Teachers' Efficacy Beliefs and Sensemaking in Action Civics

• In Event: Critical Examinations of Democratic Citizenship in Teacher Education

Abstract

As a unique and emerging educational approach, little is known about 1) teachers’ beliefs about their efficacy in facilitating action civics education or 2) barriers teachers face when engaging students in action civics education. This paper presentation draws on semi-structured interviews with middle school teachers in a mid-sized urban school district who adopted a place-based action civics curriculum. These qualitative accounts reveal three primary barriers to implementing action civics education: 1) misalignment with priorities in the school environment, 2) incongruence with previous classroom experiences, and 2) disconnect between aspects of teachers’ identity and the goals of action civics. Despite these barriers, findings reflect teachers’ commitment to providing their students with action-oriented locally relevant learning experiences.

Author

• Katy Morgan, Vanderbilt University