Becoming an “Expert” Social Studies Teacher

Proposing Core Practices for Social Studies Teacher Education: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Inquiry-Based Lessons

“…Yet, despite the vehement nature of this debate, van Hover also believes that it is important to engage in this conversation, because should we avoid it, “we risk becoming irrelevant, and meaningful change might happen in teacher education without our voice at the table” (p. 137). Likewise, Crocco and Livingston (2017) argued that in social studies, to reimagine teacher education around core practices “would be an ambitious undertaking, but one that would bring the field into closer connection with trends in teaching, learning, and teacher education found in other core subject areas. .…”

“…For example, in social studies education, literature reviews often detail areas where consensus exists around influential instructional practices such as making connections to students’ lives, applying prior knowledge, and engaging in student inquiry (Barton & Avery, 2016; Hicks et al, 2012; Levstik, 2008). Yet, literature reviews of social studies teacher education practices often reveal approaches such as textbook analysis or action research projects that only selectively attend to the influential practices identified in the social studies education research literature (Adler, 2008; Crocco & Livingston, 2017).…”

“…Decades of research have illustrated that the substance of social studies teacher education varies from institution to institution (Crocco & Livingston, 2017). Depending on deeply interconnected factors such as mission, vision, curriculum, and faculty, there are many ways to prepare social studies teachers.…”

“…Although some studies surfaced core practices in social studies–related disciplines such as history (Fogo, 2014; Reisman et al, 2018), these studies fail to acknowledge that social studies is a school subject where the disciplines of history, geography, economics, government, and other social sciences are pedagogically interdependent (Thornton & Barton, 2010). As such, this research addresses a noticeable gap in the emerging research on core practices by situating social studies as a school subject and identifying a set of core practices that enhance student learning across the constituent domains of social studies (Crocco & Livingston, 2017; Reisman et al, 2018). In the following, I review the core practices and practice-based teacher education scholarship.…”

Illuminating the Black Hole: Examining Middle Grade Social Studies Teacher Education Pathways and Student Achievement

“…Large-scale research in teaching and teacher education research has found professional training and content background significantly correlates with student learning outcomes (Cochran-Smith & Villegas, 2014;Wang, 2010). In social studies education, however, the research is relatively thin; exploring pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), instructional delivery, and the educative aims for instruction in the field (Crocco & Livingston, 2017;Wilson & Wineburg, 1988). Yet, the research examining teacher education pathways (i.e., how teachers learn about their profession) and their connection to students' social studies-related learning outcomes remains limited to smaller-scale studies (Crocco & Livingston, 2017).Instructional decision-making further complicates the relationship between teacher professional characteristics and student learning.…”