History in Other Contexts: Preservice Social Studies Teachers' Field Placements at Cultural Institutions

• In Event: Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Preparation of Preservice Teachers in Social Studies

Abstract

This study investigates efforts to support pre-service social studies teachers’ professional development at museums, archives, and historic sites. Through analyses of student work and reflective journals, our findings indicate that field placements in cultural institutions both resulted in the development of planning skills and conceptual shifts in approaches to teaching history. Pre-service teachers who participated in cultural fieldwork tended to use primary sources in more structured and mediated ways and developed more inquiry-based lessons. We also argue that the most important competency developed through cultural fieldwork involves bridging participants’ two fields of study in their initial certification program: pedagogy and history.

Author

• Timothy Patterson, Temple University