The Who, What, When, Where, and Why of Inquiry in Elementary Social Studies

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

How do elementary teachers engage students in social studies inquiry? How should they, and what supports do they need? Five papers attempt to answer these questions. The first highlights what is possible through the description of an exemplary first grade unit. The second examines what happens when elementary teachers first try inquiry. The third explores how teachers consider who they teach with data from a methods course focused explicitly on inquiry with multilingual learners. The fourth highlights the importance of where inquiry occurs with data from how elementary teachers responded to a course on the local history of anti-Black racism. The fifth explores why inquiry is worth doing by examining online elementary inquiry resources through the lens of political philosophy.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Social Studies Research

Chair

• Katy Swalwell, Iowa State University

Papers

• It Is Possible: A First-Grade Inquiry About Food Justice - Jennifer Oliva, Sheridan School

• Improving Preservice Teachers' Ability to Plan Inquiry-Based Learning for Multilingual Learners in Elementary Social Studies - Sarah Pamperin, Iowa State University

• Elementary Teachers' Attempts to Shift Their Social Studies Instruction Toward Inquiry - Jenny Sinclair, Lakewood Elementary School; Sarah Pamperin, Iowa State University

• How and Why Elementary Teachers Integrate Antiracist Local Histories Into Student Inquiries - Katy Swalwell, Iowa State University

• Why Inquire? How Enduring Questions of Political Philosophy Can Frame Compelling Questions in College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Inquiry - Jennifer Lynn Gallagher, East Carolina University

Discussant

• Naseem Rodriguez