Browsing by Subject "Social studies"
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Item Beyond resistance : transgressive white racial knowledge and its limits(2014-05) Crowley, Ryan M; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor)This critical case study investigated the experiences of ten White preservice social studies and language arts teachers as they learned about race and racism during the first semester of an urban-focused teacher preparation program. Through observation, interview, and artifact data, this inquiry analyzed how the preservice teachers engaged with the topic of race through the conceptual framework of critical Whiteness studies. This theoretical lens seeks to identify the normalized, oppressive practices of Whiteness with the goal of reorienting those practices in antiracist ways. The author identified two broad themes of transgressive White racial knowledge and conventional White racial knowledge to characterize the progressive and problematic aspects, respectively, of the preservice teachers’ engagement with race. The participants displayed transgressive White racial knowledge through the way they combatted deficit thinking toward urban students and through their knowledge of the mechanics of Whiteness and structural racism. They displayed conventional White racial knowledge through their stories of early experiences with racial difference, their use of subtle resistance discourses during race conversations, and their tendency to misappropriate critical racial discourses. As a whole, the racial knowledge of the ten White preservice teachers points to conflicted, ambivalent feelings at the core of their racial identities. Their desires to talk about race and to develop an antiracist teaching practice were mediated by competing desires to maintain their identities as “good Whites” and to protect their investments in Whiteness. The complex ways that these White preservice teachers engaged with critical racial discourses have significant implications for critical Whiteness studies, teacher education, and social studies education. Their willingness to explore race in a critical fashion should push teacher educators to resist homogenizing, deficit views of the antiracist potential of White teachers. However, their problematic engagement with race points to the importance of viewing White identity as conflicted. If antiracist pedagogies begin with this understanding of White racial identity, they can encourage profound shifts in the ontology, epistemology, and methodology of Whiteness. These shifts can help White teachers to develop racial literacy and to build an antiracist teaching practice.Item Conceptual Learning in Social Studies Classroom: An Analysis of Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Social Studies Questions with and without Concept(2012-07-16) Kilinc, EminWe are living in a conceptual world which we build through both informal and systematic interaction. Concepts enable us to simplify and organize our environment and communicate efficiently with others. The learning of concepts is represented by a general idea, usually expressed by a word, which represent a class or group of things or actions having certain characteristics in common, is a matter of central concern for designing effective instructional conditions in the school setting. Thus, concept attainment is a cornerstone of social studies to help students to make informed and reasonable decisions and therefore is a fundamental and challenging aspect of social studies content. Previous studies had not focused specifically on concept questions and nonconcept questions. The purpose of this study is to determine whether 8th, 10th, and 11th grade students perform better on social studies questions which were classified as concept questions compared to questions which were classified as nonconcept questions. This study also attempts to identify the relationship between correct answers on concept questions and students' demographics. This study used a non-experimental descriptive, correlational, and causal-comparative research designs. This study used secondary data analysis, which involves a re-analysis of data collected for another study or purpose. The data for this study was gathered from Texas Education Agency, for all students who took the Spring 2006 and Spring 2009 version of the Grade 8, Grade 10, and Grade 11 Social Studies TAKS Tests. A statistical significant difference was found between the percentage of correct concept question and nonconcept questions. Students had higher achievement on nonconcept questions than concept questions. The researcher compared students' correct answers for concept questions between years, the result indicated that students scored higher on concept questions in 2009 than 2006. Also, there was a significant difference between male students and female students. Male students had a higher mean of concept questions than female students. In addition, Grade 11 had a higher mean on concept questions than Grade 10 and Grade 8. The researcher found significant differences among ethnicity. Asian students and White students scored better on concept question than other ethnic groups. The researcher also examined the correlation between concept questions and nonconcept questions. The result indicated that there was a significant positive high correlation between choosing correct answers for concept question and nonconcept questions. Last, native speaker students had a higher achievement on concept questions than ESL students.Item Connecting the links : socio-constructivism, historical thinking and online discussion forums(2010-12) Blankenship, Whitney Gordon; Salinas, Cinthia; Field, Sherry L.; Obenchain, Kathryn M.; Brown, Anthony; Lee, John K.; Hicks, DavidThis qualitative interpretive research study of students participating in online discussion forums explores how the socio-constructivist nature of online discussion forums fosters the development of historical thinking. The study also focuses attention on the development of the historical understandings of students as they participant in online discussion forums in particular significance, empathy and agency. Set within the context of discussion forums and framed by socio-constructivism and historical thinking, the study uncovered what it means for students to “do history” and how students construct their own historical narratives as they interact with their peers online. Data collection included transcripts of online discussion forums, interviews with participants and the collection of other related artifacts. Findings suggest that the online discussion forums facilitate socio-constructivism in the classroom by providing students with extended opportunities to engage with their peers ideas and assumptions. Additionally, the findings also conclude that students understanding of significance, empathy and agency are related to their interactions with both the official and unofficial curriculums and the temporal and physical proximity of examples to students lived experiences.Item Creating a Sense of Place: Using Multiple Literacies to Help Students Understand Geography(2010-12) Bustos, Charlene D.; Todd, Reese; Lesley, Mellinee; Johnson, Peggy; McMillan, SallyGlobalization is ever-apparent in our economy, our media, and our political stature, suggesting geography truly is a life-skill. In the current test-driven educational climate, certain subjects which are not under the high-stakes testing agenda get short-changed due to time-constraints and administrative pressures. One such subject is geography—a sub-topic under the umbrella of social studies. The expository text in the state-adopted textbooks provides some basic information of the topic being studied, but is frequently written in a dry, difficult, convoluted style, which often inhibits student engagement. Textbooks do not contain sufficient text or in-depth information on topics to offer experiences students need to develop critical and evaluative reading skills. This qualitative case study investigated the strategies employed by one fifth grade social studies classroom teacher as she used multiple literacies to teach social studies with a focus on geography. Data sources included detailed field notes of researcher’s observations, questionnaires and surveys (teacher and students), focus groups, transcripts of interviews with the teacher and participating students, teacher lesson plans, teacher planning resources, teacher and researcher reflective journals, and student work samples of classroom assignments. Findings revealed three themes for supporting geographic learning: storytelling as a vehicle for transmediation; writing and drawing as tools for representation; and authentic learning in a socially-safe environment. Findings also revealed that a classroom teacher can teach and meet the state and local standards while at the same time nurture an enthusiasm for learning. Vertical alignment of curriculum, teacher collaboration and student choices within parameters were key elements of the results. In general, conclusions indicate implications for the education community in the areas of classroom teacher practices, school administrator involvement and support, teacher educator institutions, curricula writers, and educational researchers.Item Creative dramas in a social studies classroom: An action research(2012-12) Boley, Paul; McMillan, Sally; Halsey, PamelaThis eighteen week long action research study (spring 2012) focused on students from a local 8th grade social studies class to see the ways, in which creative drama informs their perceptions of the subject of history, their self-concepts as students; their willingness to engage with texts and their abilities / inclinations to think critically. The findings of the study indicate that active narratives, or creative drama strategies, promote student comprehension of and engagement with the content studied. Students perceived that creative drama activities made the content more meaningful and engaging due to the fact that these activities incorporated social supports. Active narratives also support their reading comprehension due to increased social supports, listening skills and visualization. In particular, readers theatre strengthened the literacy tool of visualization, which appeared to provide the most help for students struggling to comprehend nonfiction texts. In addition, it was observed that students who were merely able to list and define reading strategies prior to the consistent use of active narrative instructional strategies (storytelling, readers’ theater, poetry enactments) began to independently and consistently employ them after a semester of interacting with creative drama methods. Students perceived their improvement to be particularly associated with their own collaborative writing and enacting of curriculum-based readers theatre scripts.Item Enhancing sheltered social studies instruction for ELLs in secondary school(2012-05) Smith, Regina Maxine; Callahan, Rebecca M.; Horwitz, ElaineThis report explores the concept of sheltered instruction in response to the shifting demographics of English language learners (ELLs) in educational institutions across the United States. Following a discussion of the goals of and threats to sheltered instruction, I recommend the integration of social studies pedagogy and English language development in the sheltered classroom. The blending of social studies instructional practices and language acquisition pedagogy promotes a safe, culturally-sensitive environment in which ELLs can develop linguistic, socio-cultural, and academic skills in secondary school. I also acknowledge that teachers’ attitude toward ELLs can potentially influence their academic achievement. Therefore, I recommend that all teachers participate in three areas of professional development: socio-cultural sensitivity, pedagogical practices, and policy awareness. Enhancing sheltered social studies instruction and participating in professional development have the potential to provide ELLs with quality grade-level education and the means to become successful secondary students.Item Experiencing crisis in schools : examining preservice teachers' reflections on September 11 and their notions of citizenship(2012-05) Bellows, Mary Elizabeth; Field, Sherry L.; Salinas, Cynthia; Brown, Keffrelyn; Obenchain, Kathryn; Larson, BruceTeachers and children who were in schools on September 11, 2001 harbor unique, personal, and accessible memories of the events that occurred that Tuesday morning. Educational research has attended to this (inter)national crisis in a multitude of ways, yet there exists a gap in the literature that attends to how today’s preservice teachers remember the crisis through the lens of citizenship. To add complexity, adolescents who were in classrooms on September 11 are now adults, and some are studying to be teachers. This dissertation study aims to highlight how preservice teachers remember 9/11, how they understand citizenship, and how they plan to teach about 9/11 as an historical event to elementary students. This study presents the findings of a qualitative instrumental case study of five elementary preservice teachers’ memories of September 11, 2001 as experienced as adolescents in school. The author investigates how the preservice teachers’ memories intersect with understandings of citizenship, and how the young teachers plan to teach about 9/11 in an elementary social studies setting. Preservice teachers in the study participated in two interviews and one think-aloud lesson planning session with the researcher. Data analysis indicate the preservice teachers’ understandings of citizenship are still evolving, yet the crisis of 9/11 further complicates—or interrupts—more critical notions of citizenship. The participants’ memories of 9/11 are vivid and include reactions of their classmates and teachers. When participants were asked to create a lesson plan for elementary students, they felt overwhelmed by the amount of resources on the topic, and that they did not know enough about 9/11 to teach about it effectively. Findings suggest the singular understandings of citizenship held by participants are temporal and contextual. During a time of crisis—and specifically during and following 9/11—citizens succumbed to more belligerent notions of citizenship, and later, their memories contribute to their still evolving teacher identities. Drawing from their own civic understandings and memories of 9/11, four of the five preservice teacher participants planned to use their lessons about 9/11 to teach children how citizens come together in a time of crisis. One participant chose to design a week-long unit of instruction that allows students to examine the events of 9/11 in more critical ways. Finally, the study raises questions about the drastic range of possibilities in teaching 9/11 in elementary school, and exposes how teachers choose to include and exclude certain images, narratives, and accounts from the story.Item Games as cultural practice: postcolonial imaginations(Texas Tech University, 2008-08) Ortega, Francisco; Check, Ed; Fehr, Dennis; Tedeschi, Carla; Summers, Peter M.; Schneider, AndreasBy creating three board games based on the political frontier between México and the United States, I attempt to promote discourse and interest among 26 participating players about the reality of the border. I also present an alternative perception to that which has been created by sensationalist media, chismes, and indifference. Critical theories like postcolonialism (e.g., Fanon, 1963), feminism (e.g., Saldívar-Hull, 2000), play theory (e.g., Pellegrini, 1995), subaltern studies (e.g., Sandoval, 2000), and autobiographical memory (e.g., Bluck, 2003) play an important role in my exploration of this border, and are relevant to the design of the games employed as the medium for interpersonal interaction. Players answered questionnaires before their game experiences and participated in a group interview after playing the games. Games sessions were also videotaped. A follow up in the form of an e-mail questionnaire was sent to collaborating players. Ultimately, my analysis revealed that board games serve as effective tools to inform, promote discourse, and create interest among people in relation to the social topics presented.Item Hope and the post-racial : high school students of color and the Obama American era(2015-05) Smith, William Louis; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor); Salinas, Cynthia; De Lissovoy, Noah; Epstein, Terrie; Urrieta, Jr., LuisDrawing on critical race theory, racial formation theory and the extant literature on the so-called post-racial turn in American life, this research explored the broad question of how young people of color make sense of issues of race and equity in the era of the first Black president. Using a case study design, as well as elements of visual research methods and narrative inquiry, I examined how a group of high school students of color at a predominantly White high school have learned about race and Obama, considering both formal school curricula and out-of school sources. I also sought to understand what significance the students placed on president Obama’s election, including their views on racial progress in the U.S. and their beliefs in the plausibility of a post-racial American era. Through the collection and analysis of interview, classroom observation, and artifact data, my findings suggest that schools can be unfriendly spaces for learning about these topics, but students pick up rich, though scattered, information through out-of-school sources such as family, community, and media. Additionally, students exhibited contradictory beliefs about race in America, with experiences of racial marginalization at school juxtaposed with measured optimism about racial progress in the U.S. Students also expressed personal inspiration in having a Black president and a willingness to hold multiple, competing narratives about race, Barack Obama, and their own lived experiences. These findings suggest a need for history and social studies teachers to provide formal curricular spaces for open discussion about race and President Obama to allow students to discuss and extend their multiple Obama narratives. Researchers must also consider the hybridized racial stories of both students of color and of the 44th president.Item Neighborhood books of Ezra Jack Keats as a racial project: depictions of children and families in urban environments(2014-05) Falkner, Anna Christine; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor)Much of the research and writing about the neighborhood books of Ezra Jack Keats has centered on depictions of his character ‘Peter’ as a non-racial ‘every child,’ or on the role of play in his stories. This thesis analyzed Keats’s neighborhood books and his research for them within the context of race and class discourses of the 1960s and 1970s. This work used a racial literacy framework and drew on ideas about power inscribed in space and hierarchical representations in children’s picture books. This research found Keats’s neighborhood books and research materials function as a racial project by constructing a cultural memorial to the atmosphere of the great transformation (Omi & Winant, 1994) and to a systematically produced racialized and classed space (Hankins, et al, 2012). Findings indicate that future research is needed to consider spacial depictions of race and class in picture books, and that there is a need for place-based historical inquiry among elementary students.Item Promoting critical multicultural citizenship : a case study of preparing social studies teachers(2009-05) Castro, Antonio Jamie; Salinas, Cinthia; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor)Given the growing cultural and economic diversity of today’s students, this qualitative case study investigates how 4 social studies preservice teachers taught for critical multicultural citizenship during their student teaching semester. The tenets of critical citizenship emerge out of the intersection of critical pedagogy and multicultural education. These tenets for critical multicultural citizenship education include seeking out and challenging gaps in democracy, promoting critical reflection and consciousness, and advocating for collective action to transform institutional injustices. This case study traced perspectives held by participants about the nature of democracy and citizenship and explored how these preservice teachers enacted these views in their classroom teaching. Data collection measures included five observations, reflective journals, three interviews, and other assignments related to the participant’s student teaching coursework. Findings suggest that these participants, all preservice teachers of color, adopted views and teaching practices that aligned with critical multicultural citizenship; however, participants struggled to overcome constraints in their student teaching contexts in order to teach for this kind of citizenship.Item Read-alouds and technology in a 5th grade social studies classroom(2012-08) Carlson, AmyWhen school districts invest resources into acquiring updated technology, they need evidence of the effective integration of that technology to promote student learning. The current case study examines the use of picture books as read-alouds and technology to increase student interest and motivation for learning in a 5th grade social studies class in a technology-rich rural school district. Three questions guided this study: 1) How does the use of a read-aloud in the social studies classroom influence planning, time allocation, and lesson construction? 2) What are the teacher perceptions of the read-aloud in the social studies classroom? and 3) How will the teacher integrate technology to enhance student learning and engagement? The qualitative study used classroom observations over a six week time period, interviews with the classroom teacher, technology teacher, and principal, and a review of student-produced interactive eBooks. The findings from the data collection show that exposure to picture books engaged 5th grade students as independent researchers and learners exploring the history of their country in order to create interactive eBooks. The process increased students’ skills to construct meaning of social studies content and inquiry-based learning and research. The research provides school district policy makers with documentation of the use of technology to improve social studies/reading instruction among elementary students.Item Reading, interpreting, and teaching African American history : examining how African American history influences the curricular and pedagogical decisions of pre-service teachers(2012-05) King, Lagarrett Jarriel; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor); Field, Sherry; Salinas, Cinthia; Brown, Keffrelyn; Moore, LeonardAfrican American history and how it is taught in classroom spaces have been a point of contention with activists, historians, and educators for decades. In it current form, African American history narratives often are ambiguous and truncated, leaving students with a disjointed construction about U.S. history. Additionally, the pedagogical decisions made by teachers regarding African American history are sometimes problematic. To fix this problem, critical scholars have surmised that both pre- and in-service teachers need to be more knowledgeable about African American history. This knowledge will help teachers move past simplistic constructions of the past and provide a transformative educational experience. In essence, these scholars believe that teachers cannot teach [African American history] because they do not know it. This study, however, examines what if they do know [African American history], will they teach it? The purpose of this study was to investigate how knowledge influences teachers’ pedagogical decisions. Using the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of cultural memory and knowledge construction, this qualitative case study explores how four pre-service teachers interpreted African American history after engaging in a summer reading program and how that knowledge was implemented in their classroom during their student teaching semester. The reader, entitled A Winding River, was a collection of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, and primary and secondary source documents. Data collection measures included three classroom observations, reflective journals, three interviews, and other classroom documents related to the participant’s student teaching experience. Findings indicate that knowledge acquisition is complex and the process to teach is a generative process. Although knowledge is an important component in teaching, sociocultural factors also influenced the divergent ways African American history was interpreted and taught. The study indicates that the access of African American history is not always a prerequisite in teaching the subject in transformative ways.Item Understanding gender differences in achievement on the Social Studies Texas Assessment of Knowledge Skills : an interactive qualitative study(2007-08) Ungurait, Michelle D.; Estes, Nolan; Northcutt, NorvellThe Texas Education Agency’s Social Studies Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills results show an achievement gap between males and females for every criteria on every test given since 2003. The most dramatic achievement difference is in the area of “traditional” U.S. History. The Texas results mimic a gender gap reported by College Board Texas AP U.S. history exams and the 2006 National Assessment of Education Programs United States assessment for 8th and 12th graders. Literature and education research outline a contentious background the current social studies and history education programs a, a history of social studies assessment programs, and different theoretical frameworks regarding male and female learning. A Transformative Sequential Mixed Method/Model Design was used for this study. Social Studies TAKS quantitative data collected by the Texas Education Agency formed the basis for an Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) study. The Researcher gathered data from a statewide sampling of social studies supervisors, administrators, teachers and Austin Independent School District social studies students. Findings show perspectives regarding the social studies are different and crucial to effective instruction. Both female and male student focus groups believe the teacher to be in complete control of student learning whereas social studies supervisors, administrators, and teachers find the teacher to be a recipient of the pressures from the statewide assessment, accountability, external influences. Female students are shaped by the influences of their outside life and find the entire subject matter covered by the social studies irrelevant. Male students are more personally involved in the history and social studies subject matter finding it important and interesting.Item Using online primary source resources in fostering historical thinking skills : the pre-service social studies teachers’ understanding(2010-05) Liaw, Hongming; Resta, Paul E.; Salinas, Cinthia; Liu, Min; Hughes, Joan; Galloway, Patricia K.This dissertation entailed a qualitative case study on the confluence of technology and social studies in fostering a constructivist education. Through the examination of pre-service social studies teachers’ understanding of the online primary source resources (OPSR), three themes emerged. The first exposed the fragmented understanding of important pedagogical theories of constructivism and historical thinking among participants; the second suggested that OPSR was mostly valued by pre-service teachers for its provision of primary sources; and the third related to how pre-service teachers viewed the current state of technology and context as problematic for technology integration. Accordingly, four findings were revealed. First, the pre-service teachers in the study demonstrated a limited understanding of the application of foundational theories central to their field of study; second, there were instances of deeper appreciation of the potential of OPSR, indicating that pre-service teachers’ theoretical understanding is ix nascent and may deepen overtime; third, the full potential of technologies such as OPSR was not recognized; and fourth, the pre-service teachers’ perceptions of school and educational system conditions tended to negatively influence their views toward the integration of technology into their teaching practices. Implications indicate that first, foundational pedagogical theories are critical with regard to technology integration in education and as such teacher preparation programs must not assume what is taught is what is learned; second, instances of deeper understanding among pre-service teachers only appeared during the application of their theoretical understandings; third, context is critical in how OPSR would be used in classrooms and such contextual issues must not be ignored by teacher preparation programs; and fourth, teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge (PCK/TPCK) is critical in the integration of technology in education.