"Stay Calm and Be a Tree": Teacher Identity and Elementary Social Studies

Abstract

Aspiring to promote meaningful civic education, teachers may find themselves at odds with other goals of accountability-driven school environments, creating contexts in which ambitious teaching is looked to as the answer to instilling democratic citizenship in students. However, even well-intentioned teachers find oppositional dilemmas that uproot their curricular value and unravel professional identities. The purpose of this study is to describe through the experiences of an elementary school teacher trained in history who identified as a social studies teacher, as she transitioned from a self-contained, third grade classroom to a fifth grade standalone social studies position designed specifically for her. Findings reveal the important role teacher identity plays in orientations toward and instructional decisions within social studies.