Spatial thinking skills are competencies individuals will need in their lives in order to know and understand the world and to perceive the space correctly. In order for individuals to have these competencies, effective training in the development of spatial thinking skills should occur. Spatial thinking skills can be acquired through…

This study explored the positionalities of migrant social studies teachers in New York City and how those positionalities inform their perceptions and pedagogical practices of citizenship education. The findings demonstrated that migrant teachers' minoritized racial, cultural, linguistic, and religious backgrounds, together with their lack of…

Scholars of citizenship education have long regarded deliberation as the default framework for democratic discussion in the classroom and beyond. Turning to the history and theory of rhetoric, we question why the deliberative model of the Athenian assembly has been developed for social studies pedagogy without including the litigative discourse of…

The purpose of this non-experimental research study was three-fold: (1) to investigate the relationships among the attributes of creative problem solving ability (divergent thinking, convergent thinking, motivation, general knowledge and skills, and environment) and their relationships in the humanities (specifically those that took enrichment…

To increase reading volume and help students access challenging texts, the authors propose a four-dimensional framework for text sets. The quad text set framework is designed around a target text: a challenging content area text, such as a canonical literary work, research article, or historical primary source document. The three remaining…

This article describes how one social studies class used chants to express themselves. One student's chant communicated her understandings of citizenship; it included three specific ways that she can be a good responsible citizen. This student's communication of ideas reflects the fourth dimension of the Inquiry Arc in the College, Career, and…

One of the authors, Erin Green, recognized the importance of learning about her students' identities early in the year to support her relationships with students. She also saw an opportunity for an initial inquiry into identity, which would model aspects of her approach to social studies. Her goals for this initial inquiry were to support…

The aim of this study is to determine the prospective teachers' past field trip experiences and examine their self-efficacy beliefs in planning and organizing field trips with an educational intent regarding various variables. The study was carried via cross-sectional design and the data of the research study was gathered from total 366…

The reviewed article, "The Impact of Student Political Identity Over the Course of an Online Controversial Issue Discussion," represents a timely response to the eye-opening influences of social media in modern political climates. Particularly, the project provides a useful model and relevant findings for future teachers and teacher…

Purpose: To understand what motivates students for social studies. Design: Social studies as a school subject is defined in terms of its contents (knowledge, skills, values), by its teaching methods and by the organisational regulation of how students and teachers should engage in the subject. Student motivation for these components of social…

This article captures a service learning initiative that blends an existing national program designed to teach economic principles to K-12 students with elementary education teacher candidates enrolled in a social studies methods course. The initiative gives candidates the hands-on experience of teaching national and state objectives in the area…

In this study, it is aimed to determine the perceptions of social studies teacher candidates regarding the topics of science, scientific research and scientists. In the study adopting the qualitative research approach, data was gathered through both the metaphor form and interviews. The study was conducted in a university located in Ankara.…

Learning child protection requires more of students than simply understanding 'what to do' in legislative and policy terms. Students must reflect on their implicit belief systems to effectively respond to child protection concerns as future professionals. This is an instructional article describing a scenario-based survey methodology to increase…

Social studies continues to be marginalized in elementary grades, yet the "C3 Framework" and its Inquiry Arc offer possibilities for high-quality elementary social studies instruction. However, the "C3 Framework" requires that teachers possess an adequate understanding of how to implement inquiry within the various social…

The rising prevalence of data visualizations in the political and economic spheres requires an increasingly data literate population. Data are used to persuade people how to vote, support policies, adopt arguments or agendas, and buy products. Furthermore, data literacy is a specialized literacy skill that students need to employ to make meaning…