Cultivating the Whys: Social Inquiry in Early Childhood Social Studies

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Teaching Truth, Navigating Ideology: Key Issues in Social Studies Standards and Curriculum (Table 34)

Abstract

Young children are curious about the worlds in which they inhabit constantly asking a laundry list of the “why” questions. Social inquiry highlights how children ask questions, gather information, and take action in the social world. Studies education has recentered inquiry in K-12 contexts; however, it is less clear how early childhood social studies positions young children as engaged in the skills and content of social inquiry. Yet, children’s questions about the social world are an ideal space to engage in the early skills of social inquiry. This paper uses content analysis of all 50 states and the District of Columbia’s early childhood learning standards to examine how the field of early childhood social studies approaches developing social inquiry skills.

Authors

• Katherina A. Payne, University of Texas at Austin

• Kelsie Corriston Burnett, University of Texas at Austin