"I Had a Student Ask Me What 'Fake News' Meant": Teaching Civics in Contentious Times

• In Event: 51.074 - Social Studies Teaching in the 21st Century

Abstract

This study focuses on the experiences of creating and teaching locally-relevant civics curriculum during the 2016-2017 school year at two different elementary schools, one of which served primarily Latinx-identifying students. The curricular interventions were collaboratively designed by a researcher and teams of second grade teachers at each school and were focused on increasing students’ civic perspective-taking. Findings indicate that the contentious political climate that followed the 2016 election influenced what happened with teachers and students at each school. Additionally, some students at the Latinx-majority school engaged with the curricular intervention in advanced ways that suggest deep understandings of key concepts.

Author

• William Toledo, University of Nevada - Reno