Humanizing Elementary Social Studies Through Collaborative Self-Study

• In Event: Interdisciplinary Approaches to a Pedagogy of Humanization: Preparing Teachers for Culturally Sustaining Classrooms

Abstract

Local, state, and national policies shape elementary social studies pedagogy. Since the passing of No Child Left Behind and the reauthorization of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the marginalization of social studies continues to occur. This marginalization has led to reduced instructional time for social studies in elementary classrooms and an accountability context that has witnessed the disappearance (i.e., complete or partial removal) from state curricula in favor of subject areas such as English language arts and mathematics. Currently, social studies is held under a magnifying glass in several state legislatures and local boards of education where divisive concepts bills are being proposed, passed, and enacted through law. In these instances, stakeholders have made their cases regarding what content should be taught as well as how, when, where, and why it should be taught. Largely, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) voices are being minimalized, or completely dismissed, during these discussions.
We, along with the National Council for the Social Studies, support the “accurate and truthful representation of historical events” in order for students to “learn about the experiences and viewpoints of people of color and America’s legacy of racism” because it is “critical to feeling connected and equally valued in a participatory society” (NCSS, 2021, para. 6). We advocate for the use of culturally relevant (CRP; Ladson-Billings, 1995) and anti-oppressive pedagogies (Rodríguez & Swalwell, 2022), which includes making inclusive decisions about the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to include and exclude.
During this session, we will detail a collaborative self study (Han et al., 2014) of two pre-tenure teacher educators who consistently challenged one another to (re)define, (re)imagine, and enact CRP and anti-oppressive pedagogies in their graduate elementary social studies methods courses. During one school year, this collaborative relationship evolved over time, specifically affording us the opportunity to become more vulnerable with one another (e.g., co-planning course content and assignments, seeking support with challenges, etc.). It influenced both our personal and professional experiences on a micro-level in the same teacher education program as well as on a macro-level in our broader field of social studies education.
Data includes course opportunities for reflection and application that were designed to foster learning around the three tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy (i.e., academic rigor, cultural competence, and critical consciousness) that showcase the ways in which anti-oppressive elementary social studies can be taught in meaningful, integrative, value-based, challenging, and active ways (e.g., Anderson, 2014; Bauml, 2016; Curry, 2010; NCSS, 2009, 2016). For example, we will share an activity that fosters the critical consciousness of pre-service teachers as they reflect on the following question: What does it mean to be a democratic citizen? They are encouraged to define “democratic citizen” with written language (e.g., words, hashtags, sentences) as well as imagery (e.g., drawings, symbols), and to analyze similarities and differences in definitions with their peers. These types of opportunities enable them to examine multiple, sometimes non-dominant, and more inclusive perspectives regarding social studies content.

Authors

• Ariel Cornett, Georgia Southern University

• Erin Piedmont, Georgia Southern University