While there are obvious benefits of summer school for students and faculty alike, summer teaching/learning poses some unique challenges. Summer class meeting periods often have fewer contact hours but are longer and more frequent than sessions during the regular academic year. Thus, there are shorter periods between formative and summative…

This article examines how three secondary social studies teachers made meaning of global education, and how those perspectives informed their pedagogy in regards to teaching a range of topics around global education. Using data from a 9 month qualitative study, this article also analyzes the societal discourses that influenced the teachers'…

The aim of this study was to determine the self efficacy beliefs of pre-service social studies teachers. For this purpose, the scales developed in various areas were examined, the opinions of experts were taken and a final scale was created to be used for this study. The validity and reliability of the scale were checked. The validity coefficient…

For many Americans, citizenship and patriotism are associated with reciting the nation's Pledge of Allegiance. Therefore, this study asks the following questions: What do future teachers think about the concepts embedded in the Pledge, and what are their opinions on the usefulness of the Pledge in schools, as well as society in general? Results…

Research showed that children's school-entry academic skills are strong predictors of their later achievement, thereby highlighting the importance of children's achievement at kindergarten entry. This article defines a particular type of parental involvement in children's education and uses a representative sample of American urban kindergarteners…

Background: This paper considers how textbooks resolve the tension between contradictory goals of promoting a cohesive national identity while teaching respect and equality among diverse social groups in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada. Purpose: The article presents preliminary results of a larger study examining the content of required civic…

For years, researchers have shown the value of using real-world data to enhance instruction in mathematics, science, and social studies. In an effort to help develop students' higher-order thinking skills in a data-rich learning environment, Green Research for Incorporating Data in the Classroom (GRID[subscript C]), a National Science…

Many international schools embrace social studies education, and service learning embedded within the social studies curriculum is often the norm rather than the exception. Helping students help others in any setting is powerful. In a richly diverse venue there are added benefits. The "third-culture kids" attending international schools…

This article provides an inside look at Barbara Knighton's classroom teaching. She uses big ideas to guide her planning and instruction and gives other teachers suggestions for adopting the big idea approach and ways for making the approach easier. This article also represents a "small slice" of a dozen years of collaborative research,…

While the general dynamics governing collective memory processes are well developed theoretically, our tool kit for systematically assessing how collective memory changes over time remains limited. Here, we focus on a particular tragic event--the killing of five participants in an anti-KKK march in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Nov. 3, 1979--to…

On April 20, 2010, an offshore oil-drilling platform exploded, spilling millions of gallons of oil into the gulf. From Louisiana to the Gulf Coast of Florida the effects are being felt by fisherman, shrimpers, dive charters, and other hardworking folks who depend on the water for their livelihood. But there is another population in these coastal…

This article proposes that Christian Religious Education (CRE) today requires the practice of "organic hybridity" in fluid and shifting "diasporic spaces," the prerequisite for which is the recognition that "hybrid subjectivities" is characteristic of our current postmodern, postcolonial, transnational, globalized world. Toward this aim, CRE must…

The intent of this article is to examine the significance of Carter G. Woodson to the historical development of the fields of curriculum and social studies, particularly as they relate to the evolution of the modern multicultural movement. The authors focus on Woodson's contributions through his curriculum and his pedagogical efforts in…

Student engagement--it's what every educator strives for. When a lesson includes showing a movie and involving students in a discussion about it, it's even harder to get--and keep--students engaged. What if there was a free, easy way to engage one's students during lessons like this, meeting them "where they live" with technology, effortlessly…

Early childhood curricula should be authentic and child-centered, however, many teachers still rely on direct instruction lessons. To better define how an integrated curriculum meets the needs of students, this study examined teacher talk and actions during instructional activities with first and second graders under two conditions: (1)…