Search

The most common activity in a social studies classroom should be the analysis of primary sources. Students are intrigued and engaged by edited and unedited documents, written statements, transcribed speeches, photographs, pictures, charts, graphs, cartoons, and even material objects. Ideally, the goal of social studies teachers is to prepare students to "read" historical documents in their original or unedited form. The best means of achieving this goal is to encourage students to develop their skills by working with material that matches their level of interest and performance abilities. It is wonderful for students to be able to pick up a document and analyze it on their own, but until they develop this ability, it is important to provide them with questions that guide them and help them discover key information and patterns. In selecting appropriate documents, the author recommends focusing on issues that actually engage students. This makes them keen to read the text because they are concerned about what is happening in the world and in their lives. In this article, the author will recommend excerpts from documents that are relevant to three challenging topics: same-sex relationships, a historic dispute about human nature and its implications for government, and the implications of an "originalist," textual interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. The excerpts are brief, which allows for focused, in-depth class instruction. The documents can be used (depending on the document), in World History, U.S. History, or Government classes. They can also be valuable for classes that focus on important and controversial issues. (Contains 14 notes.)

In this article, the author discusses the contradictory goals of several groups and individuals that are waging war against social studies and the historians' attitudes in response to this war. He stresses that he is not claiming that these "strange bedfellows," as he comes to call them, that are attacking social studies are working in collusion or that they even think of themselves as allies. Their relationship is probably closer to what Derrick Bell describes as an "interest convergence." The leaders of the current attack on social studies are a loosely structured, diverse coalition, with contradictory political goals, which is funded by foundations and think tanks with strong right-wing ideological leanings. Although there is no single policy board directing the attack on social studies, there is a series of interlocking directorships and memberships that mirror the interlocking relationships used to avoid antitrust laws by corporations. This coalition includes: (1) wealthy corporate leaders, who are promoting patriotic history for profit; (2) "new" Left academics from the sixties who have become a dominant voice in professional historians' organizations and defenders of a new, broader, historical canon; (3) neoconservatives, for whom the war on social studies is part of a general attack on the institution of public education; (4) veterans of the 1980s battle against multicultural education, who view social studies curricula as bastions of "ethnic nationalism" and "cultural particularism;" (5) traditional conservatives, who argue for content-based instruction and rigorous assessment; (6) groups from the "religious right" who blame the social studies approach for undermining religious and moral values in American society; and (7) Chester Finn and the Fordham Foundation, who sponsored the book "Where Did Social Studies Go Wrong?." The author also addresses the four underlying problems with the way historians have functioned in the war against social studies: (1) arrogance; (2) compartmentalization; (3) a depressed job market; and (4) the fact that historians do not get any respect.

Students at all levels need to have opportunities to represent themselves in their work in ways that are meaningful to them. The Family Artifact Museum Project provides an opportunity for students to accomplish this as they bring their family stories into the classroom and see how the lives of ordinary people are part of history. This project came about as a creative way to address New York's social studies and literacy learning standards and national social studies thematic strands. This article gives several examples of these types of projects, from pre-school up to fifth grade, and describes how students of different ages were able to participate in a developmentally appropriate way. Teachers can use this type of project to introduce social studies themes and to build a sense of community in the classroom. It was found that the Family Artifact Museum can support multicultural and culturally-relevant pedagogy, transform social studies classrooms into "laboratories of culture," promote literacy, and introduce children to what it means to be an historian.

The Hofstra University New Teachers' Network offers a multifaceted approach to university-based support for new teachers that also enhances the experience of students in its preservice teacher education program. This model is rooted in relationships that develop during preservice teacher education programs and has been successful at recruiting and sustaining new teachers for inner-city urban and suburban minority schools. It is separate from district and school-based teacher development programs connected to hierarchical systems of supervision and bureaucratic constraints. It is maintained through interconnections between university and secondary school classrooms, peer mentoring, regular support meetings, conferences, e-mail contact, and involvement in professional activities. The model recognizes the significance of teacher learning, the creation of teacher knowledge, the situational and social nature of cognition, and the importance of discourse communities in shaping learning experiences that are powerful enough to transform a teacher's classroom practice. At its core is recognition of the vital role played by long term supportive relationships among teachers and among teachers and mentors in the process of teacher development. The university professors, new teachers, and mentors who are part of the Hofstra University New Teachers' Network believe this program offers real possibilities for strengthening the teaching profession and improving the quality of education in urban and minority schools.

Describes email excerpts of teachers' views about racial violence stimulated by the remembrance of a February 2002 jury verdict wherein four white New City police officers were acquitted of the wrongful death of Amadou Diallo, a black African immigrant. The exchanges occurred among members of the Hofstra University New Teachers Network. (PKP)

Presents information adapted from the introduction to "The Great Depression and the New Deal on Long Island: A Local History Curriculum Guide." Finds that even though people in Long Island, New York, were active participants in New Deal programs, there was still anti-Roosevelt opposition during the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections. (CMK)

Examines how educators concerned with America's educational inequality participate in the development of postmodern explanations of education and society that legitimize multiple perspectives on events and institutions and the ways that subordinated groups describe their own experiences. Discusses: the social construction of race and ethnicity, race and class, whiteness and white privilege, unity of the oppressed, and dealing with racism. (SM)

Reasonable-sounding essays in the September 1999 "Kappan," advocating expansion of religion's influence in public education are fundamentally flawed by unstated assumptions and selective historical references. The wall of church/state separation is probably the best way to ensure religious freedom and protect both secular and religious worlds. (Contains 16 references.) (MLH)

Responds to the article "Social Studies Teacher Educators' Perceptions of Character Education" (Andrew J. Milson). Disagrees strongly with the ideas presented by Milson in his article, stating that the survey discussed is attempting to promote a certain agenda. (CMK)

Examines Long Island, New York, school politics and finance, noting that students in many underfunded schools in the area perform significantly below regional standards. Focuses on the Amityville School District, examining the battle in state courts over unequal funding, the impact of legislative inaction on Long Island, and public support for and dissatisfaction with public education on Long Island. (SM)

Uses research by J. Singer (1998) and M. Murphy and A. Singer (1996) to address issues related to the preparation of teachers to work in urban schools and with members of officially designated minority groups. Comparison of the two studies suggests that teachers with backgrounds very different from their students can become successful teachers of urban and minority students. (SLD)

Presents five brief articles related to middle-level learning. The articles are, "Using Children's Diaries to Teach the Oregon Trail"; "Living the Geography of Joseph and Temperance Brown"; "The ABCs of Small Grant Acquisition for Social Studies"; "Isomo Loruko: The Yoruba Naming Ceremony"; and "Child Laborers in Children's Literature." (MJP)

Provides a succinct introduction to the history and classroom use of labor folk songs. Presents the lyrics to "John Henry,""Miner's Lifeguard," and "Talking Union," along with some background on each song. Includes a bibliography of books, articles, song collections, labor resources, organizations, and periodicals. (MJP)