Empowering and Integrated Social Studies Instruction for Elementary Newcomers: A Collaborative Action Research Project (Poster 11)
Thu, April 11, 12:40 to 2:10pm, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Floor: Level 100, Room 115BAbstract
Objectives or purposes:
This paper analyzes the implementation of a co-planned and co-taught elementary newcomer unit on immigrant perspectives. Findings reveal the project operationalized integration of literacy and social studies instruction, student engagement and empowerment, and authentic collaboration between a teacher educator and elementary newcomer teacher.
Perspective(s) or theoretical framework:
In the context of social studies education research, empirical analysis among immigrant students is essential as they are likely to face political trauma on account of their country of origin and language status (Sondel et al., 2018). With the goal of transforming this paradigm and privileging their voices, I collaborated with an elementary newcomer teacher to co-plan and co-teach a two-week instructional unit that leveraged children’s literature and social studies skills to engage with concepts of identity, race, and geography. The present paper analyzes both the process and the students’ learning outcomes in response to the following research question: How can a teacher educator-elementary newcomer teacher partnership facilitate the teaching and learning of social studies for elementary English Learners?
Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) framework drives the analysis. Figure 1 (see Appendix) outlines the ways in which the current study incorporates the tools of CHAT, including subject, object, outcomes, mediating artifacts, rules, community, and the division of labor (Trent et al., 2002).
Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials:
I obtained IRB and school district approval before contacting a newcomer teacher at a local elementary school in a Mid-Atlantic state. Ms. Hamilton (a pseudonym) and I met four times to plan instruction beginning in October 2019. Each of these planning sessions and conversations were audio-recorded and transcribed. The total recordings of our planning meetings equal approximately six hours. In addition to the transcribed planning session and our analytic memos, I also analyzed planning documents and selected work samples collected over multiple days. I also video recorded both the small group and whole group lessons so that I could conduct targeted transcription of the classroom interactions.
Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view
The first finding was that integrated literacy instruction contributed to culturally and linguistically relevant social studies instruction for elementary newcomer students. The second finding was that intentionally including narratives of immigrant students and colorism led to student engagement and empowerment. The third finding was that the project yielded an authentic collaboration between a teacher educator with an interwoven social studies and TESOL background and an elementary newcomer teacher.
Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
The action research project presented in this paper provides implications for social studies educators, teacher educators and researchers. First, social studies educators and researchers should collaborate with teachers of ELs and language acquisition researchers (see Jaffee, 2021). Second, integrating children’s literature is “an easy way to incorporate anti-oppressive social studies into your teaching” (Rodríguez & Swalwell, 2022, p. 146). Third, social studies instruction should be culturally relevant through privileging student perspectives and linguistically relevant through supporting students’ meaningful production of the target language.