For democracy to thrive, students increasingly need to participate in democratic education. During the first half of the twentieth century, two education reformers individually developed, refined, and implemented two different forms of democratic education. In this article, the author describes the purpose of public schooling and how John Dewey…

While the remarkable accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin are unparalleled, the means of their attainment can be considered more accessible to ordinary people and not necessarily attributable to a special genius. The steady development of Franklin's knowledge and skills is traced in light of a new model of "dynamic learning," which is a method…

The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), in conjunction with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the nation's leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education, is committed to bringing an expanded focus to social studies teachers. The two organizations have collaborated on some exciting…

In this article, the author shares a lesson that uses the Message in a Bottle concept. This lesson combines social studies, language arts, technology, and art, particularly studying and drawing portraits and utilizing values within a drawing. As part of their grade-four art curriculum, students are required to correctly proportion the face and the…

There is so much more to preparing a citizen than merely running students like lemmings through a three-year succession of history survey courses. Everyone is neglecting most of the social sciences in American high schools today, favoring the sequential and systematic delivery of history. What should be primary in the teaching of social studies,…

Critics charge that social studies education often fails at the most rudimentary level because there is a tendency to "play it safe" by focusing on general abstractions while avoiding discussion of specific--and often times controversial--topics. In this article, the author argues that one way in which social studies teachers can overcome such…

Designed for students who already have some facility in map reading, but who would like to develop their skills in a game situation. Objectives are for students to develop and practice the skills of using scale, grid location, symbols, and direction. Includes a list of materials, rules, and modifications. (Author/JK)

Provides a lesson plan designed to increase student map skills. Objectives are to (1) trace a route on a street map; (2) use symbols for locating skills; and (3) employ mileage scales to determine distance. Includes the procedures and an answer key. (RW)

Presents a mapping activity which helps students understand the purpose of latitude and longitude lines. Gives students an opportunity to use longitude and latitude in a meaningful way by asking them to plan a world concert tour for a rock star. Includes a reproducible activity page. (LS)

The author draws on the voices of beginning teachers in a particular teacher education program and his own experiences as a teacher educator in several different settings to account for preservice teacher reflection and resistance to rationale-based social studies teacher education. Twelve categories represent the perspectives of beginning social…

In 2004, an upper Midwestern school district received a grant to administer content-specific professional development to teachers of American history. A series of nine master's level, degree-eligible courses were developed and administered by the local university's history department. At the conclusion of the grant activities in spring of 2008,…

Teacher candidates in secondary social studies education come to their methods course eager to share their passion for the subject. Enthusiasm often turns to confusion and frustration when they are confronted with unforeseen decisions about the content they will teach before they determine the instructional strategies for teaching that material.…

In this study, a group of teacher educators converse about their teaching practice in light of a new provincial K-12 program of social studies. The most noteworthy feature of this new program is its explicit call for teachers to include Aboriginal and Francophone perspectives as they teach to the program's two central themes of…

This pilot study aimed at developing and validating an evaluation model to assess the impact of participation in the National History Day in Ohio program (NHD-OH) on students academic achievement and intellectual growth by using as key indicators: a) High-stakes tests, i.e., Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT) in Social Studies, Reading and Writing; b)…

The author examined the practice of transformative pedagogy in an undergraduate teacher education program. The research was guided by two questions: What is the impact of transformative pedagogy on fostering preservice teachers' transformative learning? and What practices of transformative pedagogy impact student transformative learning?…