Who are we? The Demographic and Professional Identity of Social Studies Teacher Educators

Abstract

Growth in racial and ethnic diversity among public school P-12 students stands in stark contrast to the teaching population who tend to be monolingual, White females. Secondary social studies teachers defy demographic teacher trends, as they tend to be male, albeit White males who still are not representative of the students they teach. What is missing from the discourse of student–teacher imbalance however is discussion surrounding diversity among social studies teacher educators. The purpose of this study was to examine racial, ethnic, and gender demographics for social studies teacher educators using a framework of critical teacher demography. Findings revealed that social studies teacher educators tend to reflect the population of social studies teachers with many being White males. Furthermore, social studies teacher educators tend to focus their research on concepts such as democratic citizenship with little focus dedicated to critical multicultural issues. The paucity of diversity in demographics and research is critical for social studies teacher educators to consider if we are to reflect multiculturalism in 21st century schools.

A Snapshot of the Latinx Teaching Experience in the New Latino Diaspora

“…Darling-Hammond, Holtzman, Gatlin, and Vasquez Heilig (2005) mentioned the disparity between representation of students and teachers in their study about teacher preparation and teacher demographics. Their work exemplifies the problem that Busey and Waters (2016) and Bower-Phipps, Homa, Albaladejo, Johnson, and Cruz (2013) discussed the changing demographics of classrooms while teachers and teacher preparation programs remain mostly White. Their research represented one of the continuous issues with how teachers come into the field and how they become teachers.…”

“…As the classroom and the nation become more black, brown, and yellow, the teachers who run and administer these classrooms remain White (Bower-Phipps, Homa, Albaladejo, Johnson, & Cruz, 2013;Busey & Waters, 2016;United States Census Bureau, 2010). There are hopes that the population of teachers will also reflect these changing demographics.…”

Social Studies Teacher–Athletic Coaches' Experiences Coping with Role Conflict R2

“…Social studies departments were predominantly male as were teacher-coaches in each school (A. Brown, 2012a;Busey & Waters, 2016;A. Brown & Sieben, 2013;Chiodo et al, 2002;Fitchett, 2010;Weller, 2002).…”

Composing identities: using digital documentary shorts to explore social issues

“…Scholars have routinely suggested that providing students with opportunities to engage with controversial issues in social studies classrooms contributes to building conceptions of lived democracy and democratic citizenship (Parker, 2003;Ross and Marker, 2005;Engle and Ochoa, 1988;Hess, 2011). In a recent examination of social studies teacher educators, Busey and Waters (2016) identified several "critical areas" for research in social studies education, including race/critical race theory, democratic and citizenship education and social justice (p. 80). However, looking to the research on teaching social issues, findings indicate that classroom discussions are infrequent, and when offered are typically brief (Kahne and Middaugh, 2008).…”