Journal of International Social Studies

oai:iajiss.journals.sfu.ca:article/10This article presents the findings of a study of emerging perceptions of national identity held by preservice teachers who completed their student teaching overseas. To help them become better global citizens and teachers in this constantly changing and increasingly diverse world, each in a unique international setting, and based on Crèvecoeur’s question, “What is an American?” reflected on what it means to be American in a foreign country and what it is that characterizes national identity in their host country. Several significant thematic findings related to the participants’ perception of national identity that emerged included observations about lifestyle, economic inequality, diversity, politics, religion, patriotism and perspectives on national identity. The most significant conclusion that can be drawn from the findings is that these student teachers were immersed in the experience to such an extent that they were unable to reflect back upon their American national identity. Clearly, the intensity of context in which they found themselves, did not allow them to identify the characteristics of American through their own eyes. When describing American identity, they did so largely from the generally negative perspective of the people they encountered in their host country

Doppen, Frans H.

English

Overseas student teaching and national identity: Why go somewhere you feel completely comfortable?

Editorial introduction from Carolyn O'Mahony, Media Review Editor, Journal of International Social Studie

O'Mahony, Carolyn

Journal of International Social Studies http://www.iajiss.org   Volume I  Number 1 43  Fall 2010  Media Review  Editor’s Message Electronic circuitry has overthrown the regime of “time” and “space” and pours upon us instantly and continuously the concerns of all other men [sic]. It has reconstituted dialogue on a global scale. Its message is Total Change, ending psychic, social, economic, and political parochialism. (McLuhan, 1967, p 18.).      Penned more than a generation ago, McLuhan articulated our need to think globally, however it is only in the past decade that communication technologies have lowered in price to the point where frequent international conversations are ubiquitous in academic circles. While the International Assembly of the National Council for the Social Studies has existed since 1994, the nature of online forums, such as this new journal, enable us to start a conversation amongst vast numbers of social studies educators around the world rather than just with the few colleagues (their fabulous qualities notwithstanding) who have been able to attend annual conferences of NCSS in the USA.       The Media Review Column of the Journal of International Social Studies offers a framework for readers interested in sharing resources they have discovered and find useful or perplexing in their efforts to be the most effective social studies educators they can be. The first section offers reviews on a common resource, in this case social studies methods texts. Ruth Reynolds (Australia), Jennifer Tupper (Canada) and Andrea Milligan (New Zealand) provide thoughtful reviews of textbooks used by teacher educators in their respective nations. All three reviews are of edited collections used as social studies methods texts. As you read the reviews you will no doubt be struck by the similarities of the issues deemed important across different geopolitical locations. The second section provides a review of recently released media. Carolyn O’Mahony (USA) offers a review of Visions of global education: The globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools, edited by longtime International Assembly leader Toni Fuss Kirkwood-Tucker.       Readers are strongly encouraged to respond through the journal website (iajiss.org), to participate in discussions with the reviewers about these texts and the questions they raise about teaching about society, as well as to submit their own reviews of complementary texts.     Carolyn O’Mahony, Media Review Editor    References McLuhan, M. & Fiore, Q. (1967). The      medium is the massage: An inventory of effects. New York: Bantam Books.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Media Review Editor's Message

Review of: Benson, P. & Openshaw, R. (Eds.). (2005). Towards effective social studies. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Kanuka Grove Press. 216 pp. ISBN 1-877249-33-

Milligan, Andrea

Journal of International Social Studies http://www.iajiss.org Volume 1  Number 1 50 Fall 2010  Continuing the Debates: Towards Effective Social Studies  Benson, P. & Openshaw, R. (Eds.). (2005). Towards Effective Social Studies. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Kanuka Grove Press. 216 pp. ISBN 1-877249-33-5  Review by Andrea Milligan, Victoria University of Wellington        Building on earlier publications edited by these authors (Openshaw, 1992; Benson & Openshaw, 1998), Towards Effective Social Studies is the latest and most comprehensive collection of writings about New Zealand social studies education available, and represents a substantive contribution to the on going debates about the nature and purposes of the subject in this country. It comprises 10 chapters and a concluding section written by New Zealand social studies educators and advocates, each of which examines a critical issue related to social studies and its implementation in this country. Written amidst and in response to a period of curriculum revision, this book predates the publication of the New Zealand Curriculum (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2007). It therefore offers useful contextual detail about, and ideas that might be brought to a critical reading of, the most recent iteration of New Zealand‟s social studies curriculum.       The first three chapters explore New Zealand social studies curriculum developments within their socio-political and historical milieu and highlight a number of challenges regarding curriculum design and professional learning. Among other lines that might be drawn between all three chapters is the sense that such challenges have buffeted, and at times obscured, the transformative potential of New Zealand social studies. The    first chapter, by Sandra Cubitt, canvasses critiques of the previous  social studies curriculum‟s structure and implementation (New Zealand  Ministry of Education, 1997). She urges that a whole social sciences community approach is central to addressing, in particular, a lack of shared understanding about the learning area; greater dialogue across traditional subject divides (such as History, Geography and Social Studies) and teachers‟ active engagement in curriculum revision processes planned for 2004-2007. In the second chapter, John O‟Neill examines Getting Started, a support document for the 1997 social studies curriculum. He argues that the approach to professional development carried through the ideological imprint of this document risks positioning social studies teachers‟ curriculum decision-making as an exercise in uncritical compliance; “Getting Done” perhaps. Whether this risk has been averted by a more inclusive approach to the curriculum consultations of the early 2000s (described by Sandra Cubitt) will no doubt be evaluated in due course. However, Roger Openshaw‟s chapter highlights that some challenges, such as social studies teachers‟ difficulties with interpreting curriculum intent, are longstanding in New Zealand. This chapter, which brings to light Ray Chapman-Taylor‟s largely unknown, 1966 report on intermediate1 social studies classrooms,                                                  1 Year 7 and 8 Journal of International Social Studies http://www.iajiss.org Volume 1  Number 1 51 Fall 2010 might lead us to consider whether the New Zealand Curriculum and its implementation is any closer to capturing the hitherto “elusive spirit” of social studies education.       A number of chapters examine key concepts used in New Zealand social studies curricula, and would provide a useful basis for comparison with social studies and citizenship education literature in other school systems. In Chapter 4, for example, Hugh Barr considers „understanding‟ and argues that this concept must extend well beyond recall of factual information – into a “network of connections”. He presents worked examples of what a more expansive conception of understanding could look like in assessment practices. Chapter 10, by Dale Bailey, challenges universalist and essentialist conceptions of „national identity‟.  Using examples of questions, places, historical themes and “worthy” New Zealand icons, he offers instead more fertile grounds for discussing this concept with social studies learners. In Chapter 8, Rowena Taylor and Rose Atkins examine the difficulties teachers have faced with teaching „values exploration‟, partly (as John O‟Neill points out in his chapter) as a result of its contested nature and lack of clarity about „values‟ in official documentation. Echoing the thrust of Chapters 4 and 10, the authors argue for complex readings of „values exploration‟ which permit critical thinking about the subjective nature of values, and leave room for students‟ affective responses. There is, they say, more to values exploration than the oft-used „continuum‟ strategy.       Two consecutive chapters (Chapters 5 and 6), by Carol Mutch and Graeme Aitken, consider „citizenship‟ in New Zealand social studies curricula, and explore this in comparison to international contexts. Drawing on a New Zealand primary classroom case study, Carol Mutch argues that citizenship education needs to be a much more explicit feature of New Zealand social studies teaching and learning, given that it is central to the subject‟s aims. Graeme Aitken‟s chapter reiterates this call and, of the many valuable chapters in this book, his most significantly advances the conversation about future curriculum design. His distillation of the issues facing social studies curriculum developers focuses particularly on the lack of a “distinctive aim” for social studies and the “structural complexity” of the then current curriculum (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 1997). He suggests that the aims of social studies could be more sharply focussed on, and balance participatory and knowledge dimensions of the goals of citizenship education. Arguing for an issues-led approach, he offers an organisational framework for social studies which strongly aligns this citizenship focus with curriculum structure. For the reader interested in how this line of thinking has been developed through subsequent curriculum documentation, an examination of the „social inquiry‟ approach strongly advocated in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007, 2008) is highly recommended. Further, a number of chapters in Towards Effective Social Studies suggest ways in which the skills of social inquiry might be developed; for example, Clinton Golding‟s chapter (Chapter 7) about the „Philosophy for Children‟ approach to social studies, and Rowena Taylor and Rose Atkin‟s previously mentioned chapter on values education.       The editors conclude the book eagerly awaiting what became a one-page statement for the social sciences learning area, in which the interdisciplinary, integrated and Journal of International Social Studies http://www.iajiss.org Volume 1  Number 1 52 Fall 2010 foundational nature of social studies, recommended well over 60 years ago, continues to be a notable marker of the New Zealand curriculum. Despite the seemingly assured place of social  studies, the title of Towards Effective Social Studies suggests an ongoing process of becoming. From the vantage point of 2010, the editors would no doubt argue for sustained debate about the challenges ahead. One possible challenge is pointed to in the chapter written by Clinton Golding and Ruth Millar (Chapter 9): the contributions that disciplinary knowledge might make to the integrated nature of New Zealand social studies. Philosophy and History are explored respectively by these two authors, but discussion around intersections with other contributing disciplines (such as Sociology and Media Studies) is notably absent.      Towards Effective Social Studies is a somewhat eclectic text; nevertheless, its format is highly accessible.  Each chapter is introduced with a series of focussing questions, and ends with prompts for further reflection. The concluding section, written by Pamela Benson, makes helpful connections between each author‟s key themes. The bridge between curriculum challenges and practicable shifts in pedagogy is a particularly strong feature of this book; though not intended as a methods text, many chapters suggest a way through curriculum and implementation issues with useful pedagogical examples.    Towards Effective Social Studies is chiefly suitable for New Zealand pre-service and in-service teachers yet there is also much that may be of interest to an international education audience, particularly in the fields of social studies and citizenship education. A number of the critical issues and challenges identified by the various authors will resonate with similar  themes in the international literature. The chapters, though varied, represent some important axes for debate and discussion. Those with an interest in comparative curriculum studies, curriculum design and implementation, and teaching controversial issues will all find chapters that are informative and thought-provoking.   References  Benson, P., & Openshaw, R. (Eds.). (1998). New horizons for New Zealand social studies. Palmerston North, New Zealand: ERDC Press.  New Zealand Ministry of Education. (1997). Social studies in the New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.   New Zealand Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media. http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum.  New Zealand Ministry of Education. (2008). Building conceptual understandings in the social sciences: Approaches to social inquiry. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media. http://ssol.tki.org.nz/  Openshaw, R. (Ed.). (1992). New Zealand social studies: Past, present and future.  Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunmore Press.  Journal of International Social Studies http://www.iajiss.org Volume 1  Number 1 53 Fall 2010    Andrea Milligan is a lecturer in social sciences education at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.   

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Overseas student teaching and national identity: Why go somewhere you feel completely comfortable?

Media Review Editor's Message

Continuing the Debates: "Towards Effective Social Studies"

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