In an effort to counter the effects of the reduction of social studies instruction that has resulted from the pressure to increase test scores in reading and mathematics, many educators promote the idea of integrating the curriculum. For many modern elementary teachers, integrating the curriculum has become a means for infusing social studies content in the curriculum while maintaining the focus on teaching reading and language arts skills. This practice of teaching social studies or other content areas while maintaining a focus on reading differs widely from the original purpose of curriculum integration. The following article asserts that the true purpose of integrating the curriculum has been to create children who will be able to use the disciplines to advance democratic thought and life. They will be able to fully integrate the disciplines into their own thinking processes in order to confront issues and problems in a democratic society. This article explores notions of curriculum integration throughout history and examines the ways in which teachers attempt to integrate the curriculum in schools today.
Given the resurgence of Americans’ interest in the national electoral process and civic issues, social studies educators have a unique opportunity to highlight citizenship education and related activities in K-12 teacher preparation programs. Especially at the elementary level, educators can support pre-service teachers’ mastery of civics content, skills, and critical thinking strategies with experiential, as well as classroom, based learning. This article describes how two educators integrated a field experience component into an elementary social studies methods course to increase students’ civic knowledge and model standards-based curriculum planning. Collaboration with local experts provided opportunities for preservice teachers to start a learning community outside of the classroom, connecting course instruction to real-life civic issues.
With increased curricular and classroom demands, teaching social studies content and skills can be challenging, especially in elementary schools. Although educators are encouraged to promote critical thinking, collaboration and problem solving, classroom time is increasingly spent preparing students to pass state-mandated tests that emphasize factual recall. This article highlights the importance of self-study through the praxis of one teacher educator. To address the shifting instructional and professional demands, she modified and updated an elementary social studies methods course over a five-year period. Through analysis of documents, observations, and students’ feedback, the methods course and student learning outcomes changed significantly over time. This article addresses the need for social studies teacher educators to re-evaluate their own praxis, as some existing teacher education program models and course programs do not address today’s changing teaching and learning climates. Deliberate self-study, coupled with professional collaborations across school and university boundaries, can be key steps to improve learning outcomes for all.
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