The following lesson plan addresses the NCSS culture standard by using Old Turtle and the Broken Truth as an introductory lesson to the study of different cultures by highlighting the cultural universal of love.

In this article, we feature five students’ initial efforts at developing technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK). Five new teachers—four from social studies and one from English/humanities—developed lesson plans that attempt to integrate their own experiences, their evolving...

This column is a reminiscent piece about how the origin of my work in the social studies and social justice was launched by a thoughtful and dedicated renaissance teacher.

In today’s world, citizens must use scientific information to make choices and knowledgeable decisions in many aspects of civic affairs involving their everyday lives. Issues related to energy resources are important to everyone, because energy use and misuse affects people’s lives. Citizens...

This lesson plan can be used for compliance with the laws in twenty-nine states (and eleven in preparation) [New York Times, January 28, 2007] requiring that K-12 schools and school districts have plans in place for addressing bullying, teasing, and harassment in educational settings (including...

The work of John Dewey and his beliefs regarding student-centered learning are discussed in an effort to analyze the standardization of public education with a focus on social studies instruction. Using the Virginia Standards of Learning as a model, state standards are critiqued using Dewey’s...

Using a qualitative research design, this study examined the impact of a course that utilized transformative pedagogy to foster preservice teachers’ transformative learning in a social studies methods course. The study was framed around the construct and practice of transformative education...

This paper reports on the processes and outcomes of a collaborative self-study conducted by three beginning teacher educators who sought to examine the efficacy of their teaching practices while working with student teachers in the field. By systematically embracing opportunities to explore...

Teacher recruitment and retention are recurring topics of investigation. To clarify this topic at our own university, we conducted a study of 10 graduates previously selected as the stars, (i.e., outstanding, social studies student teachers in our program from 1994 to 2004). The following...

Certification students in a post-baccalaureate teacher preparation program investigated the local educational environment in a social studies methods course with a brief community study of several K-4 neighborhood schools. School district maps and street maps guided their exploration of the city...