Engaging With Difficult Knowledge of U.S. Wars in Elementary Social Studies Methods Courses

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Reimagining Social Studies Teacher Education Through Critical Engagement

Abstract

In recent years there has been a growing recognition of the need to understand teaching and learning not just as cognitive but also as affective experiences that are imbued with emotional complexity. There is also an emergent body of research on how to teach difficult knowledge of war. Joining this scholarship, this presentation reports research findings on how preservice teachers feel and experience difficult knowledge of WWII when they are encouraged to develop emotional self-awareness in the learning encounter, reconsider the dominant narratives on war, and reflect on their implication in response to difficult knowledge of war as a future teacher.

Author

• Sohyun An, Kennesaw State University