Preparing Novice Social Studies Teachers for Humanizing Approaches to Controversial Civic Issues Through Storytelling

• In Event: New Approaches to Humanizing and Relational Engagement With Public Issues in Social and Civic Education

Abstract

If the field of civic education is going to move toward new approaches to civic dialogue that prioritize relational approaches and center students’ identities, knowledge, and lived experiences (cf., Cohen, Kahne, & Marshall, 2018; Mirra & Garcia, 2022; Stickney, Cordova, & Hipolito-Delgado, 2022), pre-service teacher education must also recalibrate in order to prepare educators to foster more humanizing forms of civic practice. In this exploratory case study, the authors examine a set of teacher education course practices designed to orient preservice social studies teachers toward more relational approaches to engagement with controversial civic issues that focus on storytelling. Specifically, we explore the following research question:
• What is the impact of teacher education course practices centered on storytelling approaches to civic dialogue on novice social studies teachers’ learning?

Our study is grounded in sociocultural theories of teacher learning (Grossman et al.,1999; Grossman et al., 2009; Hammerness et al., 2005); conceptions of the conditions that allow for relational practices in civic contexts; and the promise of civic storytelling for disrupting social and political inequality (Gibson, 2020; Mirra & Garcia, 2022). In the context of civic education, interdisciplinary theories of learning highlight the importance of fostering emotional safety and trust, the role of students’ sense of identity and belonging, the salience of emotion and a sense of human connection, and the need for attention to the role of societal power structures (Lee et al., 2021; Nasir et al., 2021). In contexts that are attentive to these dimensions, storytelling can become a powerful form of engagement with civic issues that youth care deeply about and that forefront typically marginalized voices (Authors, 2020; Mirra & Garcia, 2022).

This exploratory case study draws on data from two sections of a secondary social studies methods course (N=33 novice teachers) taught by one of the authors at an urban university in the upper Midwest. The 11-week term included readings, podcasts, assignments, in-class exercises, and instructor modeling of practices aimed at supporting novice teachers’ learning about fostering authentic relationships and community; surfacing and exploring students’ social and political identities, knowledge, and lived experiences; and creating a range of storytelling opportunities focused on civic concerns.

Data sources include student (teacher candidate) pre- and post-surveys (taken the first and last class session, respectively); end of course portfolios in which students reflected on course experiences and how they shaped teacher candidates’ learning; and classroom observation notes and artifacts from the class sessions in which the in-class exercises were implemented.

Student surveys as well as the qualitative data indicated shifts in how some novice teachers conceptualized approaches to engaging youth in exploring controversial public issues. The data also revealed novice teachers’ endorsement of practices that included the storytelling approaches modeled through course experiences. This exploratory case study offers initial insights into what teacher candidates may take away from teacher education course experiences focused on approaches to engagement with contentious civic issues that center storytelling. This study, then, offers one possibility for how we might integrate such practices more widely across teacher education programs.

Authors

• Hilary Gehlbach Conklin, DePaul University
  Presenting Author

• Molly W. Andolina, DePaul University
  Presenting Author