaching and learning of secondary school history, this paper contributes to literature and debates on the pedagogical potential of museums in this endeavor. Despite the existence of museums and expansive literature on their historical significance in various world settings, there has not been much…

The study aimed to evaluate what the underlying reasons were for the low level of interest among lower secondary school pupils in the social studies course. The phenomenology was adopted in the research. The study group of the research consisted of academics, teachers, and parents of lower secondary school pupils. Pareto analysis was used to…

Artists have long addressed social injustices within popular music. As teachers consider how to deconstruct and teach the events of 2020 (and beyond) with an eye toward the future, we offer a novel pedagogical approach to incorporating music into the social studies classroom: the set-list. The set-list can be understood as containing temporal…

In addition to the continuing need for citizens who can address the challenges of "human" communities, growing concerns have arisen regarding "all" life on the planet. Indeed, one of our most urgent conditions is the decline of the environment upon which all life depends. Yet, despite our concerns, there remain vastly differing…

The aim of this article is to present a pedagogical approach for history education. This approach is called Meaningful History and it outlines the process by which upper-level secondary history students can cultivate historical consciousness. Based on the notion of learning as meaning making and historical consciousness as a disposition to engage…

In recent decades, history and education scholars in the Western world have argued for a constructivist approach to disciplinary thinking in the teaching and learning of History, known as "historical thinking". Yet, there has been little classroom-based empirical research exploring how teachers engage with historical thinking theory,…

Social studies preservice teachers will start their career with the aim of raising "good person-good citizen" for the ideal society. Believing in this important purpose and being aware of the field will contribute to the realization of the ideal society objective. Yet, it is necessary to try to raise this awareness in the most enjoyable…

Students learned to perform first-person presentation to display information researched through an inquiry process. Teachers helped students learn inquiry during instructional time. Teachers, parents, and guardians worked together to support student learning in a high poverty and low educational attainment Appalachian community. The character the…

This article explores how primary sources can be used to teach students about race and racism. Researchers co-taught a general education class on Critical Race Theory and utilized a combination of primary and secondary sources. This article includes a review of relevant literature that informed the development of this class and one major…

The role of literacy in social studies education has been greatly elevated over the last decade. The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) models through the indicators of its C3 Framework how to strengthen K-12 students' disciplinary thinking, literacy, and argumentation skills in the four core social studies disciplines: civics,…

This paper examines data from a statewide survey of K-12 social studies teachers in one midwestern state regarding their perceptions on the ways in which they integrate issues of race and justice into their classes, or their reasons for not doing so in their role as Instructional Gatekeeper.

This article describes research investigating mass media's influence on elementary-aged children's understanding of world cultures through the lens of serendipitous learning. The qualitative study explored the ideas children constructed about other countries, cultures, and people through their unmediated use of various media including movies,…

The field of education in America--oft-viewed as a catalyst for change and self-improvement--has a racist history, which is often undiscussed by teachers and likely unknown to students. This article guides high school students to explore how educational texts, tasks, and policies have been products and producers of racist ideas in the past and…

In February 2019, two nations with the largest nuclear arsenals announced their withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Russia's interference in U.S. elections and the invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated tensions between the U.S. and Russia. These actions bring renewed attention to nuclear nonproliferation efforts…

The marginalization of social studies has led to many questions about how elementary teachers include social studies in their curriculum. Using a survey distributed to Texas teachers, this study explores the instructional strategies, integration emphasis, and content area instructional time utilized in the elementary classroom. Through a…