"Social Studies Is in Everything": Sneaking in Elementary Social Studies by (Re)Conceptualizing Integration

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Eighteen
  In Roundtable Session: Social Studies in Elementary and Early Childhood Education (Table 16)

Abstract

This study examines how pre-service teachers (PSTs) conceptualize the integration of social studies in elementary classrooms through a course assignment focused on “sneaking in” social studies. While integration as a pedagogical technique is often considered the mere merging of two or more content areas, the results of this qualitative content analysis suggest PSTs can imagine a more expansive notion of integration. This (re)conceptualization of integration views social studies as an invisible string that is omnipresent in the elementary classroom. With this paradigm, PSTs demonstrated critical optimism for counteracting the marginalization of elementary social studies by leveraging moments big and small into integrated social studies learning.

Authors

• Abigail Stebbins, Pennsylvania State University
  Presenting Author

• Stephanie Schroeder, Pennsylvania State University
  Presenting Author