Full Description
Social Studies in the New Education Policy Era is a series of compelling open-ended education policy dialogues among various social studies scholars and stakeholders. By facilitating conversations about the relationships among policy, practice, and research in social studies education, this collection illuminates various positions—some similar, some divergent—on contested issues in the field, from the effects of standardized curriculum and assessment mandates on K-12 teaching to the appropriate roles of social studies educators as public policy advocates. Chapter authors bring diverse professional experiences to the questions at hand, offering readers multiple perspectives from which to delve into well-informed discussions about social studies education in past, present, and future policy contexts.
Collectively, their commentaries aim to inspire, challenge, and ultimately strengthen readers' beliefs about the place of social studies in present and future education policy environments.
Contents
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION: Social studies in the new education policy era: Introducing conversations on purposes, perspectives, and practices
Section I - Purposes: The uncomfortable gap between what social studies purports to do and how it is positioned in K-12 education
CHAPTER 1: "Why are there disparities among the general public, policymakers, and social studies educators relative to the aims of the social studies curriculum, and what should be done about them?"
CHAPTER 2: "To what extent are social studies standards useful and consequential as policy tools at state, district, and classroom levels?"
CHAPTER 3: "How might policy tools and activities contribute to reprioritizing social studies education in elementary-level curriculum and instruction?"
Section II - Perspectives: Disciplinary viewpoints on social studies education policy
CHAPTER 4: "Can education policies be effective tools for encouraging youth civic engagement and activism in schools?"
CHAPTER 5: "How and to what extent does education policy unite the discipline of history to the academic subject of social studies, and is this a fruitful union?"
CHAPTER 6: "What is the potential impact of the C3 as a policy tool on curriculum development in traditionally underrepresented social studies disciplines?"
Section III - Practices: How policy impacts the enactment of curriculum and instruction in the social studies
CHAPTER 7: "Should a stronger policy emphasis be placed on domain-specific high-leverage practices or core practices in history/social studies teaching?"
CHAPTER 8: "What kinds of assessment policies, practices, and tools do social studies learners and teachers deserve, and why?"
CHAPTER 9: "What roles should federal and/or state departments of education play in social studies learning, teaching, and curriculum?"
Section IV - Advocacy: Policy activity and activism among teachers, teacher educators, and researchers in the social studies
CHAPTER 10: "What policy priorities should social studies education, as a field, advocate, and why?"
CHAPTER 11: "How might public policy engagement and political activism be situated within social studies teacher education programs?"
CHAPTER 12: "What can the field of social studies education learn from policy research and reform in other domains?"
