Inquiring Into Settlerhood: Learning Difficult Knowledge Through Inquiry-Based Social Studies in Elementary School

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 23
  In Roundtable Session: Issues of Diversity and Equity in Social Studies Education

Abstract

This paper examines the usefulness and implications of using inquiry-based learning as a tool for teaching difficult historical content that challenges dominant narratives in social studies classrooms. The author draws from data gathered in an ethnographic examination of the figured worlds of fifth grade students as they learn about the interactions of First Nations and early European settlers in what was called New France in the early 18th century. Focusing on the figured worlds (Holland et al., 1998) of the students as take opportunities to independently inquire into the curricular topic allowed the author to understand the ways the students took up and rejected possibilities for challenging normative narratives of early settlement on Turtle Island.

Author

• Mark Sinke, University of Toronto