Just Economics? A Mixed-Methods Study Examining Whether and How Social Studies Teachers Address Economic Inequality

• In Event: 16.055 - Salvaging Civic Education: Powerful Teaching and Learning to Address the Civic Opportunity Gap

Abstract

Objectives and Theoretical Frame
Young people are not only objects of economic and social forces; they also are potential civic agents. As adults, they will be called on to make social policy choices about taxation and the distribution of public resources, and to weigh in on a host of issues that shape and are shaped by economic inequality. Their understanding of economic inequality is essential for informed and ethical civic engagement—including participation in public debates, electoral politics, policy formation, and community mobilization (Gutmann, 1995). Yet, to date, there has been little empirical study about how issues of economic inequality are addressed in high school social studies classes.

Methods and Data Sources
This paper reports on a mixed-methods study to examine whether, how, and why U.S. high school social studies teachers address economic inequality. In Spring 2015, our research team conducted a survey with 775 social studies teachers nested in 295 public high schools and 30 elite private schools. The public school sample was stratified by student demographics, school enrollment, and school geography and is representative of U.S. public high schools generally. Survey questions explored curriculum and instruction related to economic inequality, school and community context, teacher background and beliefs, and other topics. In Summer 2015, our research team conducted 50 follow-up interviews with social studies teachers who participated in the survey. The interview sample was stratified by school SES and teacher self-reported political ideology. Each 30-45 minute interview examined one of the teacher’s lessons about economic inequality. In Spring and Summer 2016, our research team is conducting a second round of follow-up interviews with these same 50 teachers about how they have taught about economic inequality during the 2015-16 school year.

We analyze this rich data set to explore three questions: 1) How frequently do high school social studies teachers teach about economic inequality? 2) When teaching about economic inequality, what topics or themes do teachers address and what instructional strategies do they use? 3) What goals do these teachers have for teaching about economic inequality and what challenges do they encounter in trying to advance these goals? For each of these questions we examine variance across teacher, course, school, and school-community characteristics.

Findings and Significance
Our nationally representative survey indicates that almost all U.S. social studies teachers report having taught about economic inequality and a majority of teachers report teaching about economic inequality “regularly.” Teachers’ background characteristics (gender, race, social class, and years of experience) are not associated with how often they discuss economic inequality in class. The strongest predictor of teaching about economic inequality regularly is teachers’ political and civic engagement—whether they follow the news closely, talk about social issues with friends and family, and participate in community affairs. The salience of political and civic engagement raises important implications for teacher education and staff development.

Authors

• John S. Rogers, University of California - Los Angeles

• Joel Westheimer, University of Ottawa