Democracy, Misinformation, or White Supremacy? An Analysis of How #sschat Participants Sought to Teach the January 6th Insurrection

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Curriculum Studies in the Social Studies

Abstract

In this paper, we explore a snapshot of how teachers’ responded and planned to “teach” the insurrection based on a “just in time” Twitter chat that occurred using the hashtag #sschat on the evening of January 6th. We were curious about the ways in which teachers turned to other social studies educators to make sense of the event for themselves and their students. We share findings from our emergent coding of the top 50 tweets posted in the chat as we consider three interlocking issues embedded in the insurrection: democracy, misinformation, and White supremacy. We report on the types, substance, and narratives of tweets and offer implications for educators and researchers.

Authors

• Daniel G Krutka, University of North Texas

• Marie K. Heath, Loyola University Maryland