Education Commons^™

Unlocking Ai's Potential, Upholding Our Principles: An Equitable Approach For Social Studies, Micah Miner

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds transformative potential in social studies education, but its integration is fraught with challenges that must be navigated with care. This article delves into strategies for leveraging AI's capabilities in social studies classrooms, upholding principles of academic integrity, digital citizenship, and equitable access. Our analysis of recent national assessment results highlights a decline in civics and history proficiency, underscoring an urgent need to reimagine social studies pedagogy through AI literacy. The study explores how AI can make learning more engaging and personalized, while emphasizing the necessity of developing critical perspectives on issues such as privacy, bias, and …

Historical Inquiry Deliberation (Hid): The New Republic Lesson Plan, Rhonda Kemp Webb

Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State

The following lesson plan is an example of adapting the Structured Academic Controversy (SAC) format for engaging students in the deliberation of the multiple perspectives for a current societal issue to instead create a procedure for evaluating a historical event or decision. The sample lesson included here for engaging students in this process is entitled “Historical Inquiry Deliberation: The New Republic” and requires students to deliberate the following question:

Which of the competing visions for America’s future was the best approach for the nation at the early stage of its development in the late 18^th century?

• Manufacturing: The US …

Building Civil Discourse In Social Studies Through Historical Inquiry Deliberation (Hid), Rhonda Kemp Webb

Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State

This article calls for an increased emphasis on social studies in education and highlights an effective strategy for developing civil discourse skills through what I call Historical Inquiry Deliberation (HID). As social studies educators, we want our students to become engaged in their communities and become the problem solvers of the future. Utilizing the Structured Academic Controversy (SAC) approach builds student confidence, discussion skills, and understanding of the power multiple perspectives can bring to solving a problem. Adapting this technique for analyzing historical content can allow for a collaborative twist to the widely utilized Document Based Question assignment. The article …

The Rise Of Critical Race Theory: Current Perspectives And Policies On Crt In Education, Nate Scholten

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

In this policy brief on Critical Race Theory (CRT), I operationalize the theory, trace its origins in legal scholarship, discuss its rise within the field of education, and highlight current policies that have responded to this rise. While many see CRT as a helpful lens to view seemingly unnoticeable manifestations of oppression and injustice, others view the use of the construct as divisive, unnecessary, and detrimental to teaching and learning. After detailing the discourses on either side of this debate, I conclude this brief by drawing on Kumashiro’s (2004) notion of teaching for discomfort and the approach of action civics …

Cellphilming And Building Solidarity With Queer Youth To Speak Back To Historical Erasures In New Brunswick Social Studies Classrooms, Casey Burkholder

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

New Brunswick, Canada’s K-12 Social Studies curricula erases the myriad histories and experiences of the province’s LGBTQ+ communities. Building on these erasures, this study analyzes how six queer, trans, and non-binary young people (aged 14-17) created cellphilms (cellphone + mobile film production) in response to these absences. In the study, I ask: How might engaging in media and art production with young people—and screening and exhibiting these productions in online and community spaces—work to counter dominant forms of apathy and denial, and support youth to claim a stake in creating solidarities, belonging, and community-making? What is required for youth-produced media …

Developing Social Justice Skills Through Community Service-Learning In High School Social Studies, Sharehann T. Lucman

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Social studies teachers are presented with the challenging yet rewarding task of cultivating in their students' principles and competencies essential for democratic and social-justice-oriented citizenship. Inspired and guided by literature on social justice education and community service-learning, this study suggests that social studies teachers ought to consider integrating teaching methods that are experiential, participatory, and critical in nature. An example of such a method is community service-learning. As illustrated in this study, community service-learning activities afford students the unique opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills on social justice in authentic social situations.

Using a descriptive and textual analysis approach, …

Developmental Achievement Versus Standardized Growth: Common Curricula & The Not So Common Student, Robert J. Howman, Corey Livieri

Essays in Education

Challenged is the presumed value of standardization in public education, especially the notion that student achievement is synonymous with performance on summative criteria insensitive to the unique characteristics of every child. This research was initially conducted during the 2010-11 regular academic year. It has since been replicated with similar results.

The overarching question driving the study: “How do educators effectively meet the individual needs of highly diverse students in this era of standardization?” In other words, how do we maintain the human element of teaching, which is so critical for positive child and adolescent development?

Examined are two team-taught 10 …

A Year On The Rock: A Methods Professor Returns To The Classroom, Bradley J. Burenheide

Educational Considerations

As a Methods Professor in a Research I institution in the Midwest and the largest education program in its respective state, I faced a crisis after ten years in higher education. The concern I faced was whether or not the repertoire I taught my students was appropriate and meaningful in their training. While staying abreast of current research and strategies, I wanted to ensure that my techniques were still applicable to working with students after ten years of less connection with classrooms. This article discusses the framework employed in the research experience as well as the big lessons that were …