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A psychometrically derived typology of teaching styles or preferred approaches to teaching social studies was presented. Separate case studies of teachers, each of whom represented a type were reported. The purpose of this was to flesh out and ascribe meaning to the psychometric data previously collected by schedule-based systematic observation. The latter is necessarily restricted to behavioral observation and description. Qualitative data collection and analysis methods together with rating scales were employed, within a symbolic-interactionist framework, to capture the intent and meaning behind the cognitive interactions observed and of the temporal and contextual conditions under which they occurred. It was found that the teachers were conscious of their preferred approach to teaching social studies, and could account for their style in terms of the construction of social studies knowledge and aspirations they held for their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated approaches to teaching social studies in Western Australian high schools. A conceptual scheme for teaching social studies, based on recognized orientations to the subject is presented. Psychometric data on the cognitive demands placed on pupils, by teachers' mediating transactions, were collected and cluster analyzed. A typology of teaching processes was constructed and characterized by pen portraits representative of the preferred approach of teachers observed in the sample. These approaches are presented as median profiles, each of which is related to the teachers' construction of social studies knowledge. The results have implications for teachers, curriculum developers and evaluators in the context of innovation and change processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]