Controversial Issue Instruction in Context: A Social Studies Education Response to the Problem of the Public

This paper focuses on the primary problem of the public, as advanced in The Public and its Problems, which Dewey described as the need to improve “methods of debate, discussion, and persuasion” for the purposes of “perfecting the process of inquiry” (Dewey, 1927/1954, p. 208). I first situate these modes of communication as a central problem within Dewey’s conceptualization of democracy. I then argue that controversial issue discussion and milieus matter for the extent to which the public’s problem can be resolved. Finally, I address the ways in which China struggles with reflective inquiry relative to controversial issue instruction and revisit the universal imperative of unencumbered inquiry into all beliefs and forms of knowledge

In Response to NCLB: A Case for Retaining the Social Studies

The proliferation of state standards, high-stakes accountability, and mandates stemming from the No Child Left Behind Act have worked to sever social studies from the common experience in many schools and has prompted a myopic interest in low-level declarative knowledge. This paper examines the consequences of NCLB for social studies education and provides a defense through the lenses of the learner, the subject matter, and the values of society, as well as a rationale for entrenching and strengthening the social studies given this formidable challenge

“Nobody told us about what happened”: The current state of Holocaust Education in Romania

Using data obtained primarily from about 40 government officials and educators and from students and community members, the writer examined Holocaust education in Romania. He presents results on academic freedom, the education ministry\u27s role, teacher training, class time and the macrocurriculum, content, the teacher, and universities and discusses contextual features. He then provides recommendations based on the results

Making Sense of Dispositions in Teacher Education: Arriving at Democratic Aims and Experiences

Dispositional aims are found in many teacher education programs and they embrace numerous laudable ideals. These ideals often stand for a wide variety of goals and tend to be abstract in nature, which may make them vulnerable to attacks. For example, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (Shibley, 2005) criticized teacher education programs for liberal bias and imposing a politicized litmus test for pre-service teachers. This was largely due to the amorphous dispositional goals containing social justice language and because many dispositional goals, as high inference constructs, are largely left to the discretion of teacher educators. If teacher educators are predominantly liberal, as Shibley suggests, then dispositions can act as a vehicle to advance political and ideological agendas. George Will’s Newsweek piece (2006, January 16) also criticized an umbrella of dispositional statements in teacher education programs. Specifically, he found problematic any aim of promoting “social justice,” or preparing pre-service teachers to be change agents who “recognize individual and institutionalized racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism,” “break silences,” and “develop anti-racist, anti-homophobic, anti-sexist community [sic] and alliances” (p. 98). In sum, Will called for teacher education programs to focus on content knowledge as the programmatic anchor rather than on developing teachers who are capable of transforming societal inequities or promoting components of a particular political ideology. Given the growing surge in criticism over the perceived political overtones, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) decided to drop social justice language from accreditation standards (Wasley, 2006, June 6)

Seeking moral autonomy in a Chinese context: A study of elementary moral education standards

In this article, we explored Chinese moral education standards for grades one and two by using the heuristic of moral autonomy by employing a typology of moral autonomy, one based on Kantian and Deweyan ideas about moral autonomy and agency. Given the larger charge for all of schooling to develop independence, problem-solving, and creativity in China, we sought to determine whether this change is actually the case within the 2011 Chinese moral education standards for grades one and two, for the period of 2011-2020. Although some elements of moral autonomy are stated and suggested in the standard learning objectives, there are significant discrepancies between ultimate goals of education for children’s development of autonomy and their practices and implementation within these Chinese moral education curriculum standards

Policy in the Way of Practice: How Assessment Legislation Is Affecting Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction in Ohio

In a national context of standards and high-stakes testing, concerns are emerging about challenges to the already tenuous position of the citizenship mission in the social studies curriculum. In this qualitative study, the authors administered a survey to social studies teachers in Ohio and conducted follow-up interviews focusing on the present purposes of social studies and the ways in which standards and testing are affecting instructional practice. The findings reveal a perception of standards as being of high quality, yet ultimately undermined through changes in scope and se-quence, narrowing of the curriculum, and a paucity of time to enact them. In addition, respondents indicated that high-stakes testing has become the primary curricular focus, which impacts instructional strategy decision making and frustrates citizenship education

An Alternative Framework for Ethics Instruction in Social Education

Ethics are central to social education, and making ethical decisions underlies the purpose of teaching critical thinking and interpretive skills in the classroom. The point in acquiring these skills is to apply them in the real world when deciding what ought to be, right from wrong, and good from bad. Few educational philosophers would disagree up to this point. However, when discussion begins on how to teach ethics, beliefs diverge considerably. Ironically, both the extreme left and extreme right wings of educational thought seek the same end, that of ethics inculcation. Inculcation of anything is a dangerous if not unethical proposition. Inculcation is a pernicious method, used by totalitarian states, that runs counter to student-centered, progressive education in a democratic society. The logical response to the maligning realities of inculcation is that some ethical behaviors, such as honesty or bravery, are intrinsically good and deserve teacher modeling and wholesale student acceptance. But buying into any value, without logically arriving at the utility of such a value for a particular situation, renders it meaningless for the student. For instance, many situations dictate that we must not be honest or brave to attain an ethically and positively good outcome. Thus, rather than inculcation, ethics in a democratic society must be taught as a flexible system, arrived at through logic and reason, that ultimately situates students to act in ways that are ethically sound. This thesis unfolds in five parts. The first begins with the premise that social education is central to education and that ethics are the par excellence of social education. The second part deals with the far left of the educational spectrum, specifically the inculcating views of multiculturalists. The third area focuses on the conservative side, and its push for certain unquestionable universal ethical codes. An eclectic solution, based primarily on the philosophy of Deweyan pragmatism and various ethical theories, follows the conservative view and offers progressive alternatives to this most essential element of education. The final section contains the implications of teaching ethics in schools in light of these three perspectives, with a view toward further inquiry

Exploring controversial issues in elementary social studies

This manuscript addresses the importance of teaching controversial issues, especially within elementary school contexts. In particular, this manuscript explores the underlying elements of justice wtihin controversies and demonstrates the way in which teachers might explore procedural justice within an elementary classroom

A Framework for Controversial Issue Gatekeeping within Social Studies Education: The Case of Japan

This article addresses how social studies teachers in Japan might employ a framework for addressing controversial issues. This framework recognizes multiple and overlapping contexts for curriculum and instruction decision making, including the classroom, community, and society. It also categorizes the state of topics among five levels, ranging from deeply taboo, silenced and unknown to student, taboo, controversial, free discussion and deliberation, and settled with little or no disagreement. Finally, we submit recommendations for pre- and in- service teachers, teacher education departments, and educational policy makers to reconceptualize how they think about controversial issues in light of the essential democratic normative mandate to teach them

"Student teaching abroad will help you get a job": Exploring administrator perceptions of international experiences for pre-service teachers

Given the purported benefits pre-service teachers can gain from international experiences, we chose to conduct a qualitative case-study to explore the extent to which these experiences influenced the hiring decisions of local school administrators. We collected data using questionnaires and follow-up interviews and found that in many instances international experiences did influence hiring decisions. Yet, these influences were conditional, based on transferability to future classrooms, content area, and the location of the international experience. Implications of this study include the need to reexamine broad presumptive benefits attached to international experiences and instead inquire into the promises and challenges accorded to particular experiences