The Internet has become one of the most common instructional tools because of recent developments in telecommunications and Internet technology. Accordingly, educators increasingly support the use of the Internet in the social studies classroom. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate pre-service elementary teachers' beliefs about the…

The purpose of this mixed methodology study was to identify the frequency of reading comprehension instruction in middle and high school social studies and science classrooms. An additional purpose was to explore teachers' perceptions of and beliefs about the need for reading comprehension instruction. In 2,400 minutes of direct classroom…

This historical investigation explores how teachers, students, and education officials viewed the social studies curriculum in the local context of Atlanta, and the broader state of Georgia, during the post-Civil Rights era, when integration was a court-ordered reality in the public schools. During the desegregation era, Atlanta schools were led…

This study compared two techniques for teaching middle school students to compose from expository text sources, a common but difficult academic writing task. Classroom social studies content was used. Text structure instruction (TSI), which focused on text characteristics using graphic organizers, was compared with PLAN & WRITE for Summarization…

In the 1920s and 1930s, Paul R. Hanna and Harold O. Rugg developed new textbooks that integrated social studies curriculum in the elementary grades for the first time. Each author's curriculum; Hanna's expanding environments framework and Rugg's recurring concepts with a focus on contemporary issues has significantly impacted today's elementary…

This article operates under the assumption that social studies teachers must teach for democracy, as democracy is not something that occurs or maintains without citizens who have the capacities and demeanors for democratic renewal and growth. In an effort to argue for a democratic ethos towards schooling in general, and for social studies teachers…

The current study builds on previous research and theory in social studies curriculum to address how democracy is interpreted by secondary students through visual texts. The author begins with a brief exploration of hermeneutics as a theoretical framework for this work and a sketch of methodology employed in this study. The author then presents…

Incorporating autobiography into the classroom has the potential to facilitate reflective and interpretative practices, through which self-understanding and transformative learning may emerge. Bridging theory, practice, and the personal, this paper explores how autobiographical narratives were incorporated into a 9th grade social studies class to…

We report a qualitative case study of interpretive activity inside the current wave of the "international education" movement in U.S. schools. We used a sociological framework to examine how competing interpretations are mobilized in relation to one another and to the urgent discourses of Globalization and Terror. Data were gathered in interviews…

Social studies education is a field in which those involved--teachers and students--encounter what can be called "difficult knowledge". Difficult knowledge is a theoretical construct suggesting that when an individual encounters representations of social and historical trauma in a learning situation there exists a host of emotional and pedagogical…

This study examines the impact of the inclusive environment on student performance. As schools work to comply with the Least Restrictive Environment requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, including students into the general education environment has become the norm as opposed to the exception. The improvement in…

This paper collates some of the systematic ways that different cultural groups refer to space. In some cases, space is more strongly identified in terms of place than in school Indo-European mathematics approaches. The affinity to place does not reduce the efficient, abstract, mathematical system behind the reference but it does strengthen its…

Notwithstanding all the studies and data on schooling today, one has to go back more than a decade--to the 1998 Public Agenda study "A Lot to Be Thankful For"--for a serious attempt to examine what parents think public schools should teach children about citizenship. The annual Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup poll on schooling has not asked…

With an increasingly diverse nation and an ever-smaller world, global awareness is a necessity for today's students. This unique and indispensable handbook shows how teachers can use global literature to help students expand their worldview while developing increased respect for cultural diversity. The authors explain how to infuse global…

As I began my career as a teacher, I assumed leadership education would naturally be integrated into the elementary classroom curriculum because I was intrigued by this topic. However, as I spent more time in the classroom I quickly realized leadership skills were not part of regular classroom learning or practice for elementary age students. I…