Race in Elementary Education: Third Graders Reading the Declaration of Independence

• In Event: Critical Explorations: Students Grappling With Critical Questions and Issues

Abstract

Current events and subsequent legislative and educational responses have heightened awareness of systematic racism’s continued power and tenacity. The purpose of this design-based research study was to examine how third graders understood their roles as civic agents through an integrated social studies and literacy curriculum unit focused on the concepts of civic virtue and civic engagement in relation to selected U.S. founding documents and the electoral process across time. Findings indicate that students’ attention to race was noted as a significant aspect of their understanding of the content.

Authors

• Julie L. Pennington, University of Nevada - Reno

• Kathryn M. Obenchain, Purdue University