This inquiry is an autoethnography of my experiences as a Black American male serving as a methods of social studies instructor to preservice teachers. Although some may deem this study as subjective, I have embraced that designation to provide insider information to others that face intersectionality and to inform institutional practices in…

This study explores texts used in four 7th-11th grade teachers' history/social studies lessons and these teachers' perspectives about the texts. Specifically, data from interview and observation field notes were analyzed to determine (a) the number, types, and modes of texts teachers used in their lessons and (b) teachers' perspectives on the…

In this design-based study, a flipped learning approach using audio-visual resources as prelearning activities was examined in grades 6, 7, and 9 with four teachers and 65 students over one school year. The purpose of this study was to explore the implementation of a technology-enhanced pedagogy in science, math, and social studies. The…

The authors of this article, a 7-12 English teacher, a 7-12 social studies teacher, sought to cultivate spaces where their students could "wrestle with making sense of systemic oppression that exists within historic, geographic, and economic structures of our reality" (Duncan et al., 2023, p. 241) and, hopefully, sustain their civic…

Teachers value students' close reading of and text-based writing about diverse texts while eliciting their awareness of the world, privilege, and power. Carefully selected literature coupled with primary sources can bridge the classroom and society. To engage modern students in America's racialized past and present, this article guides teachers to…

Hull-House was a unique social experiment by which Jane Addams realized her egalitarian vision for a shared civic life. Facing soaring social problems of the early twentieth century, Hull-House's most important mission was to help new immigrants learn the rule of self-government and become successful drivers of it. Hull-House was an unusual group…

Many American high school government and history teachers aim to convey curriculum content without bringing in their own personal political beliefs or biases. However, in the hyperpolarized political climate of the past decade, teachers have grappled with teaching their courses when potentially controversial political or cultural issues come up in…

Students in the United States learn about the history of enslavement throughout their educational experiences. Yet our understanding of what students from different racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds know about this difficult period in American history is limited. In this study, we use mixed methods to examine written narratives of students'…

The authors share design principles from a middle school social studies unit that explored questions of local history and engaged students in extended work with complex texts. The unit involved constructing a problem space for students to explore multiple historical texts. Within that problem space, students had opportunities to develop focal…

A troubling observation is that--outside of Black History Month in February and Women's History Month in March, during which students are acquiring some knowledge about noteworthy women and minorities--teachers in every grade level often teach about the same figures rather than expanding their lessons to include less-conventional or…

Digital technologies have expanded access to a wealth of resources stored in archives. But authenticating, describing, and indexing these resources requires painstaking work. Most cultural institutions (e.g., museums and libraries) lack the financial resources and workforce to optimize searchability and readability of digitized records, which…

When John Lewis sought to change segregation laws in 1960 Nashville, Tennessee, he did so through nonviolent sit-ins. Throughout U.S. history, activists like John Lewis have turned to social change tactics outside of the institutions of democracy from which they have been largely excluded. However, social studies curricula rarely frame these…

Homeland can be described as the territory in which people who are bound to each other with several ties and have common values. It's one of the most valuable heritages which has been left to us from former generations, and will be transformed to future generations. There are great responsibilities on us, families, education and especially our…

Millions of teachers regularly turn to Internet sharing sites such as Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers for curriculum resources and ideas. While this innovative technology poses a number of advantages for teachers who are almost never given an appropriate amount of time to engage in curriculum planning, and who can supplement their…

The primary-grade years offer a critical opportunity to engage children in understanding and navigating their social world; in discovering the historical events, people, and movements that have shaped contemporary life; in finding--both literally and figuratively--their place in the world; and in understanding how people live together, resolve…